Ark of the Lost Angels

Recently, I wrote a piece inspired by Mary Shelley’s classic novel, Frankenstein. The novel touches on the nature of humanity, the motivations of a mad scientist, and what could the ramifications of playing god could have for humanity by telling the story of Victor Frankenstein, a man who brought to life an artificial human known only as the Creature through obscure alchemic practices.

The short story I wrote was a bit derivative, however it posed the Creature (now known as Monty) from Shelley’s novel as an experiment of a Nazi scientist during the Second World War, as a way to engineer super soldiers to aid in Hitler’s conquest of the world. Now, what story isn’t made better by mad Nazi science mixed with the SS’ rumored occultism? Probably a large number are better off without crazy Nazis, but in this case, it makes things a bit more fun, updates a classic to be a bit more modern in its setting, and allows new questions to be asked.

One of Shelley’s points in the original novel was to point out that science should be documented, should be out in the open, and that the question should always be debated on whether or not it is a good idea to do something that can absolutely be done. Victor in the novel follows none of these rules, as science wasn’t regulated in 1818 when Shelley wrote it. He ends up unleashing a destructive Creature hell-bent on revenge into the world (it should be also noted that the Creature’s quest for revenge was motivated by Victor screwing him multiple times), but the point is that such a thing never would have happened had Victor been part of the larger scientific community. A scientific community that we now have in global society. A scientific community that we’ve had for the last century and a half.

But the Nazis? They ignored that during the Second World War. Josef Mengele’s experiments ignored any scientific or medical standards, any morals, and any human decency, and it was purely to make people suffer. Imperial Japan did the same with Unit 731 (WARNING: The experiments Unit 731 conducted were extremely grisly, more so than Mengele’s. Even the descriptions on the Wikipedia article are deeply unsettling) in the Pacific. Both of these entities showed a disregard for the standards that scientists should follow in conducting their experiments. In Victor’s case, his experiments were horrifying because there were no checks or balances, but in Nazi Germany’s and Imperial Japan’s cases, the experiments are so horrifying because they ignored the practices already in place.

And that is the big point about remakes, or taking inspiration from another’s work. They should bring something new to the table, and the authors of the new versions should seek to bring something of their own to the piece, to make it their own. Victor created the Creature to prove he was better than everyone else, whereas in my story, Franz Stern (Victor’s adaptation) created Monty for the glory of the Fatherland, in service to a divinely granted quest. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant. Victor’s goal is to show a god complex and how far one will go to fuel their ego, while my goal was to show how far one will go for a cause they zealously believe in.

And that’s why adaptations and remakes can be a good thing. Every story in some way or another is a retelling or a remake. It’s the lens we craft it through and view it with, it’s the touches of the author, it’s the differences between them that allow for what makes a derivative or adaptational or replicated piece memorable.