The Whale, Darren Aronofsky’s eighth feature film is arguably his best. His four great films, 2000’s
“Requiem for a Dream”, 2008’s “The Wrestler”, 2010’s “The Black Swan”, and “The Whale” released
at the Venice Film Festival on September 4, 2022, all received at least one Oscar nomination. “The
Black Swan” was nominated for five Oscars, Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, and Film
Editing, with Natalie Portman winning for Best Actress Oscar. While the 2023 Academy Awards
have yet to be announced, Brendan Frasier, who plays morbidly obese Charlie in “The Whale”, is
the front runner.
Charlie is an English professor teaching a course in essay writing online…whose webcam is off,
under the guise that it’s broken, but in reality, he doesn’t want his students to see how heavy he is. It
begins with Charlie having a dramatic health event, just as young evangelist missionary Thomas (Ty
Simpkins) arrives at the door. Charlie has him read him an essay on Moby-Dick, which he explains,
after he recovers, that he thinks is the best essay he’s ever read. The cast is very small and almost
the entire film takes place in Charlie’s apartment. It reminds us of a play and, in fact, screenplay
writer Samuel D. Hunter, adapted it from his play of the same name. The rest of the cast is: his ex-
wife Mary (Samantha Morton); their 16 year old daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink, whose performance is
awesome) from whom Charlie is estranged; his best friend & visiting nurse Liz (Hong Chau, also
amazing); and the brief appearances, mostly just his voice until near the end of the film, of pizza
delivery boy Dan (Sathya Sridharan). One day, Ellie comes to visit Charlie. She is angry and very mean to
him, and disgusted by his obesity. She’s in danger of not passing English, her grades are so bad, so Charlie
agrees to pay her and write her essays for her in exchange for visiting him. Each main character in the film is
flawed, and struggles with an addiction: Charlie with food; Thomas’s religion; Liz is a nurse but smokes
continuously; Ellie is addicted to her phone and mean-posting on social media; and Mary is a drunk; we are
not sure about Dan, his part is too small.
The movie has been criticized as insensitive to the obese for: (1) casting Frasier, who required a
prosthetic suit for the role, rather than using an overweight actor; (2) perpetuating stereotypes about
the overweight; and (3) the film’s title, a common slur for the obese. I’d argue: (1) according to
Aronofsky himself, the movie was held back for a decade because he couldn’t find an actor that he
thought could carry the role of Charlie, until he saw Frasier in the preview of Journey to the End of
the Night, and realized he could be Charlie, if the business part came together. (2) the film handles
the topic with sensitivity. Charlie is very kind & sweet. And films are about the human condition: The
Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Political correctness is detrimental to art in general and film in
particular. There are just so many statues of Lincoln that can be destroyed, and they can be put in a
museum, but prohibiting this incredible film from being made would be a tragedy that would make
Moby-Dick seem like Finding Nemo. (3) Further, on the topic of political correctness as it relates to
art & history: What these critics don’t know, due to their lack of research and total focus on their
agenda is…Herman Melville’s classic is entitled “Moby-Dick; or, The Whale”. So it is not a
disparaging name for The Fat Man (which just happens to be one of the late, great Jerry Garcia’s
nicknames, which he wore as a badge of honor) in the film; it’s an allusion to the subtext of the film,
Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, with Captain Ahab’s mission to KILL the great white whale “because
he thinks that his life will be better if he can kill this whale, but in reality it won’t help him at all”. This
is not in any way a film about fat shaming; to the contrary, it’s a retelling of Moby-Dick, with the huge
mammal being anthropomorphic & sympathetic, and all of the characters rife with guilt.
Best film of the year! 4-Stars!
- Paul is the host for The Hub on Canal’s monthly Art in the Form of Film series. The Hub on Canal
is a
non-profit art gallery/collective in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
The Whale Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWiQodhMvz4
