This week we are writing our first essay on Monsters. Find the primary source you will be analyzing and summarize the monster as you see it being portrayed. Questions to consider.
- What source are you mainly writing about? Movie, book, show?
- Quick summary of your source and monster.
- Which theories do you think connect?
Make sure to include a link, summary, and analysis. Minimum 250 words.
Professor Ramos' Blog 
The monster i have decided to evaluate is the killer clown Pennywise. I chose Pennywise because for one i am terrified of him and for two because he scares me i want to know more about him. So far i have found his history, his strengths and weaknesses, his powers, what he feeds off of, and who he is in general. i am super excited for this essay because i know it will be fun and i cant wait to write about it. I also learned allot about his maker aka Stephen King. It was very interesting to see all the research on him. some people think hes crazy, mentally ill, or on drugs. I honestly think he just has a very vivid imagination i don’t think hes crazy or anything. If anything i think he is brilliant for the story lines that he comes up with. The resources that i have found so far seem pretty credible i still have to do some scholarly sources, i’m hoping that there is some on it or on Stephen King.
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I going to talk about Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. It introduced the character of Count Dracula and established many conventions of subsequent vampire fantasy.[1] The novel tells the story of Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a small group of people led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.
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The monster I chose was a Siren. The main source I used was a piece of literature called Homer’s Odyssey. This was written by a Greek poet named Homer in 750 BCE. It was later translated into English. This was a story about a hero named Odysseus, and his encounter with Sirens. He was able to successfully save him and his crew from falling victim to the Sirens by having them tie him to the mast and then having the crew members put beeswax in their ears. This had very little physical description of Sirens since it only described them as birdlike, and by the sound of their voices. Most people believe that Sirens are mermaid type creatures. They have changed forms throughout history. Starting off as freshwater nymphs, bird-like women, and later on fish-like creatures. It’s theorized that their newest morph to fish-like creatures was due to confusion in translation formed from the initial interpreters unconscious bias of Sirens. Modern culture has also made Sirens more sexual visually, often portraying them as busty mermaids that lure mean to their death using their sexuality.
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I chose to write my essay on Scylla and Charybdis, the Greek mythological monsters Odysseus encounters in one of his many stories. There are several videos, articles, and books about the origins and meanings behind the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla is a huge monster who is half woman and has six vicious dog heads coming out of her waist with long necks. She was once a beautiful woman who was poisoned and transformed into a monster out of others’ jealousy. She was said to have lived in a cave off the coast of mainland Italy where she would eat any living thing in her reach. Charybdis was considered a voracious woman who stole cattle from Hercules and as a punishment Zeus casted her into the sea as a monster with one of his lightning bolts. Tales say she lived under a rock and that three times a day she would cause whirlpools with her mouth and then belch out the water later on causing violent currents and rising and falling water levels. Because Scylla and Charybdis we’re located extremely close to each other in a narrow strait, it was impossible to avoid them both, which is the story behind the phrase “the lesser of two evils.” I believe the theories that best fit this Greek myth would be Thesis I, Thesis III, and Thesis V because these monsters don’t seem they could possibly exist in the slightest, they have developed from Greek tales and culture, and because these monsters are both unique and hard to put into a category, especially because neither of them have just one consistent description.
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The monster that I am writing about is Adolf Hitler. I am using websites and books about this particular individual. Adolf Hitler is an individual who was a participant during both of the world wars. He serves as a lance corporal in World War I and served as a supreme commander. During Worl War II he rose to power as the chancellor of Germany. Hitler is the person who initiated World War II by invading Poland. In addition, Hitler was very calculative with his plans and strategies that he has had a prepared agenda for the holocaust.
