1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,000
cc

2
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,233
>> It's Halloween.

3
00:00:03,233 --> 00:00:04,666
>> Yay.

4
00:00:04,666 --> 00:00:07,633
[SCREAMING AND APPLAUSE]

5
00:00:07,633 --> 00:00:10,466
>> And this is our fourth year

6
00:00:10,466 --> 00:00:11,633
to bring you something

7
00:00:11,633 --> 00:00:13,566
kind of exciting for Halloween,

8
00:00:13,566 --> 00:00:16,500
something that's both scholarly

9
00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:18,833
and maybe a little spooky.

10
00:00:18,833 --> 00:00:19,866
>> I think.

11
00:00:19,866 --> 00:00:20,866
>> A little bit.

12
00:00:20,866 --> 00:00:21,866
>> It should touch in

13
00:00:21,866 --> 00:00:22,866
the right spots.

14
00:00:22,866 --> 00:00:23,866
>> I think so.

15
00:00:23,866 --> 00:00:24,866
So we have something

16
00:00:24,866 --> 00:00:26,333
about monsters.

17
00:00:26,333 --> 00:00:29,566
How wonderful is that?

18
00:00:29,566 --> 00:00:31,000
And ancient monsters, ancient

19
00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:33,600
fears, monster as a mirror of

20
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:35,433
cultural anxiety.

21
00:00:35,433 --> 00:00:36,866
I think it's fair to say that

22
00:00:36,866 --> 00:00:38,566
this something exciting to me.

23
00:00:38,566 --> 00:00:40,600
It's part of my research

24
00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:41,700
and part of yours as well.

25
00:00:41,700 --> 00:00:43,066
>> Yeah, absolutely.

26
00:00:43,066 --> 00:00:44,233
Absolutely.

27
00:00:44,233 --> 00:00:46,166
As a cultural topic, it finds

28
00:00:46,166 --> 00:00:47,733
its foundation there.

29
00:00:47,733 --> 00:00:49,433
So it's of inherent interest.

30
00:00:49,433 --> 00:00:50,733
>> So, in terms of medieval

31
00:00:50,733 --> 00:00:52,600
literature, in terms of

32
00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,566
contemporary culture and popular

33
00:00:54,566 --> 00:00:56,066
culture, as well as

34
00:00:56,066 --> 00:00:57,300
anthropology.

35
00:00:57,300 --> 00:00:58,900
>> Yep.

36
00:00:58,900 --> 00:01:00,200
>> What could be more exciting

37
00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:01,366
than that?

38
00:01:01,366 --> 00:01:02,800
Okay, so we're going to split

39
00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:04,266
this into two sections, and then

40
00:01:04,266 --> 00:01:05,600
we'll do Q&A at the end?

41
00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:06,933
>> Yep, that's the plan.

42
00:01:06,933 --> 00:01:08,166
>> In that case, I'm just going

43
00:01:08,166 --> 00:01:09,433
to sashay over here.

44
00:01:09,433 --> 00:01:10,933
>> Good, good, good.

45
00:01:10,933 --> 00:01:13,133
Well, good afternoon, everybody,

46
00:01:13,133 --> 00:01:14,966
and my job is to sort of get us

47
00:01:14,966 --> 00:01:17,833
started by talking a little bit

48
00:01:17,833 --> 00:01:20,000
about what a monster is.

49
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:21,366
So it seems pretty

50
00:01:21,366 --> 00:01:22,500
straightforward.

51
00:01:22,500 --> 00:01:23,900
Although, if you start thinking

52
00:01:23,900 --> 00:01:25,033
about it and trying to pick the

53
00:01:25,033 --> 00:01:26,433
word apart, it actually may not

54
00:01:26,433 --> 00:01:28,000
be that straightforward, because

55
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,300
a monster could be something

56
00:01:30,300 --> 00:01:33,000
that is a physical manifestation

57
00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:34,733
but it could also be a

58
00:01:34,733 --> 00:01:36,633
reflection of behavior too.

59
00:01:36,633 --> 00:01:38,733
You do monstrous things, right?

60
00:01:38,733 --> 00:01:41,033
So we want to be more specific,

61
00:01:41,033 --> 00:01:42,766
and we want to narrow it down

62
00:01:42,766 --> 00:01:44,600
here to a specific set of

63
00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:46,466
concepts.

64
00:01:46,466 --> 00:01:47,700
So the word itself helps us

65
00:01:47,700 --> 00:01:48,833
a little bit.

66
00:01:48,833 --> 00:01:50,533
A little linguistics in there.

67
00:01:50,533 --> 00:01:53,300
Monster derives from Latin,

68
00:01:53,300 --> 00:01:55,966
monstrum, which means,

69
00:01:55,966 --> 00:01:57,766
that which reveals,

70
00:01:57,766 --> 00:01:59,500
that which warns.

71
00:01:59,500 --> 00:02:00,700
So this may not necessarily be

72
00:02:00,700 --> 00:02:02,000
what we exactly expect right

73
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:03,200
away when we're talking about

74
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:04,400
this.

