The Enduring Fascination of Monsters
Monsters have been around us since the dawn of times.
From the roar of the Titans and the Freak Shows of the Middle Ages up to the present day, uncanny creatures and beasts of imagination have formed part of our lives.
But as our knowledge deepens, our perception towards monsters has changed, turning them into a reflection of the fluctuations of our social paradigms.
In fact, despite living in an age dominated by scientific discoveries and technology, monsters seem more present than ever in our popular culture.
According to a recent study, monsters are liked for their intelligence, superhuman powers, and their ability to show us through the side of human nature, with Vampires ranking at the top of the audience preferences.
Where does our fascination with monsters stem from, and why is it so enduring? And, more importantly, what is a monster?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a monster is: “an animal of strange or terrifying shape”, “a threatening force”, “one who deviates from normal or acceptable behavior or character.”
Based on these definitions, we should be scared by monsters. And we are, but why are we also fascinated by them?
At its simplest level, we feel attracted to monsters because we are biologically ‘programmed’ to be curious and be attracted by novelty.
The same principle that sparks our admiration (feats of courage, geniuses, young prodigies, etc.), is also behind our fascination with ‘freaks’. Anything that’s out of the ordinary sparks our interest.
However, on a deeper level, our fascination with monsters requires several different psychological explanations.
Bela Lugosi as Dracula.
For instance, while we feel attracted towards the uncanny deviations of fantastical monsters, we don’t usually hold the same attraction towards real-life monsters, such as serial killers, terrorists, genocides, etc. Why?
According to psychologists, we need fictional monsters, personified in imaginary creatures, to embody our fears in a tangible yet not-quite-real form. This disambiguation allows us to take a step back, abstract our fears, and confront them in a ‘secure’ mental environment.
In the safe realm of our imagination we can defeat the monster in the closet, and through extrapolation, we can also defeat our private demons.
On a psychological level, monsters represent and embody our fears, real or imaginary.
But with the passing of the eras, while most of our primary fears remain unchanged, our monsters have become more and more sophisticated, to the point of becoming invisible - though not for this any less threatening.
As creatures of the ever-evolving human imagination, monsters change over time to reflect our current fears and the environment we are in.
In ancient times, the forces of nature were an enigma for the primitive man, and often presented a threat to its survival. Thus, it’s not surprising that most monsters then were characterized as beasts and animals. Through them, the primitive man embodied the phenomena he could not explain.
Most ancient monsters were sea monsters. A connecting theme across cultures, the ocean was a vast, mostly unexplored territory, full of mysteries and dangers, very much like outer space is today, without the benefit of satellites to explore it.
Thus, the high seas were populated by myriad creatures borne from the imagination of sailors and sea merchants. Well into the start of the XX century, the oceans remained both alluring and threatening, an addictive combination that continues to be present in our fascination for monsters.
While dragons are found in Asian and European folklore, and ghost and vampires appear in diverse versions in cultures across the globe, every culture has created its own monsters.
Norse cultures believed in the sea monster Kraken; in Africa we found the Kongamato and the Adze. In Asia, monsters such as Kagutsuchi, Homosubi, or the Indian god Vishnu, had a divine origin. the Native cultures of North America believe in the Sasquatch (a.k.a. Big Foot), and the Chupacabras is a common monster in the folklore of central America and the Caribbean.
The Ancient Greeks were the main influence to Western culture, and their large catalogue of mythological monsters survive up to this day, with Typhon as father of all monsters, and Echidna as their mother.
Many of the creatures populating the Greek mythology, such as the Gorgon (Medusa), were humans who offended the gods and were transformed into monsters, as divine punishment.
Some others, such as the Minotaur or the Cyclops, are engenders borne from the gods’ mishaps.
A third group, conformed by centaurs, sirens, fauns, etc., are creatures of imagination meant to represent benign natural forces.
From antiquity and well into the Renaissance, these creatures remained in the collective consciousness, passed from generation to generation, and even decking our starry sky.
Monsters at this point are very simple: they represent evil. The killing of a monster was a victory of human strength, courage, and smarts over evil - the monster is vanquished and good is reestablished.
The age of Discoveries, with the trips of Christopher Columbus, Magellan, and Marco Polo, brought along a new array of fantastical monsters, which captured the imagination of the gullible and impressionable.
Thus, we find the Blemmyae, (a race of furry men without heads, and with faces on their chests), the Sciopodes (a race of one-legged men), and the Cynocephali (men with dog heads), to name only a few.
Behind the fantastical aspect of these creatures, monsters served an educational purpose, representing a warning of some kind.
During the Renaissance and well into the XIX the tales of Perrault and the Brothers Grimm - collected from popular lore - , included witches and beasts in roles that warned its audience of all sorts of evil and dangers.
Similarly, the popular character of the Bogey man can be traced back to Medieval Times, not as a story character to scare children, but as real men and women who engaged in child trafficking (not unlike Fagging, the character from “Oliver Twist”.)
With the resurgence of science during the Age of Enlightenment and its rapid development during the Industrial Revolution, many of the old monsters were debunked and forgotten. But just as these disappeared, new monsters took their place to represent the fears of the new era.
Most of the modern monsters we’re familiar with today actually appeared during Victorian times.
The first of them, Frankenstein, was as much a creature of its time as the creation of Mary Shelley.
The monster created by doctor Frankenstein embodied the most poignant themes of the time: scientific discovery, human ambition, control over nature beyond what was considered ‘natural’.
All themes which are still relevant up to this day.
Frankenstein became an icon of the modern monster, a cautionary tale that has spurred countless psychological readings up to this day.
Although for millennia Vampires were common to many cultures around the world, it was only after Bram Stoker published “Dracula” that they became a familiar figure.
The same is true for mummies. Although mummies are found across continents, and stories about their curses have been around for centuries, it was only after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s burial site by Howard Carter in 1923, that sparked the popular story of ‘The Mummy’ as we know it.
Witches, paranormal activity, ghosts and spirits - all these were studied and researched extensively by the Victorians, fascinated by death, as remnant of the Romantic movement.
At this time, Psychology gave its first steps as an established science. Freudian psychoanalysis and its related theories took the world by a storm, sparking a frenzy of hidden fears and double meanings, often capitalized by writers of horror stories.
According to the new Freudian theories, some monsters are directly related to adolescent anxieties over sexual development, and sex-related fears, an aspect implicitly explored in most Victorian gothic literature and in the works of contemporary authors, such as Angela Carter.
It’s no wonder that monsters provoke a particular fascination during puberty. The physical changes and the temporary odd appearance, the sudden mood bursts, the hormonal imbalances - all these and more find representation in monsters of all kinds.
Teenagers also identify with odd creatures because they may feel weird, misunderstood, outcast.
A fascination that has been banked by comics creators and young adult novelists the world over with considerable success.
Animal monsters such as King Kong, Jaws, or Godzilla usually embody the forces of nature.
But while Godzilla or the giant white shark the are irreducible, King Kong represents the force of nature tamed by human gentleness, a centuries-old theme already present in the Unicorn tapestries of the XVI century, and repeated in Beauty and the Beast.
This one appears to be based on the real-life story of Petrus Gonsalvus, a man born in 1537 with hypertrichosis lanuginosa, a condition in which the overactive hair follicles give human skin the aspect of fur.
Gonsalvus arrived as a curiosity to the French court, and later married Lady Catherine, a lady in waiting of Catherine de Medici.
Despite the morbid curiosity of the mob, who expected him to behave like a beast, Gonsalvus was a smart man of mild character, who quickly learned all the gentleman skills demanded at the French and Italian court, and never gave cause for trouble.
Petrus Gonsalvus and his wife, Catherine.
A similar is case is the so-called Elephant Man, the English man Joseph Merrick, who suffered from Proteus syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes tissue overgrowth. Just like Gonsalvus, Merrick was a mild-mannered man, diametrically opposed to what a ‘monster’ should be, yet condemned to this condition due to his looks.
