Destructive Authenticity in Full Focus

The Whale is the latest “controversial” film in which the average moviegoer will struggle to discern where exactly the controversy lies. It follows Charlie (Brendan Fraser), a morbidly obese, couch-bound gay man as he reckons with his impending, slow-motion suicide-by-fast-food. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, the film is adapted from a play by Samuel Hunter (who also wrote the screenplay) and follows an intimate cast as they move in and out of Charlie’s claustrophobic Idaho apartment. All of the characters care deeply about each other even if they do not realize it, and the film unfolds around them learning to be honest with themselves and those they love. While “honesty” is the central theme of the film, it is a particularly modern conception of honesty—one that prizes subjective authenticity as the highest ideal.