“There’s a young man. I tend to his grave. I talk to him.”
This article contains spoilers for the film Lisa Frankenstein as well as discussions of sexual assault, murder, and struggles with mental health.
In a bubblegum pink house, in a vibrant yet standard American suburb, a grieving girl finds comfort in a cemetery when those around her are about as comforting as the dead. Lisa Frankenstein pulls double duty as both a horror comedy to mindlessly enjoy and a poignant commentary on the suppression of women’s emotions and daily lives. The film Lisa Frankenstein is a victory for abject femininity through its full display of cultural taboos.
Abject horror is not a subgenre but a facet of the genre that involves a display of details that are realistic, visceral, and grotesque. It is about a show of something real yet exaggerated in order to provide commentary on cultural suppression of an idea, action, or facet of personhood. The latter is why abject horror is related to abject femininity. Teeth. Jennifer’s Body. And now, Lisa Frankenstein joins the ranks of horror that explores the world of women’s bodies and personal lives. It is a cult classic in the making, a cheer of victory for women engaging with the horror genre.
“Aunt Flo came for a visit?”
The most shocking part of the film was not the murder, not the revival of the dead, but the period talk. Not once is feminine hygiene shamed or hidden in the dark. Every time it is mentioned, it is done so as a casual part of life. And it is always done by Lisa. This draws a parallel between Lisa– the unconventional, the black sheep of the family, the thing meant to be tucked away– and the aspect of feminine life we have been taught to be ashamed of.
Women’s sexuality and women’s sexual health is a notable component of Lisa Frankenstein. Lisa casually mentions the need to change her pad, she jokes about ‘Aunt Flo’, and she actively pursues sex. Throughout the film Lisa is sex positive, and fights for her interests as well as her right to say no. In media there is a binary opposition between celebration and punishment for character actions. Every time a character takes an action, they will either succeed or fail, thus imposing a meta narrative of celebration or punishment in order to conform to or reject societal standards. Lisa’s sexual and mental health is center stage when media usually shuns, mutes, or outright condemns this. Sexual assault and the consignment of women to mental health institutions is punished thoroughly. This stands in strong contrast to historical representation of women throughout media.
Anti-Vicarious. That is the best way to describe horror. Living out experiences through fiction, despite holding no desire to experience them in real life. Lisa lures another character, Doug, to the cemetery and is an accomplice to his murder, motivated by the rage of being taken advantage of after being roofied at a party. Lisa hides the body of her step-mother because she threatened to send her to an institution for actions that she didn’t even commit. She sews together her corpse lover. All things viewers would be horrified by in real life, but can root for from the comfort of their theater seats lined with red velvet and voyeurism. There is something relatable for many people in Lisa’s experiences of grief and subsequent social ostracization. Her step-mother blames Lisa for everything wrong in their family unit. Her step-sister’s friends leave her out to dry when she needs a ride home. Boys attempt to manipulate and assault her. Her reactionary behavior is thus grounded in something the viewers– particularly the female demographic– can connect to. Therefore, there is a line between what viewers do not want to experience, and what women do experience every day.
“After my mom died, I was diagnosed with traumatic mutism.”
Subversion is the crux of Lisa Frankenstein’s narrative. Lisa’s arc goes from a girl who barely utters a word to a bold and wild conversationalist who takes life by the horns. This is highlighted repeatedly with her father, step-sister, and Doug commenting on how her personality has shifted so dramatically. But the only one who truly attempts to listen to her is Frankenstein– the fellow mute.
Frankenstein is a Victorian Era gentleman who is revived by a lightning storm and further given life by Lisa as she harvests body parts to replace the rotting ones. As he doesn’t have a tongue, he only communicates through grunts and body language. He serves as Lisa’s sounding board as she verbalizes her classic teenage conundrums. Boy drama, familial strains, murder, standard girl dilemmas. As they sit side by side, Lisa discusses her mother’s death and the aftermath where everyone but her wanted to move on. She discusses how this impacted her mental health and how she lost her voice. A woman– historically silenced both for her gender and her trauma– finds her voice with a man who cannot speak, when historically men have always had access to the soap box. Lisa Frankenstein does not shy away from feminine issues and trauma, but uses subversion of audience norms to project its message. Murder and menstrual blood spatter across the big screen in an open dialogue with each other. The film Lisa Frankenstein is a victory for abject femininity through its full display of cultural taboos.
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