75
00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,466
Monster, then, takes on sort of

76
00:02:06,466 --> 00:02:09,000
this kind of aura of being an

77
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,433
omen to tell of danger or as a

78
00:02:12,433 --> 00:02:14,533
warning perhaps to something

79
00:02:14,533 --> 00:02:16,666
that might be coming.

80
00:02:16,666 --> 00:02:19,166
This fellow Pierre Bersuire

81
00:02:19,166 --> 00:02:20,900
wrote in the 14th century the

82
00:02:20,900 --> 00:02:23,233
Repertorium morale,  and he

83
00:02:23,233 --> 00:02:24,366
defined monsters very well

84
00:02:24,366 --> 00:02:25,266
I think.

85
00:02:25,266 --> 00:02:27,000
He said, "Monsters are creatures

86
00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,766
from outside, beyond, or

87
00:02:29,766 --> 00:02:32,466
contrary to nature.

88
00:02:32,466 --> 00:02:35,133
Such things are called monstria

89
00:02:35,133 --> 00:02:37,566
from monstrando, either because

90
00:02:37,566 --> 00:02:39,400
they show or signify some future

91
00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,333
event or because they exemplify

92
00:02:42,333 --> 00:02:47,166
some moral or spiritual flaw."

93
00:02:47,166 --> 00:02:49,066
So that's interesting.

94
00:02:49,066 --> 00:02:50,900
It kind of adds a twist to it.

95
00:02:50,900 --> 00:02:52,366
It's not just about sort of a

96
00:02:52,366 --> 00:02:53,933
warning about the future, but it

97
00:02:53,933 --> 00:02:55,666
also brings into this

98
00:02:55,666 --> 00:02:58,400
this concept that maybe

99
00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:00,066
they represent some kind of

100
00:03:00,066 --> 00:03:04,800
error in judgment or a bad or

101
00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:06,733
a not moral act.

102
00:03:06,733 --> 00:03:08,000
So these are kind of

103
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,166
interesting.

104
00:03:09,166 --> 00:03:10,366
And then also adding into this,

105
00:03:10,366 --> 00:03:12,733
this idea of outside or

106
00:03:12,733 --> 00:03:14,900
contrary to nature.

107
00:03:14,900 --> 00:03:17,600
It makes it, by definition then,

108
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,433
a categorical violation.

109
00:03:20,433 --> 00:03:21,533
So what does that mean?

110
00:03:21,533 --> 00:03:23,000
That sounds like a lot of kind

111
00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:24,400
of fancy talk for a very basic

112
00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,066
idea.

113
00:03:26,066 --> 00:03:28,433
And that is, all things fit into

114
00:03:28,433 --> 00:03:30,766
sort of a category, and when you

115
00:03:30,766 --> 00:03:33,533
look at an apple, for example,

116
00:03:33,533 --> 00:03:35,366
you expect to see an apple.

117
00:03:35,366 --> 00:03:36,733
You don't expect the apple to

118
00:03:36,733 --> 00:03:38,200
have arms and legs and a long

119
00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:39,800
tongue or something like that,

120
00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:40,833
right?

121
00:03:40,833 --> 00:03:42,166
If it had those things, that

122
00:03:42,166 --> 00:03:44,200
would be a categorical violation

123
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:46,500
and, therefore, by definition,

124
00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:48,100
monstrous.

125
00:03:48,100 --> 00:03:49,133
Right?

126
00:03:49,133 --> 00:03:50,266
So that's what we're dealing

127
00:03:50,266 --> 00:03:51,300
with.

128
00:03:51,300 --> 00:03:52,300
That's what we want to talk

129
00:03:52,300 --> 00:03:53,566
about.

130
00:03:53,566 --> 00:03:54,766
Monsters.

131
00:03:54,766 --> 00:03:55,933
Let's look at some of the

132
00:03:55,933 --> 00:03:57,166
characteristics of monsters.

133
00:03:57,166 --> 00:03:59,500
Here would be an example of sort

134
00:03:59,500 --> 00:04:01,800
of a grotesque hybrid.

135
00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,733
So here you have a human head

136
00:04:04,733 --> 00:04:06,000
that has sprouted these

137
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:07,800
arthropod sort of legs and is

138
00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,166
scrambling around on the floor.

139
00:04:10,166 --> 00:04:11,933
That's not normal.

140
00:04:11,933 --> 00:04:13,366
That's a categorical violation.

141
00:04:13,366 --> 00:04:14,500
[LAUGHTER]

142
00:04:14,500 --> 00:04:15,666
No good.

143
00:04:15,666 --> 00:04:16,700
Right?

144
00:04:16,700 --> 00:04:18,200
So that's definitely a monstrous

145
00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:19,700
sort of thing.

146
00:04:19,700 --> 00:04:21,433
Monsters also are typically

147
00:04:21,433 --> 00:04:23,000
huge.

148
00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:24,800
They're disproportionately large

149
00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:26,200
in size.

150
00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,566
So, for example, in the Odyssey,

151
00:04:28,566 --> 00:04:32,533
you've got the giant cyclops

152
00:04:32,533 --> 00:04:35,700
that is holding Odysseus and his

153
00:04:35,700 --> 00:04:37,833
men captive.

154
00:04:37,833 --> 00:04:40,066
And there, this is a giant.

