In Darren Aronofsky’s film, the character is portrayed by Brendan Fraser’s 2022 American psychological drama film The Whale. The movie is based on a script written by Samuel D. Hunter, who also wrote the same-named play in 2012.
Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins, Samantha Morton, and Hong Chau appear in the movie. In his role as an English teacher, Fraser separates himself from his pupils while attempting to repair his connection with his daughter, a teenager. A24 released The Whale in the US on December 9, 2022, following the movie’s global debut on July 16 at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2022.
In addition, the 80th Golden Globe Awards recognized Fraser with a Best Actor nomination. Charlie, a reclusive professor of English who weighs 600 pounds and offers online college writing classes, keeps his camera off out of fear of embarrassing the pupils with his appearance.
Liz, Charlie’s nurse and lone friend, begs Charlie to go to the hospital since he is in danger of developing congestive heart failure. Thomas, a missionary for the New Life Church, also visits him and attempts to share the gospel with him.
‘The Whale’ Ending Explained
As the story progresses, we learn more about Charlie’s sexual orientation and how, after the death of his ex-lover and former pupil Alan, he started to gain weight. He began to overeat and shut down due to the chokehold that loss had placed on him, and he finally needed a caretaker to take care of him.
Even though he hasn’t spoken to his children in a long time and she doesn’t want to be in contact with him, he must make an effort to contact her when she is a teenager. He persists and says he’s sorry for being such a distant and uninvolved parent even though his ex-wife Mary who Samantha Mortin plays, also doesn’t want him to visit Ellie. It is known that Ellie has her demons and has been harassing individuals online.
On Facebook, she also shares pictures of Charlie. He continues to eat due to the strain and work it takes to care for his family, and his physical and mental health declines. After learning that he had congestive heart failure, he consciously decided to live in the moment and express himself honestly, without holding back or feeling remorse. Unfortunately, this involves continuously indulging in food.
The Meaning Behind The End Of The Whale
The Whale addresses various topics, including sexuality, the need for connection, and guilt related to growing up in a rigorously religious home. The idea of redemption is the movie’s most potent one. Charlie’s yearning to be pardoned by Ellie—the sole action he believes can free him of his previous transgressions—is made clear in The Whale. Thomas works hard to convert Charlie to Christianity because he, too, wants to be saved.
The movie points out that while Charlie works hard to gain atonement, it must also originate from a desire to make apologies in the first place. The Whale also addresses being oneself regardless of what others may think. Despite his empathy for others, Charlie hides a lot out of a great deal of shame he feels, whether it be for his sexuality or his weight.
But the movie version suggests that being truthful to oneself and others and being courageous to be blatantly genuine to oneself are beautiful qualities. Notably, The Whale also examines how a person could cope with sorrow, whether that grief stems from losing a significant partner to death or losing a parent and having to cope. But, of course, everyone responds to it uniquely, and Aronofsky’s film illustrates various experiences.
What is Charlie attempting to achieve in the last scene?
Charlie’s ultimate desire is to be honest with everyone in his immediate vicinity. He reprimands Thomas for labeling him as “disgusting” and refuses to offer an apology to Thomas for being gay.
He understands that Ellie is only looking for acceptance, despite her outward appearance of cynicism. Even better, he makes eye contact with his pupils and expresses appreciation for some of their recent message board comments that he thought were more sincere than their earlier work.
In the film’s climactic moments, what happens to Charlie?
Charlie is terminally ill in his final hours but will not be sent to the hospital. He makes an effort to stand as he grows close to Ellie. Finally, Charlie passes away and enters a fabricated vision of paradise due to the difficulty of relocating and his general mental state.
The use of religious iconography in Aronofsky’s works has been a recurring theme. These same stories of the Bible-inspiring mother are explicitly addressed in Noah and The Fountain regarding the afterlife, faith, spirituality, and other topics! Charlie can feel proud and unafraid as he reaches his end.
What happened to Charlie in the pivotal scenes of the movie?
Charlie is dying and won’t go to the hospital, even though he is fatally ill. As he gets closer to Ellie, he attempts to rise. Due to his mental condition and the difficulties of moving, Charlie dies and joins a made-up version of heaven.
The usage of religious imagery has appeared frequently in Aronofsky’s works. Noah and The Fountain extensively discuss the afterlife, faith, spirituality, and other subjects about the same story of the Bible-inspiring mother! As his life concludes, Charlie is capable of feeling secure and unafraid.
In The Whale, does Charlie pass away?
Charlie is doing poorly financially, and The Whale doesn’t waste any time demonstrating this. He starts to have trouble breathing and is on the verge of fainting. Charlie is fortunate to have the young missionary Thomas as Simpkins present to assist him.
By reading an article on Moby Dick, Charlie can regain his calm. Even with all of this, Charlie is confident that he won’t visit the hospital since he couldn’t afford it. Liz, who comes and observes this along with Ellie’s mother, finds out that Charlie used the money as leverage to get Ellie to spend more time with him.
Even before his friend and caregiver, Liz Chau, arrives, she informs him that his blood pressure is dangerously high and that, if he does not attend the hospital, he may pass away from heart failure by the week’s conclusion.
Instead, he tries to rekindle his relationship with his sister Ellie, whom he abandoned when she turned eight years old, and Charlie moved in with their new partner after coming out of the closet. She is rightfully furious with him, but Charlie persuades her to remain by promising to help her with her studies and to give her all he has—which is more than $100,000.
Although Ellie seldom relinquishes her wrath towards him and even offers Ambien to put him to sleep, they spend a couple of days understanding each other. Charlie orders delivery of his meal, and the customary delivery man drops it on his porch as usual after everyone has departed. However, the delivery man observes Charlie for the first time whenever Charlie goes to get it, and his shocked expression causes Charlie to go on an eating spree.
Liz verifies that Charlie’s time is almost up the next day. Ellie barges in, angry because Charlie gave her an F on the essay she was supposed to submit. It happened when Charlie had Thomas listen to an article by Moby Dick that wasn’t about the subject Ellie had been given. When she was younger, Ellie had written an essay, which Charlie praised as a well-written, genuine article.
Why does Mary want Charlie to stay away from Ellie?
Charlie routes himself as openly homosexual and admits that he once dated Alan, one of his previous pupils. Liz, Alan’s sister, was called to help care for Charlie after Alan died because he started overeating. As terms of their agreement, Mary prevents Charlie from getting in touch with Ellie; when she learns that he has invited her to see him, she becomes furious.
While Charlie expresses regret for his shortcomings as a father, he makes no apologies about his sexual orientation. One of the movie’s most moving moments has Charlie opposing the homophobic messages that the missionary youngster Thomas, played by Ty Simpkins, teaches.
Charlie routes himself as openly homosexual and admits that he once dated Alan, one of his previous pupils. Liz, Alan’s sister, was called to help care for Charlie after Alan died because he started overeating. As part of their agreement, Mary prevents Charlie from getting in touch with Ellie; when she learns he has invited her to visit him, she becomes furious.
While Charlie expresses regret for his shortcomings as a father, he makes no apologies about his sexual orientation. One of the movie’s most moving moments has Charlie opposing the homophobic messages that the missionary youngster Thomas, played by Ty Simpkins, teaches.