In modern days, there are many individuals who call others a monster; however what are some factors that truly define a monster? For my essay, I use the theories from Jeffrey Jerome Cohen; the monster’s body is a cultural body, The monster is the harbinger of category crisis, and fear of the monster is really a kind of desire. With these three ideas, I was able to connect the action and idea that Hitler had to be relevant to a monster. The monster’s body is a cultural body, Hitler was an individual who created the culture of Nazis that evolved in Germany. The monster is the harbinger of category crisis, with this idea, I claim that Hitler had his own harbingers; which is what makes him and his harbingers a monster as well. This would be due to the harsh actions that were taking place in the concentration camps. Fear of the monster is really a kind of desire, Hitler was well respected because he implied fear; If anyone did not obey his orders, he would give crucial consequence to anyone who disobeyed him. With that note, he would love to instill fear into people because he would then be able to do whatever he desired.
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The monster I decided to write about was Thanos. I used the movies Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame as my primary resources for this essay, as Thanos is the main antagonist of both movies. Avengers: Infinity War is all about Thanos’ quest to capture all six infinity stones. Once he gets all the stones he plans on killing half of all living organisms to balance the universe. The Avengers do their best to try and stop him but, in the end he is able to complete his mission and with the snap of his fingers half of everything is turned to dust. Avengers: Endgame is centered around the Avengers trying to deal with the aftermath of Thanos’ conquest. They are able to go back in time to obtain all the stones before Thanos does and once they reset the universe they are forced to go up against Thanos one more time to save all of mankind. Luckily, the good guys are able to prevail and save the day once again.
The Monster Culture Thesis’s that connect to my monster are Theory I: The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body, Thesis 3: The Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis, and Thesis V: The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible. Theory 1 connects to Thanos because of the fear he evokes based on appearance alone. Thanos resembles Theory 3 the most as he refuses to conform to society and makes other conform to his instead. Lastly, he connects to Theory 5 as he is always explaining his logic for his actions and why he truly believes they are honorable.
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My source is a TV show, anime, called Dragon Ball Z with my monster being Majin Buu. Majin Buu is a pink, bubblegum-like creature summoned and controlled by the wizard Bibidi millions of years before the events of Dragon Ball Z and later controlled by the wizard Babidi during the events of Dragon Ball Z, however, Buu then kills Babidi due to deeming Babidi nonessential for what Buu wants to do. Buu went through three major forms with each form effecting his design and personality. His first form shown in the series is generally called Innocent Buu, due to the fact he is very childlike, acting playfully and silly, however having an evil side to him whenever he starts terrorizing towns turning people into any sugary treat he wants at the time. However, this version of Buu is far from the evilest version of Buu, acting more like a child than a villain. Later on, Innocent Buu is absorbed into another version of Buu, Evil Buu, to become a monster that terrorized the Earth, the second major form, Super Buu. Super Buu has traits of Innocent Buu where he can be rash and impatient, however he can also be extremely intelligent and has a no-nonsense approach to the actions he takes throughout the Saga. He commits horrendous actions in order to get his way in wanting to fight strong opponents and eating sweets. He however turns into Buu’s purest form of evil, Kid Buu. The theories I used were thesis 2,4,5 and general talk about how Buu was basically a psychopath.
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http://www.the13thfloor.tv/2016/11/25/the-true-story-of-the-candy-man-killer/
My monster is the Candy Man versus the real candy man I wanted to write about these monsters because my thought of candy man was only the movie but when I seen that there was the real candy man I was wondering if it was the same guy but it wasn’t. They are totally different monsters. he actually did in real life as of my the candy man movie he was a basically a spirit that haunt people and if you said his name five times in the mirror he would come and haunt you and kill you. Where these two monsters are used monster theory 24 and six because of the Candyman the movie the thesis four Talks about how the monster reappears in appears and that’s what the Candyman the movie did and for the real candy man he would be six and two because he was in economic on un stable man that killed his kids to get there life insurance.
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The monster I have chosen to evaluate is from a Native American legend, the Wendigo. My primary source I will be using to evaluate my chosen monster from is The Wendigo film, directed by Lary Fesseden, released in 2001. The film takes place in New York where the main character, George, had accidentally hit a wild deer. When he stepped out of his car to check the damage, he was confronted by a “hunter” who claimed he and his men had been hunting that particular deer for some time. The following day, main character was ironically informed of the legend of the Wendigo and was even given a figurine of the creature from a local market owner. From that point forward, George seems to be terrorized by the Wendigo and believes it is because of the incident he had with the hunter, as well as the figurine he then owned.
