Truly terrible, The Whale aims for empathy and instead exposes a callous voyeurism present in much of Darren Aronofsky's past work. nataliakeogan's review:
might initially appear to be incongruous in the director’s broader filmography. While this assessment holds some truth , the film’s undercurrent of cruelty and corporeal strife is nonetheless perfectly situated within Aronofsky’s wheelhouse, though it happens to indulge all of the filmmaker’s worst tendencies.The Whale
sets out to evoke a raw vulnerability that’s buttressed by profound emotional turmoil. It centers on Charlie , an obese gay man whose estranged and embittered daughter makes an unexpected reappearance in his life. While Hunter’s play does intentionally make room for audience laughter—whether uncomfortable or callous—Aronofsky’s adaptation attempts to present Charlie as a spiritually enlightened sacrifice. The Christ comparisons are rife , yet Charlie remains perplexingly flat as a protagonist.
Following his boyfriend’s tragic death years earlier, Charlie has coped by binge-eating and develops shame-based agoraphobia. Weighing roughly 600 pounds when the film unfolds, Charlie first appears to us during one of his classes as an online English teacher. Among the individual quadrants of young, healthy students in the Zoom-esque virtual classroom lies a black square, emanating Charlie’s voice but obscuring his image.
To be fair, Fraser does a commendable job of injecting Charlie with a distinct personhood that the character could have easily lacked, though his eternal optimism does become grating as his situation descends into clear desperation. The majority ofsets Charlie up to be a willing, weak punching bag for everyone—including his most cherished loved ones—never once retaliating or conveying an iota of dissatisfaction over his poor treatment.
After all, while Charlie struggles with a deadly eating disorder, his loved ones also cope via unhealthy means: ex-wife Mary cradles a bottle of liquor when forced to confront Charlie, Liz signs up for ceaseless night shifts at the local hospital to avoid confronting her own heartache, Ellie smokes pot to temper her aggressive daddy issues.
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