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Monster
Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 by admiralWhat does it take to be a monster? Like the ambiguous term ‘assault weapon,’ we commonly define a monster as something that looks frightening. It can be as dangerous as a cup of lemonade on a hot summer’s day, but we will call it a monster because it does not appear appealing. Is that all that it takes to really be a monster? If that is the case, welcome to monsterhood.
Appearance is defined by the mind that translates an image into something more than a collection of colorful points in space. Out there somewhere, they is a mind that would see each of us as a monster. Have we considered how odd we must appear to alien eyes? Astronauts land on a planet with huge, scary insect creatures who are just setting up for a picnic. Who is the monster in that scene?
Is there something more to being a monster? Could monsterhood be defined by the heart of the subject? Consider the case of the biker at the Opera. Who is to say that he is not a big softy in rough clothes? The original bad witch in “The Wizard of Oz” did not look all that monster like. She was a monster because of who she was on the inside. She gave form to the dark temptations that even the best of us has within him.
What of the werewolf, condemned to destroy all that he truly loves? Is he a monster because he looks bad? Even to himself, he is a beast because of the beast that lives in his heart and mind. Evil appears without but it dwells within.
As a stand up philosopher, could I be a monster if my words and ideas cause harm? Does being a monster take more than looks? Does it take more than actions? Is there something to being a monster that runs deeper than the skin? I think so. Monsters are defined by an evil that defies reason and understanding for all that is not itself evil.