Using this film gives a great idea and representation of the Wendigo in both beast, and human form, as it is believed it can shape shift. Not only is the creature believed to attack humans physically, but can also do so spiritually and cause a series of bad luck, leaving a feeling of dark energy. Being a Native American legend that originated during the First Nations, there is a lot of cultural connection which connects to Thesis I: The Monsters Body is a Cultural Body, as well as Thesis VI Fear of the Monster is Really a Kind of Desire.
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https://www.britannica.com/topic/Siren-Greek-mythology
The monster I chose to research on was the Siren of Greek mythology. The main source I was evaluating was Homer’s Odyssey, which was a boook written in 750 BC. I was really interested in how the sirens have changed visually since the greek mythology era, especially since they used to be depicted as half women half bird monsters. This was shown both in the Odyssey and the book “jason and the Argonauts” written by Apollonius Rhodius. They would lure sailors to death with their singing, to an island where they would then eat the sailors. The singing of the sirens was very effective, since they would take into consideration the exact wants and needs of the person. Each song was specific to what the person wished for, which is why it was so hypnotic. In the Odyssey, Odysseus made his crewmen put wax in their ears and then tied himself to the mast. He wanted to hear the singing but forced his crewmen to not release him in any case.
In our modern age, sirens are pictured as mermaids who lure men to their deaths with singing and sexuality. This was very different from the mythological reasoning in Greece, and I was very interested by that.
In my essay, I connected both Thesis III and Thesis V, since both of these were highly relevant to the siren monsters. The sirens have no easy categorization, since they are half bird half human, and venturing into further sea exploration during the time of the Greek empire was a danger to humans.
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The monster I have chosen to write about is Jeffrey Dahmer or better known as the “Milwaukee Cannibal”. The primary source I will be using is the book “Jeffrey Dahmer: The Terrifying True Story of Rape, Murder, and Cannibalism” by Jack Rosewood. This book explains all of Dahmer’s horrendous murders with explicit detail. You can imagine the scenes in your head about what went on in apartment 213. The book goes into detail not only about his crimes but his childhood and young adult life and how he started growing the need to murder and commit disgusting acts to the victims lifeless bodies. Dahmer’s monsterous behaviors connect to thesis 3, 4 and 5 in “Monster culture” as he always managed to get away from the law for about a decade and also was motivated by sexual desires and sick fantasies that drove him to murder 17 innocent men.
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the monster iv’e decided to write on are the acts of the Nazis during world war 2, inducing fear, racism, and discrimination i will use these to my advantage to allow the audience to see the monster for what it is. because Hitler stigmatized his “perfect Race” all others who did not fit the mold were ostracized. by doing so i will use the movie the boy in the striped pajamas as my text to understand that the stigma not only affected those who did not fit, but also those who empathized with the inflicted. with this being said, i can use Jeffery Cohen’s monster theories to connect with my monster. such as, the monster body is a cultural body,the monster always escapes, the monster dwells at the gates of difference, the fear of the monster is really a kind of desire and finally the monster stands at the threshold of becoming. using these will connect us to the fact that not only has the holocaust ended physically, but the racism that it endorsed has continued to flourish throughout the world.