155
00:04:40,066 --> 00:04:43,000
It's monstrous in size.

156
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:44,966
And giants come into that, not

157
00:04:44,966 --> 00:04:46,333
just cyclops, but giants in

158
00:04:46,333 --> 00:04:48,600
general fit that category

159
00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,033
Monsters are typically

160
00:04:50,033 --> 00:04:52,033
mysterious and menacing.

161
00:04:52,033 --> 00:04:54,966
So here you have a satyr where

162
00:04:54,966 --> 00:04:57,666
you've got sort of the part

163
00:04:57,666 --> 00:05:00,300
goat, part human, part other

164
00:05:00,300 --> 00:05:02,200
things mixed in together.

165
00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:03,600
And although there's no

166
00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:05,800
threatening sort of action going

167
00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,400
on here, it is very sort of

168
00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,500
curious, and we tend to be more

169
00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:12,466
suspicious of things that don't

170
00:05:12,466 --> 00:05:15,466
sort of fit our expectations.

171
00:05:15,466 --> 00:05:16,800
So, again, mysterious and

172
00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:18,800
menacing can be part of this.

173
00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,233
Oh, yeah, and they also

174
00:05:20,233 --> 00:05:21,366
typically eat people.

175
00:05:21,366 --> 00:05:22,666
[LAUGHTER]

176
00:05:22,666 --> 00:05:23,766
That's the other thing that

177
00:05:23,766 --> 00:05:24,833
monsters are particularly

178
00:05:24,833 --> 00:05:25,966
good at.

179
00:05:25,966 --> 00:05:27,100
So here we have an early kind of

180
00:05:27,100 --> 00:05:28,433
a woodcut of a werewolf doing

181
00:05:28,433 --> 00:05:31,000
its business.

182
00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:32,500
So they typically eat people

183
00:05:32,500 --> 00:05:34,100
and, therefore, have this sort

184
00:05:34,100 --> 00:05:38,033
of negative connotation.

185
00:05:38,033 --> 00:05:40,533
So, my part of this business

186
00:05:40,533 --> 00:05:42,800
is about looking at sort of

187
00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:44,266
how old this concept is.

188
00:05:44,266 --> 00:05:47,466
Where does this concept of

189
00:05:47,466 --> 00:05:49,733
monster come from?

190
00:05:49,733 --> 00:05:51,200
How long have we been living

191
00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,200
with this?

192
00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:54,500
Now, we can look at old medieval

193
00:05:54,500 --> 00:05:56,233
pictures, and we can clearly see

194
00:05:56,233 --> 00:05:58,033
that this goes back and has some

195
00:05:58,033 --> 00:05:59,633
antiquity into the dark ages

196
00:05:59,633 --> 00:06:01,400
probably for sure.

197
00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:02,800
Certainly there's been as many

198
00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:04,266
monsters, there's been monster

199
00:06:04,266 --> 00:06:05,900
slayers that have gone with

200
00:06:05,900 --> 00:06:07,200
that.

201
00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:08,666
There's Beowulf and Grendel and

202
00:06:08,666 --> 00:06:10,066
there's St. George and the

203
00:06:10,066 --> 00:06:11,300
dragon.

204
00:06:11,300 --> 00:06:13,466
Even Odysseus could fall under

205
00:06:13,466 --> 00:06:15,400
that realm.

206
00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:16,966
So, how long, how far back can

207
00:06:16,966 --> 00:06:19,133
we push this?

208
00:06:19,133 --> 00:06:21,666
Well, I would argue that maybe

209
00:06:21,666 --> 00:06:23,933
we could push this back to the

210
00:06:23,933 --> 00:06:25,833
very beginning.

211
00:06:25,833 --> 00:06:28,133
To the very sort of roots of

212
00:06:28,133 --> 00:06:31,166
human consciousness.

213
00:06:31,166 --> 00:06:33,433
We weren't always this way,

214
00:06:33,433 --> 00:06:34,633
the way that we are now.

215
00:06:34,633 --> 00:06:36,633
We have relatively little fear

216
00:06:36,633 --> 00:06:38,166
of, for example, other

217
00:06:38,166 --> 00:06:39,833
predators.

218
00:06:39,833 --> 00:06:41,466
We hunt a lot of things, but

219
00:06:41,466 --> 00:06:42,666
there aren't a lot of things

220
00:06:42,666 --> 00:06:44,400
that hunt us.

221
00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,566
So, is it possible that going

222
00:06:46,566 --> 00:06:48,800
back into the very faintest

223
00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:50,600
echos, our very most distant

224
00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,133
cultural and sort of even

225
00:06:53,133 --> 00:06:55,800
genetic memory, we could even

226
00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:57,966
talk about this idea of being

227
00:06:57,966 --> 00:06:59,800
afraid of the things that hunt

228
00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:02,766
us, the things that have hunted

229
00:07:02,766 --> 00:07:04,366
us traditionally.

230
00:07:04,366 --> 00:07:05,866
Here you have an

231
00:07:05,866 --> 00:07:07,900
australopithecine skull, a very

232
00:07:07,900 --> 00:07:10,000
distant ancestor of ours who

233
00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:11,733
very clearly met an unfortunate

234
00:07:11,733 --> 00:07:13,466
end.

