The Whale - Darren Aronofsky's new film with Brendan Fraser in a fat suit

[The Cunting Death]

I never thought much of Pi but I like the cinematography. Requiem for a Dream is great. Maybe a masterpiece. I loved The Fountain and never understood why people rip on that one.

Pi should have clicked with me but it didn't.

Requiem I thought was completely overrated, with the only character I gave a shit about being Ellen Burstyns character. I've tried to like it, seen the film five times now and I keep feeling the same. Great soundtrack and editing though.

The fountain isn't bad but again, didn't click. I get why people like it though.

Already mentioned Wrestler, Black Swan was alright first watch but it gets worse every other watch, and Noah was just shit.

 

[BrunoMattei]

Pi should have clicked with me but it didn't.

Requiem I thought was completely overrated, with the only character I gave a shit about being Ellen Burstyns character. I've tried to like it, seen the film five times now and I keep feeling the same. Great soundtrack and editing though.

The fountain isn't bad but again, didn't click. I get why people like it though.

Already mentioned Wrestler, Black Swan was alright first watch but it gets worse every other watch, and Noah was just shit.

Fair enough. I agree that Black Swan gets worse on a rewatch.

 

[KEKMUHLORD]

Just watched it a couple days ago. The only reason worth seeing it is for Frasers performance. As it really feels like he is tapping into everything he has gone thru in the last couple years and delivers a fantastic performance. Hated his daughter. She was just a straight up ass/bitch to him the whole movie.

Have not really watched Aronofsky films besides this one. His films are definitely not as bad as what some people have told me. Will probably watch the Wrestler after this one. As that seems to be the one most people like.

 

[The Cunting Death]

Just watched it a couple days ago. The only reason worth seeing it is for Frasers performance. As it really feels like he is tapping into everything he has gone thru in the last couple years and delivers a fantastic performance. Hated his daughter. She was just a straight up ass/bitch to him the whole movie.

Have not really watched Aronofsky films besides this one. His films are definitely not as bad as what some people have told me. Will probably watch the Wrestler after this one. As that seems to be the one most people like.

The Wrestler is a legitimately heartwrenching film and it uses Aronofsky's talents to his best. I can't name much wrong with it personally. Probably one of my favorites of the late 2000s.

 

[BrunoMattei]

The Wrestler is a legitimately heartwrenching film and it uses Aronofsky's talents to his best. I can't name much wrong with it personally. Probably one of my favorites of the late 2000s.

If his career ended there that would have been a good conclusion.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I watched the Wrestler yesterday and felt like it might have had more impact if I was more knowledgeable in wrestling and the decline in their status and wealth. It's interesting that it and The Whale have common plot elements and a very similar ending.

 

[TVB]

I watched the Wrestler yesterday and felt like it might have had more impact if I was more knowledgeable in wrestling and the decline in their status and wealth. It's interesting that it and The Whale have common plot elements and a very similar ending.

The Wrestler is a masterpiece.

 

[SamTheEagle]

This is probably a pretty basic take, but I think the ending was in Charlie's head. His daughter stormed out the door, and he imagined her staying behind to read him the essay. She's so full of spite that I don't think she'd stay to humor him. And she absolutely was trying to ruin the missionary's life.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie, especially Fraser's performance. It's my first Aronofsky film, so I can't compare it to his others.

 

[Null]

Watched it and liked it. Just general thoughts I could form into paragraphs if I wanted to:

• I don't know exactly who the Moby Dick is in the obvious allegory they were trying to set up. Maybe each character had their own white whale?
• Fraser's attempt to reconnect with his daughter is almost wholesome, but any father that had the capacity to be so patient and optimistic with their child would not have abandoned them to begin with.
• The idea that a creepy old gay man would not commit murder to get at a young straight white Christian man broke my suspension of disbelief harder than anything.
• His daughter had no redeeming qualities as a person and I'm not sure what they were going for. I hated her more than I hated anyone else.
• The Asian getting upset he had money when he offered to give her money does not make sense to me.
• The honesty motif with the writing didn't connect with the rest of the story.

Main issue I had was the ending.

it implies that he ascends to heaven as a being of pure light. I think they want you to feel he has in some way redeemed himself by trying to help his daughter. I'm not sure how that would make sense.