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The main source that I mainly am writing about is the show Supernatural. This show follows two brothers who hunt monsters, ghosts, demons, and many other creatures of the night. I’ll be using an episode from the show that shows the two-brothers hunting a Windigo. A Windigo is a flesh-eating monster that hunts humans down and kills them. There are three theories that connect to this monster the first theory that connect to my monster is the theory The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body the monster was created in a time and place within a culture which was the Algonquian people who created this monster to stop acts of cannibalism as sometimes people would eat loved ones who died to survive harsh winters, to make sure people weren’t greedy and had a sense of community. The second theory that connects to this monster is Thesis IV The monster Dwells at the Gates Of Difference, upon research of this monster I was able to find that it is believed that the Algonquian people painted a Windigo as a person with Mental problems or disabilities, and since they didn’t understand these people they used as a means to kill them off being that they weren’t different from them. The last theory that ties into the Windigo is Thesis V the Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible. This theory relates to the Windigo, because it shows what can possibly happen if one was to become to greedy and self-centered of a person
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The source I am mainly writing about is the movie, “The Curse of La Llorona”. It is a movie that was released in 2019. I watched the movie on Hulu, so I can’t exactly link directly to that, so I left a link to watch the movie on HBO online. My monster is La Llorona, also known as “the weeping woman”. La Llorona is described as being dressed in white (normally a long sleeve white dress), wandering the woods at night and often being near a body of water such as a river or stream (in the woods). She is normally pictured as having long, dark hair. She is always shown with tears streaming down her face. Her beauty varies depending on who is telling the story. In this movie, La Llorona is pictured as horrifying and ugly most of the time, but at certain times throughout the movie she is pictured as youthful and beautiful to lure in the children. As soon as she gets angry, she turns ugly again. You can hear her weeping from far, far away, which is usually what makes children wander off and go towards the noise. That is how she draws in her victims. Children are sympathetic and very curious, so it is not shocking to know that she uses children’s curiosity against them to lure them in. The theories I think connect are Thesis I, II, and V.
https://www.hbo.com/movies/the-curse-of-la-llorona
What source are you mainly writing about? Movie, book, show?
Quick summary of your source and monster.
Which theories do you think connect?
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the monster that I am writing about is called The Batman Who Laughs. He is being from a comic book event called Dark Nights: Metal. As my source, I used three single issues that talk about the monster. My monster is pretty much a hybrid of Batman and Joker. He was born out of Batman’s fears and gave birth to an alternate reality where nightmares come to life. In Dark Nights: Metal, Batman is studying the multiverse but goes too far into the unknown and he is used as a doorway for the evil Batman Who Laughs and an army of Batmen to cross over into our realm to wreck havoc. The Batman Who Laughs is Bruce Wayne infected by a serum that Joker created to take over the host body. It shuts off any moral ideas a person has. My monster ties together with Cohen’s Thesis one and five. It ties to thesis one as Bruce Wayne created them from his fears. Each time a person hoped or fear for something, a new world was created. It is like how people create monster out of fear and become part of our culture. Batman has always been popular among moviegoers and comic book readers alike. He is part of our culture. Scott Snyder, a comic book writer, literally took advantage of Batman’s popularity to create a monster that has gain critical acclaim by fans anywhere. The Batman Who Laughs also ties with thesis five. He stands as a warning for further exploration. He is the end result of what happens when you search to far into the unknown. Batman did that by studying the multiverse, he called for the monster by peering too far into the unknown. I used a video for this journal. However, i am using the actual comic book as my source.
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I am mainly writing about a show called Supernatural because the whole show is about monsters. It is about the two main characters Sam and Dean hunt monsters because they kill and are dangerous to humans. They are eliminating them from the earth or at least trying. There are a few episodes on shapeshifters and everything that they can do. I am doing shapeshifters. In the show, they change from human to human but mostly in stories they change shape from humans to animals. Stories of shapeshifters go back 13 thousand years and people are still making stories like in the show Supernatural. I think thesis 2 and 3 connect because the monster gets away connects to not being classified as anything. because they are fleeing the possibility of being classified asman or anything else.