235
00:07:13,466 --> 00:07:15,333
These guys were more dinner than

236
00:07:15,333 --> 00:07:17,433
they were actually anything

237
00:07:17,433 --> 00:07:18,566
else.

238
00:07:18,566 --> 00:07:20,733
So the idea, then, of being

239
00:07:20,733 --> 00:07:23,233
afraid of things that hunt us

240
00:07:23,233 --> 00:07:25,166
could be a very good start for

241
00:07:25,166 --> 00:07:28,633
where monsters might come from.

242
00:07:28,633 --> 00:07:29,900
And if we wanted to kind of look

243
00:07:29,900 --> 00:07:31,200
at this in a little bit more

244
00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:32,566
detail, we could jump forward

245
00:07:32,566 --> 00:07:34,900
here, forward right, relative

246
00:07:34,900 --> 00:07:38,200
term, to 35,000 years ago, and

247
00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,733
the very first cave art, what

248
00:07:40,733 --> 00:07:42,300
people were drawing and

249
00:07:42,300 --> 00:07:43,900
expressing themselves and what

250
00:07:43,900 --> 00:07:45,100
they were thinking about.

251
00:07:45,100 --> 00:07:46,433
And we know this stuff best from

252
00:07:46,433 --> 00:07:47,700
southern Europe.

253
00:07:47,700 --> 00:07:49,333
So here's an example of some of

254
00:07:49,333 --> 00:07:51,000
the earliest cave art that's

255
00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,200
ever been discovered, and it

256
00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:54,300
comes from a place called

257
00:07:54,300 --> 00:07:55,833
Chauvet Cave.

258
00:07:55,833 --> 00:07:57,466
Chauvet Cave is a very large

259
00:07:57,466 --> 00:07:59,800
cave system.

260
00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,366
The scale here is 20 meters to

261
00:08:02,366 --> 00:08:03,600
the inch.

262
00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:04,666
So it goes deep, deep into the

263
00:08:04,666 --> 00:08:06,466
rock face here.

264
00:08:06,466 --> 00:08:07,666
And there's a funny little

265
00:08:07,666 --> 00:08:09,900
pattern here with the art.

266
00:08:09,900 --> 00:08:11,833
There's lots of images here, but

267
00:08:11,833 --> 00:08:13,700
what tends to be in the front of

268
00:08:13,700 --> 00:08:16,100
the cave are things that people

269
00:08:16,100 --> 00:08:17,766
were eating.

270
00:08:17,766 --> 00:08:21,200
Horses, bison, auroch, which is

271
00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:23,766
the progenitor to cows.

272
00:08:23,766 --> 00:08:25,033
And the further you get back

273
00:08:25,033 --> 00:08:27,066
into this cave, the darker, the

274
00:08:27,066 --> 00:08:29,733
scarier, the hard to access

275
00:08:29,733 --> 00:08:32,900
regions, you start finding these

276
00:08:32,900 --> 00:08:36,666
other things, like bears.

277
00:08:36,666 --> 00:08:39,333
Bears, very powerful creatures

278
00:08:39,333 --> 00:08:40,666
these cave bears.

279
00:08:40,666 --> 00:08:41,933
Big, strong.

280
00:08:41,933 --> 00:08:43,766
Lived in this cave, actually,

281
00:08:43,766 --> 00:08:45,033
and would have been a threat to

282
00:08:45,033 --> 00:08:46,133
humans.

283
00:08:46,133 --> 00:08:47,466
So it's not too surprising that

284
00:08:47,466 --> 00:08:49,333
we see their depictions at least

285
00:08:49,333 --> 00:08:52,133
up front, right?

286
00:08:52,133 --> 00:08:53,400
Lions.

287
00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:54,600
I know we don't like to think

288
00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:55,666
typically that there were lions

289
00:08:55,666 --> 00:08:56,700
in Europe because it seems out

290
00:08:56,700 --> 00:08:58,333
of place, but in southern Europe

291
00:08:58,333 --> 00:08:59,866
they had lions.

292
00:08:59,866 --> 00:09:01,600
And again, lions would have been

293
00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,900
competitors for food with

294
00:09:04,900 --> 00:09:06,233
humans.

295
00:09:06,233 --> 00:09:08,100
So they would be hunting the

296
00:09:08,100 --> 00:09:10,066
bison, humans would be hunting

297
00:09:10,066 --> 00:09:11,900
the bison and, of course, humans

298
00:09:11,900 --> 00:09:15,266
being about prey size for lions,

299
00:09:15,266 --> 00:09:17,300
especially women and children,

300
00:09:17,300 --> 00:09:18,533
these would be something that

301
00:09:18,533 --> 00:09:21,033
might be very scary.

302
00:09:21,033 --> 00:09:22,400
Even rhinos, which we don't tend

303
00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,166
to think of as being dangerous,

304
00:09:25,166 --> 00:09:26,566
they actually nearsighted.

305
00:09:26,566 --> 00:09:27,900
They don't have very good sense

306
00:09:27,900 --> 00:09:29,033
of smell.

307
00:09:29,033 --> 00:09:30,400
They're startled very easily.

