Gods and Monsters
This is the beginning of our mainstream movie reviews article in partnership with Zip.ca. Movies with gay themes, old and new, are game for this monthly series. We start with the 1998 classic, “Gods and Monsters”, most notably starring Ian McKellan and Brendan Fraser.
The movie is based on a true story, and McKellan plays the character of James Whale, the retired directory of the original Frankenstein movies. In his old age, Whale suffers a stroke and develops a brain condition described by his doctor as an “electrical storm,” that brings back a flurry of unwanted memories from his past – ones he has been trying to outrun for his entire life. His medication is successful in repressing the memories, but rob him of his lucidity – as a stubborn old homo, this will just not do!
Whale is one heck of a dirty old man, often shocking his ultra-conservative housekeeper, a bustling Hungarian woman who seems to love him despite her religious view that he is hell bound. Freelance reporter Edmund Kay (played by Jack Plotnick) visits Whale in hopes of getting an exclusive interview with him about his days producing the Frankenstein movies. Whale makes the interview into a game, answering a question in exchange for Kay removing an article of clothing.
During his stay in the hospital, his housekeeper hires a new gardener to tend to the yard of his modest mansion. Brendan Fraser plays this character, Clayton Boone, the slightly dumb and very straight gardener who doesn’t seem interested in anything beyond sex with the opposite gender. Whale has an instant liking of him, and takes advantage of Boone’s naivety to work his way closer to the man – offering to sketch his portrait, and using a distracting collar as an excuse to get him to remove his shirt.
But there is more to this attraction than meets the eye. As some of Whale’s more painful memories begin to catch up with him, we learn of the love and loss he experienced during the 1st World War. Boone, an ex-marine, discovers he has more in common with the old poof than he initially thought. However, Whale’s behaviour is bent toward provoking the man – to bring out the monster he needs, to give himself the perfect ending.
A prominent theme of the movie is that of gays in the film industry. It is only fitting that McKellan, a gay man himself, be walking in the footsteps of a someone who shared a similar situation in a less accepting time. In reality it was rumored that Whale was forced out of the film industry because he was openly gay. More likely it was the fact that the film studio bastardized the picture that was supposed to be his masterpiece – an utter failure that he was blamed for. Nevertheless, his heart was no longer in film after that fiasco.
If you haven’t seen “Gods and Monsters”, you should watch it. Not only does it depict a chapter in gay history and an historically important figure from our ranks, but many scenes show Brendan Fraser is in various states of undress!

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