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https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/curse-la-llorona/
My main source will be about the movie La Llorona, I chose to do my essay on the woman who murdered her children due to rage and jealousy. She is believed to have been the most beautiful woman anyone had ever seen, she had been pursued by many many men and eventually found a man who she fell in love with. she had children with the man and as time went by she notices the attention she received from him was diminishing day by day. She believed the cause of this was because she was no longer young and beautiful and all the attention that her husband could be giving to her was instead of being given to their children. I got to the point where her has been no longer even paid attention to her anymore or even acknowledge she was around. All of his attention was to his kids and it is sad that he left to work for a couple days and at that moment out of anger and rage that she no longer got the attention from her husband that she craved, she unfortunately murdered her children in the nearby river. it is believed that to this day she roams looking for her children and lures other children to sadly kill them. in the movie La Llorona is causing havoc in Los Angeles. She is trying to lure children to their death. I believe the theories are used to connect with her are theories I and II.
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For the monster that I chose to write about is Dexter Morgan from the TV show Dexter. One of my favorite shows,I’ll be using all 8 seasons to pull bits and pieces from. Mainly I’m gonna talk about how he became a monster, other monsters who are just like him and why we love the guy so much, something along the lines of that. In Monster Culture Thesis I, it states, “The monster is born only at this metaphoric crossroads, as an embodiment of a certain cultural moment–of a time, a feeling, and a place.” This really ties into Dexter as he started to be a monster when he witnesses his mother be hacked by a chainsaw and sat in her blood for 2 days before he was found. In Thesis II it talks about how the monster always comes back. At the end of season 8, Dexter supposedly was killed in the hurricane but right at the end it shows him being a lumberjack and cuts off there. Another example was when Dexter found out Harry was his dad and he didn’t kill for awhile and wanted to but couldn’t and then he came back and finally did what he needed to. (forgot what season it was maybe 3?) There’s a lot more on where he connects to other articles which will be revealed in my paper.
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My main source comes from legendary horror manga artist and storyteller, Junji Ito. While creating several horror novels, the one that has constantly intrigued me is his novel, Tomie. It is a collection of stories about a young, beautiful girl whose strange, magnetic charisma drives most she meets insane. As a result, the people who become obsessed with her typically end up murdering and disfiguring her, only for her to come back after the pieces of her flesh regenerate into clones of herself. Junji Ito does an incredible job portraying how she goes from a regular girl into a terrifying monster, creating havoc wherever her clones end up. While she fits into all of Cohen’s monster theories, the most consistent and recurring is theory two, The Monster Never Escapes. No matter how many times Tomie is killed, she is always brought back to life. Whether it’s through a grotesque illustration of her dismembered body parts sprouting a head and arms like a starfish, or her miraculously appearing to be fine in the next chapter, she is never truly defeated or killed. Through her immortality and infinite regenerative abilities, Tomie can no longer be categorized as human. While she looks and moves exactly like a human, what makes her terrifying is that she is a bad omen hidden in plain sight. She becomes a monster that brings misfortune to everyone around her. Tomie is a different entity, separate from the human world, but still looks as if she is the same as any other normal person.
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For the monster that I chose to write about Yeti (“Abominable Snowman”). I’ll be using an episode from the National Geographic. There are too many videos, pictures, episodes, news, facts, data, and myth about yeti. Yeti are commonly found in the Himalayan range of Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan. Yeti is generally described as a large hairy ape-like creature, ranging between 6-10 feet tall, weighing in excess of 500 pounds, and covered in dark brown or dark reddish hair. It even described large eyes, a pronounced brow ridge, and a large, low-set forehead; the top of the head has been described as rounded and crested, like the sagittal crest of the male gorilla. There are many stories about yeti, especially if you are in Nepal. The story, fear, love, facts, the myth about Yeti is common. I am the Alleged witnesses of it. I had heard a lot of stories about yeti, how Yeti kill people and eat them. For me, Yeti is the childhood scary monster, even these days when I go back to my home in the Himalayan region of Nepal, fear of yeti is just come over on my mind. So I want to write about Yeti.
