Vital Resistances: Guillermo Del Toro’s Eco-Ethical Posthumanism
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This article explores the anti-authoritarian vision of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro through a comparative analysis of Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017). Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Jane Bennett, and Donna Haraway, the study argues that Del Toro’s cinema articulates a sophisticated politics rooted in monster theory, new materialism, and posthumanist ethics. By examining how marginalised protagonists – such as Ofelia and Elisa – forge ‘more-than-human’ alliances with ‘vibrant’ nonhuman actants, the author demonstrates how Del Toro employs enchantment to disrupt anthropocentric and fascist ideologies. Ultimately, these films champion radical empathy and the intrinsic value of all beings. Del Toro’s work transforms the ‘monstrous’ into a site of resistance, offering a vision of ecological reverence and interspecies kinship.
Source: Green Letters
Author: Cheryl Lynn Ross
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7147418178