These, and other similar stories, sparked the concept of the ‘misunderstood’ monster: creatures of horrible aspect that belied a gentle character.
Other famously misunderstood monsters include the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the Phantom of the Opera. Despite their horrifying appearance, they also showed traces of kindness and humanity, and therefore they were worthy of our sympathy in their plight.
But even then, writers Victor Hugo and Gaston Leroux added a cautionary end to their stories, reminding us that monsters possess a savage and untamed nature.
Thus, the Hunchback, and the Phantom end up paying for their crimes, finding through their punishment eventual redemption.
As psychology developed and expanded as a science, a new and more sophisticated type of monster took form - the psychological monster.
Two of the most intriguing monsters of this type arose from Victorian literature, in the form of two unsuspecting and perfectly respectable gentlemen: Dr. Jekyll, and Dorian Gray.
Behind their facades of perfection, both characters belied sinister secrets of perversion, and in the end, both also ended up paying with their lives.
In addition to being a social critique to the hypocrisy of their era, both Dr. Jekyll and Dorian Gray bear the kernel of the modern monster, one which looks normal in the exterior, but carries all sorts of evil deformities within, hidden from sight.
A groundbreaking concept arising from one of the most notorious real monsters of all times: Jack the Ripper.
As invisible as the traits of evil on Dorian and Dr. Jekyll, many of the scary details of Victorian gothic horror stories are left to the imagination of the reader, an aspect replicated in their early film adaptations.
The unseen and the unknown are fundamental psychological elements of terror throughout the eras, as a latent but unseen threat is more menacing, and its permanence over time causes panic.
As science progresses and old myths are forgotten, we detach from the traditional monster figures, and our fears evolve into other representations: the primeval beastly creatures embodying the forces of nature (King Kong, Godzilla, the worms in “Dune”), the unexplainable (The Blob, Chucky, Annabelle), the human monsters (Michael Myers, the Joker, Freddy Krugger), the invisible monster (The Invisible Man, The Shining), the future and technology (HAL, Terminator).
Among all horror creatures, witches present an interesting case study, showing the transformation of our concept of monsters over time.
Although not exactly categorized as ‘monsters’, for centuries witches were among the most feared creatures in the horror folklore up to the start of the XX century. The advancement of science after WWII debunked most horror myths, including the threat of witches and their alleged powers.
In 1954, Wendy (‘the good little witch’) made its first appearance as friend to Casper, ‘the friendly ghost’.
During the 1960s, revolutionary ideas swept social concepts and traditional roles. This, along with the feminist movement, washed away the last threatening overtones of witches, becoming instead figures of feminine emancipation.
In 1974, witches gained further ground in the children’s books realm with the first school for witches and wizards in Jill Murphy’s “The Worst Witch”, a predecessor of “Harry Potter”.
The 1960s was an era of change and revolution in which many of the accepted paradigms until then shifted, and in which social groups began claiming for an end to segregation, more equality, integration, and tolerance to minorities.
It is no coincidence that during this time monsters became friendlier than ever, shifting from the maleficent figures of their origins to the icons of popular culture we know nowadays.
The Addams Family, The Munsters.
By the 1970s, the figure of traditional monsters became so benign that they even found their way into the popular pre-school TV show “Sesame Street”.
In recent years, the entertainment industry has made a feast out of monsters, feeding our never-ending fascination from a younger age, with increasingly cute specimens.
In the past decade, the concept of ‘misunderstood monster’ has gained ground, spearheaded by new psychological theories and concepts.
At the same time, creators such as Tim Burton and Guillermo del Toro have provided audiences with a new generation of relatable monsters such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Jack Skellington, and Hellboy, a trend furthered by the success of productions such as Wicked, and The Little Shop of Horrors.
Monsters now go to High school and University, go to work, spend their holidays in Transylvania, and mingle with human kids in broad daylight. Children are no longer afraid of the traditional monsters, but rather see in them fun and cool characters to follow and even emulate.
Part of this discourse stems from the concept of integration. It’s ‘Ok’ to be different. Being different doesn’t make you a ‘freak’ or a ‘weirdo’.