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The monster I decided to analyze is Sweeney Todd from the 2007 film adaptation played by Johnny Depp. I chose to write about Sweeney Todd is mainly because I’ve always been a fan of the story but also because I feel he is a monster that was created from trauma of his life. Mankind has made him into this monster. Just to give a quick summary the film takes place in London with a barber, (Benjamin Barker aka Sweeney Todd) and his wife and daughter. After being sent away for 15 years for a crime he did not commit, he returns for his vengeance towards the antagonist of the film, and because he is mad full of bloodlust wanting his revenge, he goes through several acts of murder and continues to murder to get what he wants in the end. I think theory 1 of the seven monster theses fit this monster due to the fact that his behavior and his mindset is something that can be seen culturally. For example Sweeney Todd states he wants to rid the world kill everyone because we are all evil, we all deserve to die, mankind. Why is this much different that Judge Turpin sending away Benjamin Barker for a false crime or sentencing a child to death row for a minor crime. Just like Judge Turpin, he thinks he is doing the world a favor.
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http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Shelob's_Lair_(chapter)
For this week’s Journal response we have to write about our topics for our monster essays. The topic I chose for my monster essay was something I am personally scared of, spiders. Specifically, my parents showed me Lord of the Rings The Two Towers movie by Peter Jackson when I was younger and there was nothing more terrifying to me than the giant spider shown. Although this inspired my essay the source that I am mainly writing about is the book by JRR Tolkien called The Two Towers. More specifically the Night chapter called shelob’s lair. Too quickly summarize this Source it is a description of Frodo’s Encounter of the giant spider shelob inside her cave when he was brought there by the creature Golem. I chose to use the books description of shelob instead of the movie because Peter Jackson said in an interview that his version is just based off a real spider that scares him whereas the book describes a thing of nightmares.
The monstrous shelob is described as a spider like demon. This suggests that besides her huge size her appearance is also something to be deeply feared being not only like a spider but also other terrifying things. The first thesis of Cohen’s that I could correlate to shelob is thesis IV: The monster to Dwells at the gates of difference. Shelob literally guards the path that leads to the lens of a dark lord. In the book it is also stated that Sauron, the evil in the story, finds shelob amusing in the fact she makes play of her hunting and she acts as a better guard than he could have come up with. The second thesis that correlates is thesis VI : Fear of the Monster is really a Kind of Desire. I made this correlation because she lab represents gluttony one of the deadly sins that humans commonly commit.
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My primary source, the movie, “The Water Horse” is a tail portraying a monster many fear in a “family-friendly” way. A beast that has been told as scary, vicious, huge, could eat a boat has been passed down through generations as a reason we should avoid or be careful in large bodies of water. Parents and siblings would warn on family trips to not swim to far or to deep because the loch ness monster will eat you. The loch ness monster is a giant gray monster, large fins/flippers, approximately 20 feet tall, soft, with two horns on its head. The loch ness monster goes by many names such as water horse, sea serpent, Nessie, the dragon of the deep, as well as prehistoric monster. This monster falls into the theses,II, III, IV, and thesis V, The Monster Always Escapes due to the fact that Nessie can never be proven, there are sitings or pictures that turn out to be something else be it some driftwood or another animal. The Monster is the Harbinger of Crisis, people panic, get excited, and cause havoc trying to make sense of the monster, is it real, could it be something else? The arrival of the monster upsets the normal as those involved become “gleefully violated” by its presence, all a sudden people start thinking of ways to profit from its arrival. The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Indifference, this thing is new, it excites, its supprising so bystanders start to compare, its a water creature how could this impact our livelihood as opposed to how could we impact its life by disrupting it when it probably been there just unseen living its life. The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible, this monster has been going about its own life, so any change in that, and it automatically puts its self on the defensive. It is attacks those trying to capture or exploit it.
