The Many Faces of the Other in Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water

Bucciferro discusses the film The Shape of Water directed by Guillermo del Toro. She interrogates the way The Shape of Water represents issues of otherness and power by highlighting characters from historically marginalized groups, while presenting a plotline that subverts traditional patriarchal au...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inQuarterly review of film and video Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 421 - 437
Main Author Bucciferro, Claudia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia Routledge 02.05.2023
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Characters (Roles)
Film studies
Motion picture criticism
Otherness
Power
Toro, Guillermo del (1964- )
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Summary:Bucciferro discusses the film The Shape of Water directed by Guillermo del Toro. She interrogates the way The Shape of Water represents issues of otherness and power by highlighting characters from historically marginalized groups, while presenting a plotline that subverts traditional patriarchal authority, introducing a masculine humanoid monster as a metaphor for addressing questions regarding embodiment and difference. The analysis suggests that, at its core, the film explores what it means to be human, how people define the boundaries of humanity, and how different embodiments position individuals within social mappings of power. The movie poses questions about the legitimate ways of policing those boundaries and about common people's ability to disrupt abusive practices.
ISSN:1050-9208
1543-5326
DOI:10.1080/10509208.2021.2021053