INTRO
 
 
 
You'll know within the first 5 seconds of the film if you'll enjoy it or not. Brendan Fraser is shown jacking off to gay porn when a Nick Fuentes look-a-like walks in on him. This is probably the only part of the film that felt excessive and overplayed to me. It reeked of edgy streaming platforms that (unbound by basic cable decency laws) put an absurd amount of shock value to keep the retard consumer's  increasingly low attention span engaged. For example, I tried watching "The Last Czars" with my mom a few years back, but it opens up with an orgy. I'm no prude, but c'mon, it's just awkward, and distracting if not relevant to the plot. 
      
But that's my main argument for why you should watch "The Whale." I think every bit of uncomfortableness and crude detail was relevant to the story. And you could even argue the first scene was as well because throughout the film every slight moment of joy is immediately snatched from Brendan with excruciating pain. He laughs at a joke then wheezes and clutches his heart. He starts to gorge on a sub then begins to choke. This is why some people claim it's a fatphobic film. I thought it was fake outrage and clickbait, but I think many fatties are genuinely upset. Because Aronofsky does what he does best: puts an artsy magnifying glass on the hideous reality of his character study. And yet, Brendan's character has so many redeeming qualities and the story has so many relatable elements you walk away feeling satisfied & bonded with the characters. Unlike his other film, "Requiem For A Dream," that makes you feel gross, anxious, and guilty; thankful you can't relate. 
  

1.) REBUTTALS
 

The camera basically never leaves the premises of his apartment, which he confines himself in due to his shut in obese gay guy lifestyle. The lighting in the apartment is done pretty well, but the camera work is stiff and not very dynamic; lots of shots of people's faces and cuts during conversations between characters.

~MondoMirth
 

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I know that other plays and musicals that have been adapted to the silver screen like "RENT" don't stick to the limits that broadway confines them in. They have scenes on public transport and outside in the sun, etc. But even those films have distinct blocking inspired from the source material. So I think you should cut "The Whale" a break because it's based on a play, but also because it makes sense plot-wise.
  
   
On a promo panel, ( 11:24-15:45),  the playwright talks about why he and Darren decided to keep it in the apartment and not "open it up." I agree with the panel speakers about the restrictions making it a unique moviegoing experience that requires more creativity elsewhere to balance it out, and that it makes it stand out like "Phonebooth" or "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Besides, the character never leaves his home, the scenery should be depressing and claustrophobic.  
     


 

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Wasn't really able to wrap my mind around the fact that an intellectual like  Charlie thought that Ellie was purely good even with all the opposing facts.

~MusaSenpai

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So mainly he's in denial because he's her father and all parents have a blindspot. But also because he's been saving every penny for her college fund so if she's a piece of sh*t, it invalidates his purpose in life. Remember the tearjerker of a scene when Brendan's character cries out, "I need to know I did one thing right in my life!"
    

     
But you're missing the main reason he defends her and why the audience should sympathize with her too (even if she is a mega c*nt). Because a recurringly prevalent theme was brutal honesty. Brendan loved her essay because she spoke the truth. He was constantly trying to get his students to write anything from the heart, no matter how poorly written. Likewise, the fake Evangelical people in his life that had (at least from Charlie's perspective) unrealistic expectations and standards caused his gay lover to commit suicide from the pressure of living a lie. His Asian nurse friend even has a monologue about how her religious father pretended it was an accidental drowning instead of admitting the truth that his son was a homo. Brendan also climactically practices what he preaches and reveals his face on camera before smashing the laptop.  
 
      
They even have bright white light shine from the outside when Ellie confronts her dad. In the beginning and the end. Her making him stand up and walk to her is not just being cruel for the sake of it. It's holding him to a standard others don't. Giving him the tough love he needs. The brutal honesty required for him to see the reality of his disgusting predicament, and encouragement to face/overcome it.
  



     
   

      
And as someone on Plebbit pointed out, the bright white ending credits served as an (unintentionally meta?) final example of this symbolism.
    
 
( Ngl, I was crying like a bitch at the end too. )
   
  
 
 
Which is why his other famous line in the trailer, "Do you ever get the feeling, that people are incapable of not caring?" is so fitting. If she truly was a sociopathic twat she would not have weeped and fought so hard to save her Dad. That's why when she is storming out saying, "F*ck you. F*ck you!" and swings open the door, & is slapped in the face with bright white sunlight, she shows her true colors as an insecure little girl overcompensating for her daddy/abandonment issues.
 
 

"Daddy, please!"
 
 
But it's more than that. It might have been a happy accident, but when she secretly recorded the young bible thumper kid & sent it to his family, it actually saved his relationship with them.
    
