![]() Likewise, the pie shop where Giles goes to flirt with the clerk quickly transforms into a vector for bigotry, as we watch the clerk homophobically rebuff Giles's advances and then make it clear to a black couple that they aren't welcome in the store. His family life inside that home seems rotten to the core despite the giant smile his wife and kids all wear. Strickland's home is bathed in urine-yellow light and full of so many bizarre '60s decorating cues that it feels surreal. The American NightmareĬonsistently, the most terrifying spaces we encounter in this film at the ones that seem plucked from Norman Rockwell paintings. ![]() We also see this play out in the casting of Hoffstetler, a Soviet spy and therefore an enemy of America, as one of the good guys. By painting Strickland as the monster, del Toro indicts all of the American values Strickland stands for. Strickland's foil is the creature, who is capable of a surprising amount of tenderness and has a literal healing touch. But Strickland is quick to shocking violence and constantly looking for opportunities to position himself as an alpha male. The creature-a freakish aquatic humanoid-should by all accounts assume the role of the monster while Strickland-a clean-cut American ubermensch-should be its hero. The play of heroes and villains in The Shape of Water is one of the film's most clever aspects and a crucial component of its drama. ![]()
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