Monsters
I went out with the usual Movie Night suspects tonight to catch 'Predators'. I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was, and also, Adrien Brody's abs. Nom.
In the car on the way home I was looking for music that rocked. In went the Queen of the Damned soundtrack. I twisted the volume knob up well past 11 and drove home through the darkness, a low-hanging fog obscuring most of the road. The air was thick and heavy with moisture and at every stop sign the nighttime sounds of crickets, birds and other wildlife rolled in through the windows. It wasn't hard to imagine myself surrounded by all manner of monsters out there in the wet, humid dark.
I thought about monsters, about the ones we create as children and the ones that some people become. I remembered being a misunderstood teenager (then, weren't we all) and dreaming about vampires and werewolves, of becoming a monster in my own right. Why is there such an appeal there? Why do some people actively seek to become things that frighten children, that strike fear, that destroy, rend and mangle?
I think some people seek to become monsters -- or at least daydream of it -- because becoming a monster puts you in a position of power. Not just physical prowess, razor claws, sharp teeth, poison barbs, supernatural powers, but also the power of fear. The power inherent in becoming "The Other", the thing at the door or under the bed. Monsters don't have to lash out or rend in order to terrify. They are terrifying by their very "Other" nature.
By becoming "Other" we not only gain the powers of our chosen monster, we also gain the power of fear as well as a separation from our Humanness, which all too often contains things we would rather separate ourselves from.
I'll put myself up as an example.
I was a fat, overly-intelligent, nerdy, geeky teenager. I wanted to be silent, mysterious, Outside all of the drama and concern of my peer groups. I wanted to be striking (though not beautiful, not like a model would be beautiful), otherworldly. I wanted to be a walking mystery. I wanted every day to be full of passion and power games, the physical and the intellectual. I wanted danger, I wanted the forbidden. I wanted to distance myself from school drama, popularity contests, gossip, gym class, and pretty much any area where I felt I didn't fit in. I wanted to Other myself so that all the things I hated about school, about Humans could suddenly no longer be attached to me. I couldn't really tell you if I saw a vampire and said, "I want to be that!" or if I chose vampires as most closely aligned with the kind of Monster I wanted to be.
Obviously I never realised my adolescent dream of becoming a vampire. But that desire for "Other" always stuck with me and even today it's something I carry -- worn down, faded, almost forgotten in some side pocket... But still there.
People are mesmerised by Monsters for their Otherness. Some seek to be Monsters for reasons of power or from a simple wish to cut away all the parts of Humanness that they dislike. For most people it's a fantasy, a daydream or at best a headspace they retreat to and play in.
Some people... Some people do become monsters. And not just serial killers or people who really believe they are werewolves and vampires to the point of hunting and killing humans.
Some people become monsters in more subtle ways. They seize power, engender fear, hold themselves to different rules and standards as a way of Othering themselves, elevating themselves. I'm thinking here mostly of rapists, abusers, etc. but I'm sure there are other types that fall into this category. I don't think that those in this category set out to be monsters or set out to other themselves for reasons of self-preservation or discontent with life. I think some people are just born to it -- to subjugate, to break, to terrify.
I'm more fascinated, however, by people who choose this "Othering" and why they choose Monsters to identify with. I've tossed my thoughts out on the table. What are yours? And were you ever obsessed with a Monster?
In the car on the way home I was looking for music that rocked. In went the Queen of the Damned soundtrack. I twisted the volume knob up well past 11 and drove home through the darkness, a low-hanging fog obscuring most of the road. The air was thick and heavy with moisture and at every stop sign the nighttime sounds of crickets, birds and other wildlife rolled in through the windows. It wasn't hard to imagine myself surrounded by all manner of monsters out there in the wet, humid dark.
I thought about monsters, about the ones we create as children and the ones that some people become. I remembered being a misunderstood teenager (then, weren't we all) and dreaming about vampires and werewolves, of becoming a monster in my own right. Why is there such an appeal there? Why do some people actively seek to become things that frighten children, that strike fear, that destroy, rend and mangle?
I think some people seek to become monsters -- or at least daydream of it -- because becoming a monster puts you in a position of power. Not just physical prowess, razor claws, sharp teeth, poison barbs, supernatural powers, but also the power of fear. The power inherent in becoming "The Other", the thing at the door or under the bed. Monsters don't have to lash out or rend in order to terrify. They are terrifying by their very "Other" nature.
By becoming "Other" we not only gain the powers of our chosen monster, we also gain the power of fear as well as a separation from our Humanness, which all too often contains things we would rather separate ourselves from.
I'll put myself up as an example.
I was a fat, overly-intelligent, nerdy, geeky teenager. I wanted to be silent, mysterious, Outside all of the drama and concern of my peer groups. I wanted to be striking (though not beautiful, not like a model would be beautiful), otherworldly. I wanted to be a walking mystery. I wanted every day to be full of passion and power games, the physical and the intellectual. I wanted danger, I wanted the forbidden. I wanted to distance myself from school drama, popularity contests, gossip, gym class, and pretty much any area where I felt I didn't fit in. I wanted to Other myself so that all the things I hated about school, about Humans could suddenly no longer be attached to me. I couldn't really tell you if I saw a vampire and said, "I want to be that!" or if I chose vampires as most closely aligned with the kind of Monster I wanted to be.
Obviously I never realised my adolescent dream of becoming a vampire. But that desire for "Other" always stuck with me and even today it's something I carry -- worn down, faded, almost forgotten in some side pocket... But still there.
People are mesmerised by Monsters for their Otherness. Some seek to be Monsters for reasons of power or from a simple wish to cut away all the parts of Humanness that they dislike. For most people it's a fantasy, a daydream or at best a headspace they retreat to and play in.
Some people... Some people do become monsters. And not just serial killers or people who really believe they are werewolves and vampires to the point of hunting and killing humans.
Some people become monsters in more subtle ways. They seize power, engender fear, hold themselves to different rules and standards as a way of Othering themselves, elevating themselves. I'm thinking here mostly of rapists, abusers, etc. but I'm sure there are other types that fall into this category. I don't think that those in this category set out to be monsters or set out to other themselves for reasons of self-preservation or discontent with life. I think some people are just born to it -- to subjugate, to break, to terrify.
I'm more fascinated, however, by people who choose this "Othering" and why they choose Monsters to identify with. I've tossed my thoughts out on the table. What are yours? And were you ever obsessed with a Monster?