Friday, June 18, 2010

Big Foot, El Chupacabra and Monsters in the Popular Culture - Why We Love Monsters

Monsters lurk in the dark places, in the shadowy forests at twilight. They run along a lonely desert road, pursued by frantic monster hunters. They dive down into the depths of a cold, dark lake and appear in our peripheral vision.

Photographs and films document monsters like Sasquatch, El Chupacabra, and the Loch Ness Monster in blurring images. They are seen as a slithering shadow amongst other shadows, or heard as a strange sound in the night.

People who see something that they do not understand may claim to see a monster. We like to be comfortable with our surroundings. We can usually identify the things we see in or around where we live. A herd of deer dart across a field JA dolphin leaps out of the sea. A bunny rabbit hops through the garden.

But, when you catch sight of that oddly shaped form that you can not identify, something larger that you expect to see, something unusual, and you ask yourself, "Did I just see a monster?"

Several years ago, strange creatures began to appear in suburban settings. They showed up on YouTube and in blurry newspaper photographs. People claimed they were some kind of weird hybrid between a hyena and a dog. Nobody wondered how a hyena and a dog could cross breed. And what was a hyena doing, roaming around in North Carolina anyway? But they were called monsters, even though they were small. It turned out that the p0oor creatures were foxes suffering a bad case of mange.

Human beings, or some of them anyway, seem to want to see monsters. Why else would anyone believe that ridiculous creature in the famous 1970's film was actually Big Foot? Why else would people see a dead dog and think it was El Chupacabra? How could you see a sick fox and call it a monster?

But monsters add a little mystery to our lives. They can pop up at any moment, terrifying us with the 'Boo' factor. We can focus our fears on the monster instead of the real terrors in this world. After all, how many people have been torn limb from limb by Big Foot? How many people have actually had the blood sucked out of them by El Chupacabra?

Have there ever been actual documented cases of people being harmed by what we call monsters? Maybe we need monsters to get our minds off our real troubles: The threat of impending poverty, disease, or cruelty at the hands of our fellow human beings. We understand the possibility of disease, poverty, and violence. We see it on the news or experience it in real life. But a monster puts a different face on our fear.

Monsters are ugly and misshapen. They are secretive. Sometimes, they smell really bad.

Monsters provide our boring lives with a bit of a thrill. Face it, real fears of real threats grow tiresome. They weigh us down with anxiety. There is some amusement when we think that we hear something snarling outside the window at night, or catch a glimpse of an oddly shaped creature in our peripheral vision.

Suddenly, life is exciting! Something new and unexpected could be thrashing around out there in the garden. Bored with plodding through the ruts of life, we come upon the suggestion of novelty. That sound in the darkness might be El Chupacabra! The shifting shadow in the forest could be Big Foot!

In memory, the sounds become magnified, the shadows loom larger, our memory distorted. Suddenly, life is so much more exciting and fears more colorful. Maybe that creature was a bear that wandered away from its usual home. Maybe it was a crippled dog, or a sick fox. Or, maybe, it was a monster!

A hilarious article where the tables are turned. Why some people love monsters - they are delicious! http://hubpages.com/hub/ChupacabraDeliciouslyDecadentChupacabraRecipes.

An article on how we see unusual creatures and assume they are monsters. http://hubpages.com/hub/Strange-Creatures---TheMonsterofManorRoad.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Inez_Calender

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