308
00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:31,533
You get a lot of deaths each

309
00:09:31,533 --> 00:09:33,100
year from being gored from

310
00:09:33,100 --> 00:09:34,200
rhinos.

311
00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:35,900
Again, shows up in the back of

312
00:09:35,900 --> 00:09:37,300
the cave.

313
00:09:37,300 --> 00:09:38,866
Lions and, of course, the art

314
00:09:38,866 --> 00:09:40,100
itself is interesting.

315
00:09:40,100 --> 00:09:41,566
This idea of being in motion and

316
00:09:41,566 --> 00:09:43,733
lions being a scary thing tucked

317
00:09:43,733 --> 00:09:45,066
away.

318
00:09:45,066 --> 00:09:46,266
Tucked in the back in a

319
00:09:46,266 --> 00:09:47,500
manageable way.

320
00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:49,500
Controlled.

321
00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:51,933
Hyenas, cheetah.

322
00:09:51,933 --> 00:09:53,966
In this case, all sort of

323
00:09:53,966 --> 00:09:56,400
competitors, dangerous things

324
00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:58,400
that are part of this world that

325
00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,466
these people perceive.

326
00:10:00,466 --> 00:10:01,833
So do you think they might have

327
00:10:01,833 --> 00:10:03,500
had some anxiety then about

328
00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:05,333
these things being out there?

329
00:10:05,333 --> 00:10:06,633
And, of course, a way to deal

330
00:10:06,633 --> 00:10:07,933
with that anxiety is to create

331
00:10:07,933 --> 00:10:11,466
it and then control it.

332
00:10:11,466 --> 00:10:13,166
Helps us to deal with that

333
00:10:13,166 --> 00:10:14,966
anxiety.

334
00:10:14,966 --> 00:10:16,300
This one's always fun.

335
00:10:16,300 --> 00:10:17,500
A field day, right?

336
00:10:17,500 --> 00:10:19,300
For all of those out there

337
00:10:19,300 --> 00:10:21,500
because the images show, of

338
00:10:21,500 --> 00:10:23,433
course, the lions, you see

339
00:10:23,433 --> 00:10:25,200
another lion, you see a bison,

340
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,066
and then you see this women's

341
00:10:27,066 --> 00:10:28,633
genitalia.

342
00:10:28,633 --> 00:10:30,066
Talk about Freud, right?

343
00:10:30,066 --> 00:10:31,500
Here's all these things mixed

344
00:10:31,500 --> 00:10:32,833
together.

345
00:10:32,833 --> 00:10:34,500
Anxieties and fears all kind of

346
00:10:34,500 --> 00:10:36,766
pulled together into this one

347
00:10:36,766 --> 00:10:38,800
sort of realm.

348
00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:40,200
And it wasn't just cave art.

349
00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:41,633
They made objects, like this

350
00:10:41,633 --> 00:10:43,066
lion man.

351
00:10:43,066 --> 00:10:45,000
This one comes from Germany.

352
00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,000
Not very big, but the body of a

353
00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,600
man with a lion's head.

354
00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:51,866
Whoops.

355
00:10:51,866 --> 00:10:53,166
Categorical violation.

356
00:10:53,166 --> 00:10:55,100
[imitating sustained siren]

357
00:10:55,100 --> 00:10:56,100
Be aware.

358
00:10:56,100 --> 00:10:57,600
Danger.

359
00:10:57,600 --> 00:10:59,733
So this tells us that the

360
00:10:59,733 --> 00:11:01,633
consciousness of these things,

361
00:11:01,633 --> 00:11:03,600
as time goes on, is becoming

362
00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:05,466
more and more acute.

363
00:11:05,466 --> 00:11:07,366
As we get more in control of our

364
00:11:07,366 --> 00:11:09,500
environment, as we are better

365
00:11:09,500 --> 00:11:11,233
hunters, as we bring these

366
00:11:11,233 --> 00:11:12,966
dangerous populations under

367
00:11:12,966 --> 00:11:15,366
control, the nature of the art

368
00:11:15,366 --> 00:11:18,533
changes, and we start seeing

369
00:11:18,533 --> 00:11:20,466
human representation for the

370
00:11:20,466 --> 00:11:22,733
first time and humans that are

371
00:11:22,733 --> 00:11:24,633
categorical violations.

372
00:11:24,633 --> 00:11:26,633
The little devil here, which is

373
00:11:26,633 --> 00:11:28,466
a human face with some sort of

374
00:11:28,466 --> 00:11:30,033
horns or protrusions from

375
00:11:30,033 --> 00:11:32,066
the top.

376
00:11:32,066 --> 00:11:33,900
This one is more obvious.

377
00:11:33,900 --> 00:11:35,166
They call him the sorcerer.

378
00:11:35,166 --> 00:11:36,933
But you've got an auroch or

379
00:11:36,933 --> 00:11:39,433
an ibex's head attached to

380
00:11:39,433 --> 00:11:41,533
a human body.

381
00:11:41,533 --> 00:11:42,533
Strange.

