What happens in THE WHALE
An essay on the film from Darren Aronofsky
When The Whale opens, it immediately apologizes for its aspect ratio, while at the same time letting the decision explain itself: what you are about to see will be a reduction of a life into a square box. A single black square bears the emblem, “Instructor,” among a sea of squares containing faces. The voice of Brendan Fraser combines with the image to introduce the main character, a man named Charlie.
Charlie is talking about topic sentences in writing. He does everything he can to convince his students to put in the work and reach for original ideas. He begs them to be honest, authentic. He dismisses a question about not having a webcam while he teaches this online course, remarking, “You’re not missing much.”
This simple scene sets up the expectation that eventually, Charlie will appear to his students to reveal his condition: he is a recluse, locked in his house because of a severe problem of obesity. The audience doesn’t have time to wonder how he came to be in this state before Charlie experiences chest pains. A knock at the door brings in a stranger who quickly recognizes Charlie’s distress. Charlie hands him an essay about the literary classic Moby Dick to read to him.