• His daughter is only so broken and evil to begin with because of he abandoned her.
• Dying in front of her definitely fucked her up in the head more.
• Even while actively trying to repair his relationship with her, he allowed himself to binge eat and denied himself medical care to save money, when clearly she just needed him as a dad more than she needed his money.
• His ascension to heaven directly contradicts the biblical message about denying carnal desires because he is literally indulging every desire he has until the second he dies.

I feel like the ending makes sense only if you view it through the most nihilistic lens possible.

Brendan Fraser, having completely ruined his own life and the lives of at least three other people in the process, receives a death sentence and decides to commit to it. In a final week of never-ending self-indulgence, he eats continuously, takes his anger at god out on a random missionary, torpedoed his own online classes so he could self-aggrandize senseless platitudes about honest. His daughter is called up to beg in his life again, knowing he is going to die and with reckless disregard for how it would affect her, just because he wanted to see her one last time (and he lies to himself that she is a good person so that he does not need to take responsibility for her horrific cruelty). As he dies, he imagines himself a redeemed angel ascending to heaven - but this is merely his imagination's final act of wish fulfillment as his heart stops.

It's possible that's the intention. There's enough going on to leave you puzzling. My question is if you're supposed to feel bad for Fraser or see him as a selfish prick. I expected the plot to be about him overcoming adversity to fix his life, but instead he seems to get a medical diagnosis and decide he's going to make it everybody else's problem.

 

[Lidl Drip]

I think this movie sucked. When he was crying to his daughter that he was sorry he abandoned her but "he was in love" I wanted to vomit. In the end when he walks towards her as she reads the essay I had to shield my eyes cause I was cringing so hard.

0/10 because it didn't end with him burning in hell along with his dead gay boyfriend.

 

[LordofCringe7206 Vol. 2]

I saw it the other night. I have to be honest: I didn't really like it. It comes across as pure Oscars bait and nothing more. Very over-dramatic in its tone, there are scenes that shouldn't be laughed at but you end up doing so anyway. In my opinion it should have been more modeled after things like that Tonya Harding movie or that Tommy Lee/Pamela Anderson miniseries that aired last year: some dark comedic overtones mixed in with the serious, dramatic plot points.

Fraser's character should have been portrayed differently. You don't have to portray him as being as evil as someone like Steven Assanti is, but they made him appear a little too "clean" so to speak. Even the decent morbidly obese people usually have some really bad personality traits, it is why they end up in the position they end up in. He should have came across as more selfish and like an addict.

I know people were rooting for Fraser given what he went through over the last decade. Hence why I think a lot of people were heaping praise on this film, seeing him as an underdog that was finally remerging. He did an okay job, I just think his character and the overall story could have been better handled compared to what we got. What's Eating Gilbert Grape while not exactly the same type of film did a better job with this subject matter.

 

[Jah Hates Kaffirs]

I despised this film, and Missionarybro deserved better then being made a secret homophobe!!! in his final scene.

 

[TVB]

So I watched it a couple nights ago and I really liked it.

 

[Sniperwoof]

I saw it the other night. I have to be honest: I didn't really like it. It comes across as pure Oscars bait and nothing more. Very over-dramatic in its tone, there are scenes that shouldn't be laughed at but you end up doing so anyway. In my opinion it should have been more modeled after things like that Tonya Harding movie or that Tommy Lee/Pamela Anderson miniseries that aired last year: some dark comedic overtones mixed in with the serious, dramatic plot points.

Fraser's character should have been portrayed differently. You don't have to portray him as being as evil as someone like Steven Assanti is, but they made him appear a little too "clean" so to speak. Even the decent morbidly obese people usually have some really bad personality traits, it is why they end up in the position they end up in. He should have came across as more selfish and like an addict.

Did we watch the same film? He's pretty consistantly portrayed as a selfish shithead throughout the entire film. The only thing saving Charlie from being the film's biggest asshole is his daughter is an even bigger one.

 

[HodgePodgeRogerDodger]

@Null

don't know exactly who the Moby Dick is in the obvious allegory they were trying to set up. Maybe each character had their own white whale?