382
00:11:42,533 --> 00:11:44,066
Now, some of that might be from

383
00:11:44,066 --> 00:11:45,800
the fact that hunting was done

384
00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,233
by, for example, dressing in the

385
00:11:48,233 --> 00:11:50,600
skins of an animal to perhaps

386
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,033
get in and amongst the animals

387
00:11:53,033 --> 00:11:55,066
to do the hunting.

388
00:11:55,066 --> 00:11:56,966
But that doesn't always explain

389
00:11:56,966 --> 00:11:59,433
all of the various pieces.

390
00:11:59,433 --> 00:12:00,566
Like this.

391
00:12:00,566 --> 00:12:01,766
Here is not something that's

392
00:12:01,766 --> 00:12:02,800
hunting.

393
00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:04,066
Here is something that is

394
00:12:04,066 --> 00:12:05,433
walking on two legs, wearing

395
00:12:05,433 --> 00:12:06,700
this headdress, and is

396
00:12:06,700 --> 00:12:09,566
definitely part human, part elk,

397
00:12:09,566 --> 00:12:10,700
part owl.

398
00:12:10,700 --> 00:12:12,166
Some kind of categorical

399
00:12:12,166 --> 00:12:15,066
violation.

400
00:12:15,066 --> 00:12:17,166
At the dawn of history, when

401
00:12:17,166 --> 00:12:19,800
writing first comes into place,

402
00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,566
6,000 years ago, the writings

403
00:12:22,566 --> 00:12:25,133
that people made in Mesopotamia,

404
00:12:25,133 --> 00:12:26,800
where today Iraq and Iran are,

405
00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,533
the writing that people are

406
00:12:29,533 --> 00:12:31,400
doing is at first about numbers

407
00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:33,600
and it's about accounting, but

408
00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,366
almost right away, on the heels

409
00:12:35,366 --> 00:12:37,500
of things, they're talking about

410
00:12:37,500 --> 00:12:39,166
this.

411
00:12:39,166 --> 00:12:40,566
They're talking about their

412
00:12:40,566 --> 00:12:43,200
monsters, their gods and

413
00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:44,600
goddesses.

414
00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:46,433
And here, Tiamat, one

415
00:12:46,433 --> 00:12:48,633
representing the primeval chaos,

416
00:12:48,633 --> 00:12:50,400
the goddess of the ocean,

417
00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:53,233
has this scaly reptilian body,

418
00:12:53,233 --> 00:12:56,800
bird legs and talons.

419
00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:58,800
This creature was slain by

420
00:12:58,800 --> 00:12:59,900
Marduk.

421
00:12:59,900 --> 00:13:01,066
And, again, the idea is to

422
00:13:01,066 --> 00:13:02,566
control the anxiety coming

423
00:13:02,566 --> 00:13:04,266
about here.

424
00:13:04,266 --> 00:13:06,033
So we've seen a switch now.

425
00:13:06,033 --> 00:13:07,333
People aren't so concerned about

426
00:13:07,333 --> 00:13:09,166
natural predators as they are

427
00:13:09,166 --> 00:13:11,033
about the bigger title primal

428
00:13:11,033 --> 00:13:13,933
forces out there, like the wind

429
00:13:13,933 --> 00:13:15,566
and the ocean.

430
00:13:15,566 --> 00:13:17,966
Things they can't control.

431
00:13:17,966 --> 00:13:20,066
So Labbu, a sea beast, huge

432
00:13:20,066 --> 00:13:21,400
dimensions, and, again, not a

433
00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:23,400
surprise, killed by someone.

434
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:24,600
We've got to keep it under

435
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:26,300
control.

436
00:13:26,300 --> 00:13:29,533
Pazuzu, in this case an

437
00:13:29,533 --> 00:13:31,700
interesting character because

438
00:13:31,700 --> 00:13:32,900
this guy is evil.

439
00:13:32,900 --> 00:13:34,066
Everybody acknowledges him as

440
00:13:34,066 --> 00:13:36,400
evil, but they summon him to get

441
00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:38,466
rid of other evils.

442
00:13:38,466 --> 00:13:40,000
So apparently he was fairly

443
00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:41,500
territorial and so as a

444
00:13:41,500 --> 00:13:43,300
consequence was able to sort of

445
00:13:43,300 --> 00:13:45,133
help people in these times of

446
00:13:45,133 --> 00:13:46,500
need, but I suspect probably

447
00:13:46,500 --> 00:13:48,100
with a bit of a price tag that

448
00:13:48,100 --> 00:13:49,366
would come with it.

449
00:13:49,366 --> 00:13:50,600
But again, categorical

450
00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:51,566
violation.

451
00:13:51,566 --> 00:13:52,866
King of the evil spirits of

452
00:13:52,866 --> 00:13:54,100
the air.

453
00:13:54,100 --> 00:13:55,700
So again, that primal force

454
00:13:55,700 --> 00:13:57,466
of nature.

455
00:13:57,466 --> 00:14:00,200
Anzu, the divine storm bird,

456
00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:02,466
shown here with a lion's head,

457
00:14:02,466 --> 00:14:05,300
a bird with a lion's head.

458
00:14:05,300 --> 00:14:08,266
Lamashtu, particularly evil

459
00:14:08,266 --> 00:14:10,466
female demon who stole children

460
00:14:10,466 --> 00:14:11,766
from mothers while

461
00:14:11,766 --> 00:14:12,800
breastfeeding.

