2017年10月21日土曜日 - 
Charles: Halloween Monsters
As
I've explained to students in some of my lessons, Halloween is a much bigger
deal in America than it is in Japan. In terms of holiday popularity, it's
second only to Christmas. People will have parties, go trick-or-treating, see
Halloween-tailored films and TV specials, and of course wear costumes. Most
people put marginal thought into the
costumes that they select. Most are not even scary; more often they're silly.
They're whatever was popular that year or one of the time-honored classics like
Dracula or a werewolf. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is kind of
lazy. So rather than picking the most apparent monsters, why not choose the monster that
most resonates with you personally.
If you're not sure what exactly a monster represents, let's break down some of the most
popular monsters and what anxieties I think they represent.
Zombies and mummies are popular monsters.
They're both easy costumes to set up and just require either makeup or some
gauze. Zombies are similar enough to regular people that the comparison is
unavoidable. I think the reason people fear zombies so much is because they
already have anxiety about the people around them. Sheer competition and consumer culture make our peers seem to be mindlessly
automatic and quietly hostile. People are skeptical or concerned that others
won't default to being helpful. Zombies and the fear of zombies are in a way
fear of the average person and what it would be like if we found ourselves at
odds with their ambitions.
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Socially, the opposite of zombies is
vampires. Vampires are smarter than an average man, superior in athleticism,
ruthlessly calculating and manipulative. They represent a parasitic elite class of
nobility and disproportionately powerful people we
feel at the mercy of. By the grace of a vampire you can be welcomed to their
blood-sucking class, but at the cost of any human decency you once had. In this way it's not that
different from selling your ethics out to gain social status or influence. If
that offer still seems somewhat appealing to you and you feel guilty, the next
monster is another you may understand.
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Werewolves make a commentary about shame
and guilt. They're largely about having characteristics people are afraid of revealing which are
embarrassingly uncivilized. People fear that they may be a danger to both
themselves and others for afflictions they've incurred. Though western nations are largely seen as more
individualistic, the idea of becoming a social outcast for circumstances beyond
your control was frightening enough to make this concept tremendously popular. Other mutations of this like Mr.
Hyde in the classic "Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" are variations of
this concept; that man obscures his true brutish nature. People worry about the secrets others have but also
they worry about their own being exposed.
Unfair punishment, unfinished business, or
injustice in general leads to hauntings. The hauntings feature evil spirits most commonly known as
ghosts. Ghosts are common in most cultures including Japan so they need no
explanation really. People like to have things resolved and settled neatly.
This gives them an illusion of control over the natural world. Seeing ghosts or
the living dead subverts that sense of
control and makes people feel helpless. Aliens and UFOs also play into the idea
of helplessness. They render people immobile but conscious as they experiment
with them. This too preys off our fear of losing control of our lives and
selves.
When we overcompensate and try to bend the natural world to our
control this can be daunting as well. We could end up creating Frankenstein's monster.
The monster itself wasn't inherently evil but after seeing the cruelty of its creators it became
hostile. Mankind fears the natural world so it builds a technological one and
grows to fear that too, ultimately becoming the enemy of both extremes. Besides
the obvious fear of advanced weaponry, Frankenstein's monster could represent
an unease of the pervasive automation creeping
into modern life. We combine our identities with our technological
representation on social media to become a kind of man-machine hybrid just like
the monster. People rightly fear that technology being turned on its creators.
I think the common trend with a majority
of these monsters is a sense of helplessness. We can understand the world
somewhat, but suffer anxiety knowing we can't use this information in any
productive way. At least you can control which costume you choose. Maybe a
simple act like making that decision is enough to feel productive and push back
against fear. That may very well be the spirit of Halloween.
Vocabulary
marginal: very small,
little
apparent: obvious, easy to
see
resonates: creates
a feeling or emotion, forms a connection
break down: to
make simple, reduce in complexity or difficulty
sheer: absolute,
pure, lacking other influences
consumer culture: common lifestyle where social status is purchased by
ownership of objects. People in this society labor to obtain the currency to
buy things not only out of necessity but out of a desire to be respected.
parasitic: performing
the characteristics of a parasite, living off the labor of another, relying on
others productivity without contributing anything by oneself
selling out: betraying values
such as integrity, morality, or authenticity for material/personal gain
afflictions: a
condition of suffering and pain
incurred: taking on
ownership of something (usually a penalty, fee, or other unwanted thing)
brutish: crude,
animalistic, uncivilized, unsophisticated, barbaric
haunting: negative
atmosphere often connected with the supernatural, influenced by dark magic or
evil spirits
subverts: undermine,
cancel or overturn, betray
overcompensate: to
respond to something in excess, making too strong of a reaction
daunting: intimidating,
frightening, challenging
pervasive: able to penetrate
defenses, piercing, abundant or unavoidable