Welcome to Monsters Part 3: The Monsters That Just Need a Hug

Who didn't have that one friend who absolutely loved Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter series? Or maybe I really was the only person surrounded by his fan girls.

I swear that this picture is relevant...

Regardless, Remus Lupin made Harry Potter fans everywhere sympathetic to werewolves in a time when werewolves were still seen as evil creatures that needed to be destroyed (basically before there was a Teen Paranormal Romance section at Barnes and Nobles). He is probably one of the first examples J.K. Rowling gave us of someone who chooses to be "good" despite what society defines them as.

The fact that J.K. Rowling created characters who made choices and weren't evil because of who they were born as is a major theme of the Harry Potter series. This message is made extremely clear in book 4 (Goblet of Fire) when Dumbledore says to the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge "it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." This stands in sharp contrast to a lot of fantasy troupes that were seen all over the place in popular culture before these books. The best (and most well known) example of evil by virtue of birth are the Orcs from The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The scene where we discover that Lupin is a werewolf (at least in the books) shows the extreme prejudice he faces every day. Harry is noticeably the only member of the Golden Trio to not react badly at the declaration that Lupin is a werewolf. Both Ron and Hermione show open distrust and hostility once the secret is revealed. They quickly change their minds about Lupin, but their initial reaction still stands as pretty normal when a wizard meets a werewolf. The only reason Remus Lupin might be considered a monster is because he turns into a werewolf once a month.

Remus Lupin isn't the first example of a sympathetic "monster". There's also the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, David in An American Werewolf in London, and an argument can even be made for Tony Stark from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each is put in a position where they are seen as a villain or monster to someone else, but are just trying to make the best of a bad situation.

The character David from An American Werewolf in London (much like his predecessor Larry Talbot from the 1941 The Wolf Man) is bitten by a werewolf. However, unlike the situation Remus Lupin found himself in, David has zero resources to help him during his transformations. He spends a good chunk of the second part of the film seeing hallucinations of the people he has violently killed while a werewolf. The hallucinations tell him what an awful person he is and that he should kill himself before he can kill anyone else.

(Next paragraph contains spoilers for An American Werewolf in London. This is your only warning!)

By the end of An American Werewolf in London, I sincerely wanted David to have a happy ending. I really did. Though, his mental health had significantly deteriorated and he knows he is responsible for the murders he commuted while transformed, it is still very clear that he wanted to live. But (spoilers) monsters don't get happy endings in these types of stories. Much like Larry Talbot before him, David is cornered in his werewolf form and shot to death. What is most tragic is that David seems almost relieved to die.

I may or may not have cried...a lot.

Werewolves seem to have a much more sympathetic representation in our popular culture than say vampires or zombies. Maybe it's because it's easy to identify with the werewolf condition. J.K. Rowling has been quoted as saying she used Lupin's condition as "a metaphor for those illnesses that carry a stigma, like HIV and AIDS." And unlike the vampire and zombie condition, which is constant, werewolves typically look and act like normal people until their affliction takes control.

That's not to say that vampires or zombies can't be sympathetic. The scene in Shawn of the Dead where Shawn has to kill his mother, is incredibly sad. Thankfully that movie has a somewhat happy, and pretty ridiculous, ending. But it does drive home the fact that the zombies were once humans who were loved.

Then there are monsters like The Beast from Beauty and the Beast. As a human, The Beast (or Prince Adam as dubbed by his adoring fans) had a personality that was severely lacking in empathy and charity. This leads to his curse and monstrous form.

I know that if I were in Belle's shoes, I would have screamed bloody murder. The Beast looks terrifying, especially since we first see him in the shadows of a dungeon. Though Belle reacts to his terrifying looks by shirking away from him with a gasp, she is able to look past his appearance (and he stops being a jerk to her) to fall in love with him. However, when Belle shows the image of The Beast to the villagers, they immediately form a mob and go off to "kill The Beast!"

This sequence of events leads to one of my favorite lines in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast: "we don't like what we don't understand, in fact it scares us, and this monster is mysterious at least." Society judges The Beast to be a monster simply by how he looks. The Beast is tired and thinks he is doomed to spend the rest of his existence as a monster. At this point, he doesn't care if Gaston and the villagers are going to kill him or not. It isn't until Belle reappears that The Beast is able to find the will to live.

The villagers panic over the fact that The Beast looks scary even though he has never actually done anything to them. They have zero reasons to try and kill him.

There's actually a real life example of people hiding away from society due to a scary appearance. Raymond Robinson (1910 - 1985), also known as the Green Man, became horribly deformed in a childhood accident. To prevent people from panicking when they saw him, he would only go out at night and stay away from the main parts of his hometown. He eventually became a local legend known as the Green Man. Some people in his local community were shocked to discover that he really did exist and had an unfortunate even in his life take place.

But what about the monsters who don't look like monsters? Or, more specifically, what about the people who do terrible things because they think they have to?

