TEJ Blog 4: Kawin, 'Composite Monsters: ILS & TF'

TEJ Blog 4: Kawin, 'Composite Monsters: ILS & TF'

Quote

“A composite creature, a combination of animal forms, the fruit of anything from mythology or surgery to genetic anomaly, disturbs our sense of the orderly classification of species… ” (Monsters, Kawin 101)

Summary

     In Kawin's excerpt 'Composite Monsters: Island of Lost Souls and The Fly', the idea of monsters in human culture is a reflection of the human self and perception of the world, and the use of them in media is a vehicle for the viewers to examine the monster and their own perceptions of the archetypes displayed in the narrative and how it pertains to modern society. Kawin focuses on famous monster films of the 20th century, including the Creature from the Black Lagoon among the other titles in his title - he uses and example of the perception of the creature's relationship with the only woman in each of its films to detail the strange double standard of the audience expecting yet not legitimizing the romance of the relationship; "When [the creature] carries the unconscious Kay into his grotto in Black Lagoon, it is expected, iconic, Yet we do not consider them a human couple but 'the monster and the girl' " (Kawin, 101). 

Response

     I find Kawin's main idea in this essay exceptional and refreshing in the manner that it views and details the ideas, uses, and narratives of monsters as reflections to humanity of our behavior and societal values, using objective analysis. The lack of total bias toward human perception adds a layer of proper critical thinking - by not presenting or thinking of human behavior as the epitome of rightness and good, and instead discussing the actions of the monsters as an individual rather than simply as a non-human, Kawin expresses that the narratives of these monsters are empathetic, compelling, and intellectually stimulating - "The genre [of monster and horror films] is charged with the investigation of all forms of life... with a special interest in human nature, which it continually defines and redefines in relation to other kinds and ways of being" (Kawin, 99). I was a little disappointed, but fully understood why, when Kawin did not mention the issues of taxonomy in general when commenting on the flawed human understanding and system of species classification; Kawin wanted to focus on the idea of monsters, not flawed human perception in general, so it was entire reasonable he wouldn't delve into the way naming conventions are flawed, such as calling both bunnies and hares 'rabbits' when they cannot even produce offspring between each other that does not die in the womb, when the many types of canids (dogs, wolves, coyotes, some foxes) have deeply differentiated species names even though they are closely related.