The Queer Body of the Whale

Abstract

In many ways, Darren Aronofsky's The Whale is the antithesis of queer film conventions and could even be called an anti-queer film. In the first part of my essay, I will analyze the film from a queer perspective; in the second part, I will explore its English language critical reception. Finally, I will explain why the film cannot be included in the queer canon. The protagonist, Charlie, fails as a husband and father, as a queer partner and as a man, he cannot fully embrace any of the different positions and cannot integrate them. The homosexual and heterosexual moments of his life are separated in time and space, with failure and grief leading to shame and depression, compulsive eating, and humiliation. Charlie commits suicide by gradually eating himself to death. Through his character and story, I will explore the intersectional representations and problematic pathologizations of fatness and gender orientation, internalized homophobia, queer shame, the trauma and regressive state of the desexualized body deprived of the phallus, and the desire to return to heteronormativity, all issues that define the film's narrative. The film has been received by critics mostly with reservations or outright negativity because of its problematic portrayal of both fatness and queerness, out of negative clichés and stereotypical traits. It is not only Charlie who fails, but also the director, Aronofsky. In my essay, I summarize why the film fails to meet the expectations of critics and audiences, and why it has no place in the queer canon.