462
00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:14,100
Gnawed on their bones,

463
00:14:14,100 --> 00:14:15,766
drank their blood.

464
00:14:15,766 --> 00:14:16,866
Wow.

465
00:14:16,866 --> 00:14:18,433
Does it get any worse than that?

466
00:14:18,433 --> 00:14:21,066
This is a piece from, this is a

467
00:14:21,066 --> 00:14:24,433
clip from a cuneiform tablet,

468
00:14:24,433 --> 00:14:25,800
and it talks about what Lamashtu

469
00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:27,466
is about.

470
00:14:27,466 --> 00:14:28,566
The daughter of heaven who

471
00:14:28,566 --> 00:14:30,033
tortures babies.

472
00:14:30,033 --> 00:14:31,233
Her hand is a net.

473
00:14:31,233 --> 00:14:32,300
Her embrace is death.

474
00:14:32,300 --> 00:14:33,800
She's cruel, raging, angry,

475
00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:35,233
predatory.

476
00:14:35,233 --> 00:14:36,933
Predatory, right?

477
00:14:36,933 --> 00:14:38,000
A runner.

478
00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:39,166
A thief.

479
00:14:39,166 --> 00:14:40,200
The daughter of heaven.

480
00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:41,300
She touches the bellies of women

481
00:14:41,300 --> 00:14:42,433
in labor.

482
00:14:42,433 --> 00:14:43,633
She pulls out the pregnant

483
00:14:43,633 --> 00:14:44,733
woman's baby.

484
00:14:44,733 --> 00:14:45,833
The daughter of heaven is one of

485
00:14:45,833 --> 00:14:47,000
the gods, they acknowledge the

486
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,500
power and strength of this

487
00:14:48,500 --> 00:14:51,300
individual, but definitely and

488
00:14:51,300 --> 00:14:53,033
evil presence.

489
00:14:53,033 --> 00:14:55,066
So it goes on to, of course,

490
00:14:55,066 --> 00:14:58,133
give that categorical violation

491
00:14:58,133 --> 00:15:00,666
description, which tells us

492
00:15:00,666 --> 00:15:02,000
that, again, this is something

493
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:03,266
to be feared.

494
00:15:03,266 --> 00:15:05,500
Lilitu, storm and wind demon.

495
00:15:05,500 --> 00:15:06,966
Later a demon of the night.

496
00:15:06,966 --> 00:15:08,566
So, again, these primal forces,

497
00:15:08,566 --> 00:15:11,133
the night, the air, these are

498
00:15:11,133 --> 00:15:13,233
all sort of important concepts

499
00:15:13,233 --> 00:15:15,233
to sort of think of.

500
00:15:15,233 --> 00:15:16,700
Hold on, we'll catch you

501
00:15:16,700 --> 00:15:18,366
in Q&A here.

502
00:15:18,366 --> 00:15:20,433
Humbaba, this one is a little

503
00:15:20,433 --> 00:15:21,566
unusual.

504
00:15:21,566 --> 00:15:24,833
Kind of a human or humanoid type

505
00:15:24,833 --> 00:15:27,633
representation but very

506
00:15:27,633 --> 00:15:29,433
different in the effects.

507
00:15:29,433 --> 00:15:30,633
When he looks at someone,

508
00:15:30,633 --> 00:15:32,100
it's the look of death.

509
00:15:32,100 --> 00:15:33,400
Humbaba's roar is a flood,

510
00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,033
his mouth is death, and his

511
00:15:35,033 --> 00:15:36,300
breath is fire.

512
00:15:36,300 --> 00:15:37,600
He can hear a hundred leagues

513
00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:39,266
away any, and then they weren't

514
00:15:39,266 --> 00:15:41,033
sure what that particular symbol

515
00:15:41,033 --> 00:15:42,566
meant, but they think it's

516
00:15:42,566 --> 00:15:44,100
rustling, in his forest.

517
00:15:44,100 --> 00:15:46,466
A protector of the gods and of

518
00:15:46,466 --> 00:15:48,400
the primal forest.

519
00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,533
Raised by Utu, the sun, the

520
00:15:50,533 --> 00:15:52,433
guardian of the cedar forest.

521
00:15:52,433 --> 00:15:53,900
Very interesting that a set of

522
00:15:53,900 --> 00:15:56,700
resources guarding this broader

523
00:15:56,700 --> 00:15:59,333
set of their pantheon is a

524
00:15:59,333 --> 00:16:01,233
monster.

525
00:16:01,233 --> 00:16:02,466
And they use this monster to

526
00:16:02,466 --> 00:16:04,366
keep people away.

527
00:16:04,366 --> 00:16:06,433
So the monsters we see here are

528
00:16:06,433 --> 00:16:07,533
all old.

529
00:16:07,533 --> 00:16:08,700
It's an old thing.

530
00:16:08,700 --> 00:16:09,933
It's as old as our

531
00:16:09,933 --> 00:16:11,600
consciousness.