While this is a valuable message to deliver at a time when children around the world are facing appalling cases of bullying, ostracism, and discrimination, and when differences such as race, nationality, or disability are being ironed and, in many cases, obliterated, it is also dangerously naive to believe that all monsters are merely misunderstood creatures really good at heart.
There is a moral reason why monsters exist - To remind us that evil exists and that no level of ‘understanding’ can turn wrong into good.
Moreover, on a psychological level, this denial eliminates a fundamental purpose of monsters - to help us face our fears, accept wrong and danger as part of life, and confront our own personal demons.
In his book, “Haunted: On Ghosts, Witches, Vampires, Zombies and Other Monsters of the Natural and Supernatural Worlds”, Leo Braudy catalogues monsters in four ‘provinces’, each one with its own particular explanation:
-The Monster from Nature (King Kong) - stems in response, often vengeance, to a hostile natural environment.
-The Created Monster (Frankenstein) - stems from our fears of unbounded human ambition and the technology we create.
-The Monster from Within (Mr. Hyde) - stems from fears of our repressed impulses.
-The Monster from the Past (Dracula) - stems from our fears to our permanence in time (we want to be immortal).
Following these canons, we can find explanations to our allure for many monsters.
The invisible man reflects our fear of being invisible to society, but also unleashes the self of the constraints of law. Being invisible gives us the freedom of getting away with anything and never being caught, a role similar to that of hackers in the dark web.
Our fascination with ghost stories may stem from our fear of death, but also hints to our hopes for an afterlife and a permanence of the soul.
Werewolves may relate to our primeval impulses, the so-called ‘untamed wild beast’ of the inner self, often more associated to men due to testosterone. This may explain in part why the preference for this creature is more prevalent in young men than in women.
Magical themes, such as witches and wizards, refer to self-control (controlling our ‘powers’), and to achieving the things we want.
Dolls and clowns are two common types of monsters in modern times. The contradiction between childish innocence and the perversion it bellies, sparks the deepest repellence in the audience, sometimes reaching to the point of developing phobias.
Moral monsters - such as Hannibal Lecter, the Joker, Dexter, etc.-, are the darkest type of monsters since, unlike other types, they allow no possibility of redemption. They represent the deepest pitch of despair and evil in human form.
In recent years, horror films and stories have become ever-more gruesome, in response to an escalation of violence around the globe. In addition, the socially-approved concepts of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ have blurred, and so has our concept of what makes a monster.
However, some psychologists warn that a strong attraction towards, or an identification with moral monsters should raise the alarm as an indicator of possible psychopathic tendencies.
All of these begs the question - Why do we like to be scared?
Psychologists explain that in monster films we usually assume the role of the hero. This makes us feel strong, in control, invincible. Thus, watching monster films boosts our self-esteem, inspires our courage, and makes us feel good about ourselves.
Monsters tell us more about our selves than we may think.
Monsters reflect the hidden side of humanity. They will always be there, invisible until characterized, lurking in the dark, a permanent reminder of our human imperfections to be tamed, studied, and understood.
It’s Interesting...
Intrigued about psychological monsters? Based on the namesake book by Patrick Ness, the film “A Monster Calls” is an interesting take about a monster through the eyes of a child dealing with a deep crisis.
A story that calls us to reflect about the meaning of monsters, and how these may be closer than we think.
To Learn More...
* Want to learn more about the origins of monsters and their meaning? Read this interesting article from psychologist and University Professor Bill Sullivan:
* Want to learn more about Greek mythological monsters? Check the following web page, with a comprehensive list of mythical creatures: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/creatures
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Sources: Wikipedia, Psychology Today, BBC, Universidad Veracruzana de Mexico, Difundir.org, GreekGodsAndGodesses.net, MentalFloss.com, “Ghosts of the Mind: The Supernatural and Madness in Victorian Gothic Literature”, thesis by Stephanie F. Craig (2012), “Haunted: On Ghosts, Witches, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Monsters of the Natural and Supernatural Worlds” book by Leo Braudy.
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