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I’m writing about the Night King from the HBO series Game of Thrones based on the book series “A Song of Ice and Fire”, by Geroge R.R Martin. The Night King wasn’t always a monster, he was turned into a monster also known as a White Walker in the show by the children of the forest. Before the Night king became a White Walker, he was the First Man that was captured by Children of the Forest. Leaf, a member of the Children of the forest, pressed a dragonglass dagger into his chest, causing his eyes to turn blue and turning him into the very first of the white walkers. The reason for turning him into the White walker was to defend themselves when Westeros was invaded by the First Men, who were cutting down their sacred trees and slaughtering the Children of the Forest. The first Monster Culture thesis I, “The monster is born only at this metaphoric crossroads, as an embodiment of a certain cultural moment- of a time, a feeling, and a place. The monster’s body quite literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety, and fantasy (ataractic or incendiary), giving them life and an uncanny independence.” This theory connects with the Night King, due to when he only became this monster after he was turned into this monster form the Children of the forests, who were trying to make him a threat to his own kind for destroying their home. During his transition, the Night King reacted in fear when Leaf plunged a shard of dragon glass into his chest. The Night King’s goal was to build an army of night walkers to erase time and the world. The Night King stayed true to his natural cultural which was being the first white walker and being the ultimate embodiment of death.
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I’m writing about CandyMan a 90’s movie that took place in Chicago. It’s about a man with a hook for a hand that appears behind you and kills you, if you chant his name 5 times in the mirror and turn off the lights he will appear. CandyMan was an urban legend about a man that was brutally murdered in the 19th century for falling in love with a white woman. (well THEY fell madly in love!) He was punished and killed and as he died they chanted his name CANDYMAN 5x’s. That is where the legend started and as time passed its been a scary story to tell and only the boldest people dare to summon him. I think that thesis 2 and 4 connect with my monster mainly. My monster started off as an urban legend that led into a book called the forbidden (established in Europe somewhere) that was influenced by bloody marry and after that brought to u.s where they changed the name to “in the flesh” (I believe) after that remastered into “CandyMan”. There are definitely different ways the story is told (all great) I had the chance to listen to the audiobook of “the forbidden” (creepy/slow/but good) didn’t get a chance to read the book but I’m sure it’s along the lines of the same concept. Anywho the story was interesting to me and i wanted to find out where the CandyMan came from.
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My source is No Country for Old Men, the 2007 movie adapted from McCarthy’s novel of the same name. I will be examining the main antagonist, Chigurh. Chigurh is a psychopathic killer that hunts down the main protagonist, Llewellyn Moss. Moss steals a case full of drug money from the aftermath of a gang shoot out. Consequently, the Mexican Cartel, Chigurh, and an old Sheriff named Bell all try to catch him. In the end of the movie/book, Moss is killed off screen by the Cartel. Bell finds his body. Chigurh then fulfills a promise he made to Moss and kills Moss’s wife. The movie ends with Chigurh escaping and Sheriff Bell retiring. The film is a mix of neowestern and noir. The narrative is constructed to examine the fear of America after 9/11. It utilizes questions of nihilism and the nature of fate to do so. Chigurh, in many ways, is fate personified. He is the walking destruction and chaos of modern reality. It’s through his character that the story deconstructs classic western tropes and uses noir subversions. The movie isn’t very well known. It is critically claimed, but commercially under preformed. Since it’s release it’s gotten a cult following with many recognizing it as one of the best movies of all time. I’d like to give it some more exposure and encourage as many people as possible to give it a watch.
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The monster I decided to write about was Theodore Bundy. He was known as the notorious serial killer. There have been a lot of documentaries based on his life even after death. Netflix made a movie about Ted Bundy which Zac Effron portrays. The movie is not as accurate since some parts of the movie were exaggerated or did not quite happen in real life. Bundy was a real life monster that created a fear in society, a fear in women. That’s what a monster is. It is a badly behaved or cruel person. An example of a monster is a person who kills just for his own amusement. They feed off of the fear that is given or shown. Most people are afraid of the creatures that lure in the dark, under our beds or in our closets when the real monsters are out in the world causing fear through murder and kidnap. I think the monster theory that goes best with my topic is monster theory 4: The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference. I think this theory goes best with my topic because Jeffery Jerome Cohen mentions in the first sentence “The monster is difference made flesh, come to dwell among us.” I believe he is talking about how they aren’t just a figment of our imagination but that monsters actually have flesh and bone and can cause fear or panic in the world.
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