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Monsters & Heroes
Mar. 22nd, 2017 06:39 am"..pointing to some deep need in the human psyche to objectify inner states as metaphors and living symbols, and thus disavow the "bad" part of the self within, to deny complicity and find external scapegoats to blame, to exculpate through means of displacement and externalization---an existential need to defend the self from the self, a need that has always existed and will always exist. The monstrous metaphor as object becomes the critical touchstone for communal renewal and for individual redemption, the sacrificial victim, the scapegoated emissary from the unconscious. And thus the monster takes on all the power of that which is denied the self, all that which is repressed..." (172, Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors).
(But what do the monsters feel?)
So I'm trying to finish a book on monsters (though the subject is broader than just categorizing or discussing monsters), and I realized some thing and had a lot of extensive thoughts about pov and how I conceptualize the idea of scapegoating -- which I think is weird, but that's only because anything bad are activities/behaviors/povs -- that make me feel sick and the idea that someone would actually think or act is such a manner is more bewildering than how I imagine a monster would be. Which essentially boiled down to: I comprehend the pov of heroes and monsters much better than people.
Like I can understand animalistic rage or simplistic necessity of survival (e.g. thinking of what to eat and making it every day every couple hours is tedious! hence why photosynthesis would easier, supplemented by human-style food when I'm in the mood to make and eat something). And I can understand the desire to protect and encourage goodwill and wholeness and health for everyone. (It's a little more nuanced -- basically, the idea that people don't automatically want others to be fulfilled, healthy, protected, and safe baffles me. Or to a more precise example, that people wouldn't automatically think all children deserve to have a space to be imaginative and organic and authentic in discovering who they are without discrimination, micro-aggressive, racism, sexism, and other -isms authentically baffles me.) And the idea that people could not (and do not, I presume) think that is more frightening to me than a monster.
This is why I prefer to write about demons, and probably why my humans can come across as "too good" and villains/antagonists baffle me. Until I realized that antagonists can have various personalities, i.e. they don't have to think bad things (and by bad I mean, things involving abuse, racism, discrimination, cruelty, torture, rape, pedophilia, etc., not promiscuity, or a temper, or whatever is considered actions/thoughts that should be repressed and removed from humanity).
To extend on that, I'll add that one thing odd about scapegoating is that, if say a person's temper is bad enough that it should be scapegoated, wouldn't it be more beneficial to redirect that energy in a positive way? Instead of putting the blame on something/one else?
I don't know. Animals make sense. Monsters make sense. Heroes make sense. But humans...people...what are you? (But then, I'm human...but I still don't understand how people can authentically not wish the best for others. Like I can understand having faults and internal -isms. I don't expect people to be giving and kind all the time. But like...I don't know. How could you not want what's best for others? Like it's not about always being nice, but how could not want the best for others? Sorry, I'm repeating myself. I'll stop. That's all.)
(But what do the monsters feel?)
So I'm trying to finish a book on monsters (though the subject is broader than just categorizing or discussing monsters), and I realized some thing and had a lot of extensive thoughts about pov and how I conceptualize the idea of scapegoating -- which I think is weird, but that's only because anything bad are activities/behaviors/povs -- that make me feel sick and the idea that someone would actually think or act is such a manner is more bewildering than how I imagine a monster would be. Which essentially boiled down to: I comprehend the pov of heroes and monsters much better than people.
Like I can understand animalistic rage or simplistic necessity of survival (e.g. thinking of what to eat and making it every day every couple hours is tedious! hence why photosynthesis would easier, supplemented by human-style food when I'm in the mood to make and eat something). And I can understand the desire to protect and encourage goodwill and wholeness and health for everyone. (It's a little more nuanced -- basically, the idea that people don't automatically want others to be fulfilled, healthy, protected, and safe baffles me. Or to a more precise example, that people wouldn't automatically think all children deserve to have a space to be imaginative and organic and authentic in discovering who they are without discrimination, micro-aggressive, racism, sexism, and other -isms authentically baffles me.) And the idea that people could not (and do not, I presume) think that is more frightening to me than a monster.
This is why I prefer to write about demons, and probably why my humans can come across as "too good" and villains/antagonists baffle me. Until I realized that antagonists can have various personalities, i.e. they don't have to think bad things (and by bad I mean, things involving abuse, racism, discrimination, cruelty, torture, rape, pedophilia, etc., not promiscuity, or a temper, or whatever is considered actions/thoughts that should be repressed and removed from humanity).
To extend on that, I'll add that one thing odd about scapegoating is that, if say a person's temper is bad enough that it should be scapegoated, wouldn't it be more beneficial to redirect that energy in a positive way? Instead of putting the blame on something/one else?
I don't know. Animals make sense. Monsters make sense. Heroes make sense. But humans...people...what are you? (But then, I'm human...but I still don't understand how people can authentically not wish the best for others. Like I can understand having faults and internal -isms. I don't expect people to be giving and kind all the time. But like...I don't know. How could you not want what's best for others? Like it's not about always being nice, but how could not want the best for others? Sorry, I'm repeating myself. I'll stop. That's all.)