 

  
Perhaps this is what Charlie saw and admired in his daughter. Maybe it wasn't just him being naive and optimistic, but that he could see through her girlboss façade. 
 

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All the characters are kind of bland and circular in their reasoning and beliefs. A synthetic feeling saturates this story, every interaction is predictable and leads to some sort of vague aphorism about people being amazing, a reference to Moby D**k or skeptical take on, or a deconstruction of, Christian Evangelism. Charlie repeatedly talks about how he values is honestly, but lies to everyone around him. All he or anyone in this film want is to gratify their personal desire of feeling like they've done something good with THEIR life, because putting anything like faith or family before their desire would be dishonest.

~MondoMirth

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I disagree wholeheartedly and think the realism & relatability of the characters is why this Oscar Bait film won me over in the end. I don't think it's trying to be Oscar Bait or woke, but the subject matter in and of itself makes it so. However, the playwright wrote his own experience as a gay man growing up in a super religious community in Idaho, as a college English teacher, and as an obese man who ate his feelings. Which is why nothing felt forced while watching for me. Every single scenario, character, and environment reminded me of something in my own life. For better or for worse, I think most of it just doesn't ring true for non-Americans.
 
As for the altruism and selfishness thing, I think that was the main point and takeaway of the film. And what the reference to Moby D**k was really about. But more on that later...
 
 

2.) PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
 

The only thing that felt synthetic about the story was the race swapped nurse. But she was a great actress and had good chemistry with the rest of the cast. So whatever, no big deal. 
      

      
And a nurse who smokes is not some quirky paradoxical prop. It's an archetype I've met a couple times before IRL. I think that's the main issue. This film will just seem depressing and bizarre to non-Americans. I hate to admit it, but the lard ass stereotype is true for my nation. And I know severely obese people whose eyes glaze over the way Brendan's did when the reptilian part of his brain took control. The way he ate using his lips for grip more than his hands was perfect. Such precise details made his performance that much more impressive, but if you're not an Amerimutt it might go unappreciated. I know one severely obese acquaintance of the family who's gawked at whenever she goes shopping, so she's in a vicious cycle of indefinitely staying at home ordering food in, avoiding exercise 'n sunlight. Another acquaintance ate herself to death a couple years back. Hard to fathom but my mom said it was like hoarders, a psychological tick. Both ladies are sweethearts like Charlie too so it's hard to disdain them like I do when I see ham-planets in electric wheelchairs at Walmart. Which is why I'm so pleased with "The Whale." It simultaneously fat shamed while painting a heartwarming depiction of obesity in Middle America.
 
   
 
 
Speaking of which, I've hitchiked and driven all over America. The dinky apartments, the open plains, the Bible belt culture, all of it was portrayed accurately. Because unlike the typical Hollywood bugman who writes a caricature of what they think people in "fly over country" are like, the playwright is writing from experience. Dead on.
       

   
Which is why I didn't mind the anti-Christian themes throughout. Again, the subject matter screams woke Oscar bait trash. But the execution swayed me. Most users of this site are religious or at least pro-religion. Many of us see the violent muzzies imported into Europe, or the degenerate Drag Queen Story Hour stuff and we instinctively become outspoken proponents of Christianity. But I think Trad Caths, Orthobros, and really any regular Christian in Europe might be oblivious to how crazy our brand of Christianity is. Aside from the Israel worship and doomsday prophecies, it's just very culty. I know dozens of people who steal and smoke weed like the young Christian in "The Whale" did while also going around trying to save everyone else. Sorry to say, but the two faced holier-than-thou critique the film had of Evangelicals is pretty accurate. :/
   
 
Likewise, I know most gay guys are not like Charlie. They are hypersexualized perverts who go clubbing every weekend and w***e around. Very catty and prone to gossip. However, gay men like Charlie do exist  even if they are the exception. One that comes to mind is the gay uncle of an ex gf. A mild mannered professor type living in Montreal. Another is a guy I met traveling. He was closeted and had 3 kids then started going to bisexual support groups in his 40's and came to terms that he was full blown gay. He separated with his wife but kept contact & support with all of his family but now lives with his boyfriend. I think the difference is these oldschool gays grew up back when you had some standards of decency. It wasn't a free pass to disregard all social norms & chimp out daily like Ezra Miller does. The pendulum has obviously swung too far in the other direction, but still, I can't help but sympathize with gay men who struggle with their proclivities and are productive members of society. Must really suck to grow up gay in a podunk Evangelical town.
    
     

Another thing that may seem cliché is the supposed deadbeat dad who was actually trying to contact his kid(s) for years. The bitter single mom hides the letters or something like that until the kid finally finds out in their 20's. Well my best friend growing up had that exact scenario occur.
 

