Monsters, Real and Imagined

As you may recall, I am a big fan of horror movies, good ones* (especially) and schlocky ones (like Mexican horror movies** and see-the-zipper-on-the-rubber-suit el cheapos).

I started thinking about this topic over the weekend as a result of two events. One was the release last Friday of the latest remake of the often-filmed Japanese monster movie "Godzilla;" the other was yesterday's anniversary of the publishing (in 1897) of Bram Stoker's classic vampire novel, Dracula. Monster movies and vampire/ghost stories entertain us, I think, because we know that they're not real. They may cause real nightmares, but in the end we can wake up, wipe our brows with a loud "whew!," and know that the horrors aren't real.

Unlike so much of what goes on in the world.

In a world where children can be massacred in a school, and noisy partisans claim the solution is to pump still more guns into circulation; where supposedly educated leaders, despite all scientific evidence to the contrary, deny the reality of global climate change; where religious zealots believe that they are fully justified in imposing their own harsh beliefs on everyone else, by force if necessary; and where hyperpartisan lunatics in Congress insist on holding endless votes to repeal laws they don't like and endless investigations into things they hope will turn into politically useful scandals; something like Godzilla or Dracula doesn't seem quite so bad.

This guy looks pretty scary on the screen, but what's really scary is that he's probably pretty handsome in comparison to what lurks in the sour, brackish water at the bottom of a lot of hearts ...

Have a good day. Enjoy a monster movie or ghost story today. It'll take your mind off the real horrors out there.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Like The Woman in Black and The Ring.

** Like Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy.