Tax dollars are funding a Frankenstein-themed festival in Indianapolis Saturday to kick off a year-long celebration of the classic novel’s 200th birthday, according to a preview from Sen. Jeff Flake’s upcoming Wastebook 2017.
The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded Indiana Humanities with a $300,000 grant “to fund a fleet of programs inspired by the classic novel Frankenstein” through the state, the Wastebook excerpt said.
“After two centuries, Frankenstein lives on, selling tens of thousands of copies every year and having been adapted into more than 100 movies, films and cartoons,” the excerpt said. “Subsidizing a speakers bureau and other activities to promote discussions of an already well-read and popular classic is a monstrous waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Flake, an Arizona Republican, publishes his Wastebook annually, which showcases wasteful or questionable government spending.
“Cutting up Igor-egious spending like Frankenfest is a no-brainer, but somehow IT’S ALIVE! IT’S ALIVE!” Flake said in a statement. “It’s time to fire (BAD!) up regular order and get undeadly serious about killing these monstrosities.”
Saturday’s “Frankenfest” will include a “Franks-N-Steins beer garden and a special Frankenstein speakers bureau,” according to the excerpt.
Other federally-funded programs throughout the year in Indiana will include talks about the book’s key themes and film and writing festivals. One festival will feature a marathon screening of the Netflix show “Stranger Things.”
Speakers will be paid $400 per talk, which should last about 45 minutes, plus time for questions and discussions.
Another $173,000 from the endowment awarded to Indiana will fund a two-week institute on Frankenstein, Cinderella and their adaptations in Arkansas.
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