 
Divorce rape is real, and many kids get a biased view of their dad. So this part in the script also felt very real:
   

  
 
 
 
  
 
Which is why I also disagree with the claim that the characters are bland. I thought they all had justifiable origin stories and excuses. For example, the mom reveals that she kept Ellie from Charlie for fear of him blaming her for being a bad mother.   You understand why Ellie is such a brat but also why Charlie wasn't around. ( Oh, and Ellie being a feisty ball of fire is like most red heads I know, especially the ones in the South. Just sayin. )
  
     
I could go on and on and on. Bottom line: sorry Europoors, if you don't want to chop your foreskin off and start chugging 6 liters of Mountain Dew a day, you won't be able to relate to this movie. ????‍♀️
 
   

3.) SYMBOLISM / THEMES
 


I already went into the honesty/white light symbolism but there are so many layers and possible interpretations that I wanna' say a bit more. If you watch interviews with the creators they are intentionally ambiguous and leave things up to interpretation. Especially the ending. I'll just say that despite the very anti-Christian subplot, I gave the film only 3/5 "Fedora Tipping" because I believe Charlie dies and goes to heaven. I don't think he literally floats, but it doubles as symbolism of him overcoming his personal demons/living in the shadows about his disgusting physical state. And shows that he is finally free of that pain and suffering as he leaves his body.
      

 

   
 
I'm not sure what the ocean waves represent. The obvious first layer is that the film is called "The Whale" and references Moby D**k. And aside from any metaphors, the sounds in the background simply serve as a soundtrack of intensity that build to a climax. But my take is that it represents the same duality that the movie "Garden State" expresses approval of. In "Garden State" Zach Braff's character numbs himself with a prescription cocktail so he feels no pain. But thanks to a manic pixie dream girl he realizes that it's better to accept the depression, heartbreak, and misery because at least he can feel something. And because you must accept their counterparts in order to feel the highlights of life.
 
      
(Spoiler alert! Script screenshots:)
  


   
This would coincide with the accepting reality/being honest themes that are most prevalent & explicit all over "The Whale." Think about the anecdote he recalls to his ex wife. He talks about how great it felt to walk in the waves but how he got cut up and bled everywhere. And the fact that she got mad at him could possibly be perceived as how society often reacts to people being honest and wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Like his gay ex lover who killed himself being denied by his father even after death. Not sure, but I also thought it might represent his connection with his daughter and how they reconciled at the end. Lastly, I think the waves crashing behind his black screen at the beginning of the film might hint at the inner turmoil underneath. "What you resist, persists." He bottled up all these emotions and they manifested into disgusting vices.
 
  
 
  
Another one I'm uncertain about is the bird. I think it represents his hope. He was feeding it right before he tried getting his eating disorder under control. Whereas the plate he fed it with was smashed right before he was exposed to the pizzaman. Which sent him on an extreme self-loathing binge until he puked.   And not to sound like a broken record but Ellie facing the photo of him and his ex boyfriend towards the bird might be more confirmation about not misdirecting sorely needed self-help into saving others. 
 
  
  
(Spoiler alert! Script screenshots:)
 


Which leads me to the hypocrisy MondoMirth pointed out:
 

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All he or anyone in this film want is to gratify their personal desire of feeling like they've done something good with THEIR life, because putting anything like faith or family before their desire would be dishonest.

~MondoMirth

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I think that's the main takeaway from the movie and what the Moby D**k references are pointing out. It's a feature not a bug. Ellie notices the bird and then her equivalent enters the apartment. The bible thumper kid she saves in her own f**ked up way. That's why her essay was such a crucial plot point. She was brutally honest and pointed out that the author and the readers are obsessing over the miserable life of Captain Abe to distract from their own sh**ty lives. It might even be a meta critique on the playwright himself since he was a fat, gay, failing college professor when writing an exaggerated worse off version of himself. 
  

  
(Spoiler alert! Script screenshots:)
 

 

But every central character has a codependent relationship they enable as a form of escapism. The kid wants to save Charlie. Charlie wants to save his daughter. The Asian nurse wants to save Charlie (although enables him with food). Charlie feeds his bird and tried to save his gay ex. Etc. etc. Maybe that's what Ellie smashing his bird feeding plate represented, tough love v.s. enabling. She was the antithesis to the Asian nurse. Maybe he's right when he says she wasn't trying to hurt the bible kid. And maybe he's right that despite the fact we're all in denial, none of us are wholly altruistic, and we're often hypocrites, we're still amazing. We still help each other and are incapable of not caring. No matter how dysfunctional our relationships are.