I mentioned Tony Stark from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (I'm not as familiar with his other media) earlier in this post and some of you might be wondering why. To be honest, Tony's ego is his biggest weakness and is what qualifies him to being a monster. It's because of Tony that Ultron destroyed the capital city of Sokovia. If Ultron hadn't had done that, we wouldn't have had half the plot of Civil War.

Speaking of Captain America: Civil War, I backed Captain America during that whole movie. What Tony was asking them to do was to essentially give up their freedom, especially Wanda. Yes, I understood his point about someone keeping the heroes in check and making sure someone was held responsible for when innocent lives are lost (a topic for another time), but Steve Rogers made some really good points too. It also didn't help that Tony locked up half the Avengers after they rebelled against the agreement in the movie.

Tony has some good arguments and tries to do the right thing, but his actions tend to be way too extreme and hurt the people he is closes to. He is the type of monster people don't realize is a monster until they are in his crosshairs. Locking up Wanda instead of trying to help her was a really bad thing to do and stands in sharp contrast to Steve seeing the best in everyone. By the end of the movie, I did feel bad for Tony. He wasn't necessarily wrong with his arguments, but his actions were and he could very easily end up alone because of that.

At the end of Civil War, I saw someone who was devastated by their own actions, even though they still thought they were doing the right thing. I wasn't sure if I wanted to smack him or hug him. Hopefully James Rhodes will be able to get Tony to see where he went wrong.

So not all monsters are the Orcs of Middle Earth. Some have been cast out of society due to things that are entirely out of their control. Others wanted to do the right thing, but instead hurt those they care about most. These characters are important because not everything in life can be put into a "good" or "evil" box.

Life is complicated and tough to figure out. Sometimes it's the monster that needs saving.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome To Indecision

I have a lot of big decisions to make and I don't want to make any of them. If I could stop time for maybe two weeks for me to get my act together and actually think about what I have to do, I might feel better. Of course then I might spend all two weeks of that frozen time on my couch watching Netflix.

I'm moving. It's a fact I'm still having a hard time admitting to, but it's what is happening. I have to find a place to live, downsize (because apparently things are just that expensive where I'm going) and adjust to the new location. It could be worse. I could have lost my job. Thankfully I didn't and they are helping with the move.

Then there are the little day to day decisions I need to make. What will I have for lunch today? Should I get my hair cut this week. Does this bill really need to be paid this month? You know the stuff you know will get done, but you just have to remember to do it.

I'm burnt out. I have reached a point where if I have to make one more choice I'm going to crack.

Supposedly I'll be made stronger after going through all of this.

I'll just have to wait and see.

If you enjoyed this post, or it really pissed you off, please like, share or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope ya'll like hearing from me. Until next week.

Welcome To The Laws Of The Jungle

The Odds Are Not In Your Favor...

This week was an emotional roller coaster for me. My cable company decided they were giving me too many channels for the price I was paying and took away about two thirds of them. I will miss TNT, TBS, Travel Channel, BBC America, and ABC Family, but it seems the cable company in question has me in a chock hold over how much the internet is worth. 

Now before I start getting an earful about what an entitled little millennial I am, I would like to point out that I am a) just starting out on a tight budget, b) my cable bill is almost always higher than my utilities bill combined (not counting January, February and March of this year with all the freezing weather), and finally c) the internet is required for me to do my job if I ever have to work from home. Believe it or not, sometimes I have to work from because of personal issues, complications with the internet at work (yeah this happened too), or I climate weather. Now I could go to the public library or coffee shop for internet service when I have to work from home, except when snow hits everything closes and I am still expected to work. Here lies my problem. 

Now there are a lot of self help website out there explaining how to "get the most out of your cable company", these morsels of advice only work if there is competition in your area. Since my apartment management apparently has an exclusive contract with one cable company, I have no means of competition to work with. I am stuck in a localized monopoly that seems top league the majority of the nation. Is this fair? No, but this is the way of life. 

I guess I was lulled into the fallacy that I live in a "free market capitalist society" where competition keeps prices low and consumers have choices. I guess I was wrong. There are very few things I can do to change these circumstances, though I am looking at my options carefully (writing the local politicians and national senators seems like a good yet useless endeavor). 

I think what I am most displeased with is my lack of choices. I like having many options that I can choose from and still keep a level of security. If life has taught me anything since leaving college, it's that the world is an expensive place to live in and that it's just not fair. People and companies lie (no a corporation  is not a person no matter how many loop holes they have to make it appear otherwise). I also have learned that I like having choices and get very cranky when these choices are taken away from me. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please leave a comment or share it with your friends, family or worst enemy. I kindly ask that you do not leave mean and spiteful messages as this will be seen as cyberbullying and I will be blocking, reporting and committing your name to memory (I will leave you to your imagination with that).

I would also like to take this moment to thank my readers. I am almost to 1000 hits on my blog in less than a year. I feel amazed and am grateful to all my loyal readers. Perhaps without all those channels I will finally buckle down and write those novels. 

Until next week.