Monsters
Interpretations
Joshua McKoy
If you were an expert speaking on monsters, what would you say?
If I were an expert speaking on monsters, here’s what I’d say. . . . .
If you’ve ever wondered what a monster is, you probably came across one
of the following meanings: a strange or horrible imaginary creature;
something that is extremely or unusually large; a powerful person or thing
that cannot be controlled and that causes many problems; an animal or
plant of abnormal form or structure; one who deviates from normal or
acceptable behavior or character; a threatening force; something
monstrous; one that is highly successful; the rich; the poor; the sovereign;
or a person of unnatural or extreme ugliness, deformity, wickedness, or
cruelty. Depending on your cultural or religious beliefs, all of these
interpretations could be correct. The key word is interpretation.
Monsters can be interpreted in several different ways because cultures have
their own monsters. Monsters are labeled depending on what we as a culture
consider, “violating the norms.” You may see dragons costumes and dancers
on Chinese New Year’s. A child from a foreign nation may interpret it as a
monster because it’s not a norm within their culture. However, a domestic
child may interpret it as a symbol of respect to the gods or loyalty to their
traditions. The diversity of monsters literally reflects the diversity of humanity.
All monsters are not monstrous, and monstrous actions do not always
make you a monster. Take Shrek for example. He is a monster, but he is
not “very bad” and he does not “provoke harm”, as Webster's
Dictionary describes a monster. He is, in fact, a kind creature who held
more common sense than most of the creatures in his village.
Spiderman saved many lives, but he had to fight, retaliate with force,
and put the enemy in harm’s way. Granted, these actions were
monstrous, but it was for the greater good.
Now that we have a pretty good understanding of
why monsters are interpreted in different ways, lets
discuss some of the interesting ways in which
monsters can be interpreted.
Lately, the world has been in the progressive state. This is seen with
technological advancements, luxury stock shares that are booming,
and increased PhD rates. It is becoming a norm in almost everyone's
society to "make it." Then you have the poor; those who live in the
stationary. The lower your socio economic status, the higher you crime
rate. Criminals and monsters share many characteristics like the urge
to do bad and provoke harm. Therefore, many people interpret the
poor as monsters.
Woman was created as an affliction; a punishment
to mankind. All because of a trick. The story goes:
“One of the Gods, Prometheus, tried to trick the
Master, Zeus. He killed a sheep, and placed all of
the wonderful meat inside the disgusting belly.
Then he took all the bare bones, and he placed
them inside the beautiful shinning fat. He bought
the two bundles to Zeus and says, “You pick.” Zeus
knows he is being tricked by Prometheus, who
represents mankind. In retaliation, Zeus punishes
man by taking away fire. Prometheus, in return,
steals fire back and giving it to humanity. By
stealing and giving man the gift of fire, he was
punished, by having a woman created, who Zeus
called a, “Beautiful Evil”.
You know what they say, "Money is the root to all evil." This is a reason why many
groups of people interpret a monster as the rich. Depending on how you interpret
this, it could be truth or foolish; wise or uninformed. For example, this statement
could be true because their are many wealthy officials who fall into extortion and
fraud. These are ways to steal from mankind , an action of a monster. This statement
could be foolish because there are actually some individuals who do not get involved
in those monstrous actions.
Believe it or not, god can also be interpreted as a monster. A monster can be defined as a powerful
person or thing that can not be controlled. God is a powerful person or thing that can not be
controlled, simply because he is all powerful. Granted, being raised into religion is healthy for many
children; but it also scares many other children. Take Christianity for example. The thought of spirits
walking on water can be frightening for a five year old. Children think of monsters as creatures that
are always watching them at night. This is a trait that is also associated with God. In Genesis it states,
"god came down and he walked through the garden of Eden in the cool of the night." Children fear
monsters mainly in the night, so this type of tale could leave them in shock. Refer to the of Adam and
Eve is relevant as well. God said, "pluck from this tree, and you will surely die." There a difference
between telling someone they will receive a slap on the risk as punishment, and telling someone they
will die as punishment. The thought of one powerful being having complete control over the entire
universe can be threatening.
Anything that goes wrong in the world will probably be blamed on the sovereign. For this
reason, they can be interpreted as monsters. By the sovereign, I mean, supreme
ruler/government. For example, monsters can be defined as a threatening force. The sovereign
can be considered a threatening force for reasons like the 1808 sanctioned genocide, condoning
police brutality for several years, condoning racial discrimination for several years, ethnic
cleansing, 6 attempts to a new world order, going to war for oil and blaming it on revenge.
Interpretations can be opinions, and I disclose my own.
While all of these interpretations are true for many people, the interpretation that holds the
most weight in society is that monsters exist only to be read. Many people don't go as far as
calling any human being a monster. If they are a serial killer, they are interpreted as a serial killer.
If they are a terrorist, they are interpreted as a terrorist. For many people, monsters meanings
exist only in the literature. I believe watching a human being act as a monster, causes humanity
to believe that humans have the potential to become monsters. For many, limiting monsters to
the basic Frankenstein, and the boogeyman, is morally correct. Interpretation is broad when
reading, but is limited when acting.
It is human nature to speak on the unknown in terms of the known. In this case, monsters are the
unknown and humans are the known. Greek philosopher, Xenophanes, stated, “If horses could draw
their Gods, horses would draw their Gods as horses.” You’re probably wondering how on earth this
relates to monsters. Well, people are limited to what we understand to be true. What we consider
monstrous in society is how we would associate a monster with being monstrous. When you find
yourself in a bad situation, you wouldn’t ask: “What would a tiger do?” You would ask: “What would a
human do?” Therefore, if you wanted to create a monster for a movie roll, you wouldn’t ask: “How
would a cat behave?” You would lean more toward: “How would a terrorist, serial killer, or some other
abnormal human behave?” How we associate an adjective with a monster depends on the fearful or
admirable imaginary life we wish or wish not to experience.
A friend once told me, “Life is only what we make it.”
Well, so are monster’s.