Monstrous Bodies in "The Shape of Water"

Okay, here we go! It's the last full week of classes and this course is coming to a close. I've had a lot to say this semester, whether in class or here on this blog. So, I'm a little bit bummed out and frustrated to say that I don't really know what to make of Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water. All I know is I didn't like it...I was baffled by the progression of the story and specifically by the romantic turn it took. However, I am fixated on the idea of monstrous bodies in this film.

The film sets up the...Fish Man (he's described as "Amphibian Man" on Wikipedia, but we're just going to call him Fish Man) as this grotesque, slimy, scaly creature who slashes people's fingers off and makes weird noises like those of the Demogorgon in Stranger Things. He's clearly the antagonist and something everyone is cautioned to avoid. Elisa is told to get in, clean, and get out. Besides his appearance, one of the big things that makes him a "monster" is the fact that he's unknown. He's foreign. There is so much that the people don't know about him. Misunderstanding is quickly translated to hostility, anger, and vilifying him.

Is the Fish Man really the antagonist? No! Introducing Strickland...We see him go home to his beautiful house, his beautiful wife, and his beautiful children who adore him. He drives a swanky new car and he calls the shots. He ticks all the boxes. He's presented as the ideal American working man and therefore, he's trusted. How could he be the bad guy when you've got some foreign scaly, screeching...thing in a giant tank in the next room?! I will say, I was really interested in how the film took this seemingly perfect-on-paper man and turned him into the true monster of the film. We watch him descend into violence and borderline madness while watching the contrasting humanization of the Fish Man as he falls in love.

To bring up the idea of monstrous bodies again, Elisa does not see a grotesque monster, a non-human in the Fish Man. She sees beauty in him both physically and emotionally. I think this transforms the physical idea of what a monster is; he may look different, but he is not necessarily a monster. On the other hand, the ideal human man is the true monster because of whatever twisted and disgusting stuff he has going on internally. And thus, there is a switch; the human takes the "monster's" place as the bad guy.

Here's a clip of the makeup done on the Fish Man for the film.

Video: YouTube