Every character (the Nurse, the Missionary, and the Daughter) is Ishmael. Someone who is more or less an outcast as they all share the trait of wandering and being an effective orphan. I would say the mother is Ahab because she outright sees Fraser and the Daughter as evil as in Moby Dick Ahab sees Dick as evil and cruel.

The idea that a creepy old gay man would not commit murder to get at a young straight white Christian man broke my suspension of disbelief harder than anything.

I think it ties in to the idea that Fraser’s lover did regret their relationship and there is more than abusive religion going on.

The Asian getting upset he had money when he offered to give her money does not make sense to me.

I think your overthinking it. He has Munchausen’s. When everyone is there he can’t keep his manipulation straight. The money for his daughter is a further abuse those around him while generating pity.

The honesty motif with the writing didn't connect with the rest of the story.

I think it’s because he can’t be honest with his own intentions or his own nature. Everything he does is self-aggrandizing and he basically wants everyone justify his own beliefs by calling him disgusting. He’s a giant misery golem.

it implies that he ascends to heaven as a being of pure light. I think they want you to feel he has in some way redeemed himself by trying to help his daughter. I'm not sure how that would make sense

It might be a further reference to Moby Dick as in the book the color white is something multi-faceted. Moby Dick’s albino appearance is off putting and not a pure white. I would go on, but Moby Dick is something that’s very autistic. It’s a history of whaling, a revenge story, a coming of age story, and a lot of other things.

I think the whole point of the daughters essay is effectively Fraser’s character (and his daughter) clinging to the idea that Fraser is anything other than something that will ruin the others around him. I think the dead gay boyfriend might be Ahab because he basically tried to save Fraser/ Fraser was his white whale and Fraser ended up killing him.

I just watched the movie with my brother and loved Moby Dick as a teenager. The whaling bit tickled my autism.

 

[Null]

So I'm right and the point is that he's a huge dickhead

I despised this film, and Missionarybro deserved better then being made a secret homophobe!!! in his final scene.

Thomas was the main character and as far as I'm concerned his story is just proof he was right to trust Gawd's Plan.

 

[TVB]

Thomas was the main character and as far as I'm concerned his story is just proof he was right to trust Gawd's Plan.

Plus, his life being more pathetic was more justified.

 

[Next Task]

So I'm right and the point is that he's a huge dickhead

That's not the point they intend, but it's a point they've accidentally made because it's not well-written.

I still like my ending better, where he dies at the end but in doing so crushes his daughter under his immense weight. It fades to white before you see it, but given where they both were when he goes into the light it's a likely consequence.

 

[HodgePodgeRogerDodger]

So I'm right and the point is that he's a huge dickhead


Thomas was the main character and as far as I'm concerned his story is just proof he was right to trust Gawd's Plan.

I think every character basically is exploring why Charlie is a piece of shit. The Missionary is the one he is most abusive to overtly, his daughter and wife are more covert, and the Nurse/ brother is something passive and unspoken.

The whole Charlie confronting him thing spells out that Charlie views himself as vile and is the only time Charlie seems to be honest

I think the pizza driver is effectively to directly parallel how he emotionally guilt tripped his wife. His role is slight, but I think it serves to drive home how repulsive Charlie is. The guy actually wants to connect with Charlie and his disgust seems to be partially on how he helped Charlie get to that point.

Unsure about the exact meaning of the birds and if they tie into the Moby Dick allegory. Charlie seems to be baiting them and they might just be unrelated to the Moby Dick allegory.

 

[Null]

Unsure about the exact meaning of the birds and if they tie into the Moby Dick allegory. Charlie seems to be baiting them and they might just be unrelated to the Moby Dick allegory.

Reddit says that the birds are only visible before someone knocks on his door. There's some weird symbolism with how the birds eat healthily (fruit) and only appear in sequence before someone shows up at his house. Then the daughter breaks the plate. The Birds are everything the Whale is not. They eat well, they are free to fly away, they are happy when visitors show up, and are taken care of - which Ellie also seems to resent. They also supposedly show how Fraser's character wants to take care of everything except himself, which I don't agree with since he doesn't do that. He's just bribing them to show up, really, like Ellie.