532
00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:13,066
As long as we've been thinking

533
00:16:13,066 --> 00:16:15,166
like we think, these have been

534
00:16:15,166 --> 00:16:16,633
here, and they've been

535
00:16:16,633 --> 00:16:18,733
companions with us, which makes

536
00:16:18,733 --> 00:16:21,100
us wonder why.

537
00:16:21,100 --> 00:16:23,233
Why is that the case?

538
00:16:23,233 --> 00:16:25,666
Well, part of it may have to do

539
00:16:25,666 --> 00:16:27,566
with the fact that monsters are

540
00:16:27,566 --> 00:16:29,533
ultimately, in a way, a

541
00:16:29,533 --> 00:16:33,000
reflection of us, a reflection

542
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,266
of our anxieties, and they can't

543
00:16:35,266 --> 00:16:39,000
exist without us because we and

544
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,400
they are linked together.

545
00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,600
So whether it's feeling bad

546
00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,533
about how someone was treated,

547
00:16:47,533 --> 00:16:49,733
or if it's something that can't

548
00:16:49,733 --> 00:16:52,266
be stopped by technology, that's

549
00:16:52,266 --> 00:16:54,400
a fear that we have.

550
00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:55,900
The fear that we're going to do

551
00:16:55,900 --> 00:16:57,866
something wrong to somebody and

552
00:16:57,866 --> 00:17:00,866
it's going to catch up with us.

553
00:17:00,866 --> 00:17:03,066
The monster that attacks us in

554
00:17:03,066 --> 00:17:05,533
our sleep that we can't control.

555
00:17:05,533 --> 00:17:06,933
It's all those factors out

556
00:17:06,933 --> 00:17:08,066
there.

557
00:17:08,066 --> 00:17:09,466
For the earliest people, it's

558
00:17:09,466 --> 00:17:10,600
those predators that are out

559
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,200
there competing with us and

560
00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:14,133
consuming us.

561
00:17:14,133 --> 00:17:16,300
Then it becomes about being able

562
00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:18,800
to try and control nature.

563
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:20,733
And we personify these things

564
00:17:20,733 --> 00:17:21,966
and then we try and hold them

565
00:17:21,966 --> 00:17:23,133
down.

566
00:17:23,133 --> 00:17:25,566
And then, finally, as if science

567
00:17:25,566 --> 00:17:27,700
should abolish all of this, it

568
00:17:27,700 --> 00:17:28,866
should make it all go away

569
00:17:28,866 --> 00:17:30,000
because we understand all this

570
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,600
stuff now.

571
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:32,866
It doesn't.

572
00:17:32,866 --> 00:17:34,333
It just amplifies it, and it

573
00:17:34,333 --> 00:17:35,700
continues to be a growing

574
00:17:35,700 --> 00:17:37,300
presence here.

575
00:17:37,300 --> 00:17:38,400
So that's what my

576
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:39,666
contribution is.

577
00:17:39,666 --> 00:17:41,166
It's a little time depth here, a

578
00:17:41,166 --> 00:17:43,400
little sort of basic run on

579
00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:45,266
monsters, and I'm going to turn

580
00:17:45,266 --> 00:17:46,600
it over to Dr. Auld who's going

581
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:48,400
to give you the good stuff on

582
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:50,400
the more recent monsters out

583
00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:51,900
there.

584
00:17:51,900 --> 00:17:53,000
>> Oh, I've got wonderful ones

585
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:54,100
too.

586
00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:57,566
[APPLAUSE]

587
00:17:57,566 --> 00:17:58,866
You know, George, I have to tell

588
00:17:58,866 --> 00:18:00,266
you, I was tempted to go,

589
00:18:00,266 --> 00:18:01,866
well let's just go back

590
00:18:01,866 --> 00:18:03,433
through yours.

591
00:18:03,433 --> 00:18:04,633
Let's go back through yours

592
00:18:04,633 --> 00:18:05,800
because I recognized some of

593
00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:06,966
those, and it was so very

594
00:18:06,966 --> 00:18:08,833
exciting.

595
00:18:08,833 --> 00:18:12,133
For myself, I have to say that

596
00:18:12,133 --> 00:18:15,433
within reading about medieval

597
00:18:15,433 --> 00:18:18,900
texts and ancient Greek and

598
00:18:18,900 --> 00:18:21,433
Roman texts about monsters, I

599
00:18:21,433 --> 00:18:23,100
just found so many things that

600
00:18:23,100 --> 00:18:24,800
connected me to the things that

601
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,533
I'd see on TV, to the films, to

602
00:18:27,533 --> 00:18:29,300
contemporary novels.

603
00:18:29,300 --> 00:18:31,000
That's part of what interests me

604
00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:32,300
so much.

605
00:18:32,300 --> 00:18:33,933
And I love that you're talking

606
00:18:33,933 --> 00:18:35,466
about these creatures as

607
00:18:35,466 --> 00:18:37,266
predators because I think it's

608
00:18:37,266 --> 00:18:39,200
so darn interesting that

609
00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:41,200
sometimes we have monsters who

610
00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,833
aren't necessarily predators.

611
00:18:43,833 --> 00:18:47,766
It's not necessarily the monster

612
00:18:47,766 --> 00:18:49,100
who breaks in and takes

613
00:18:49,100 --> 00:18:50,366
something.

614
00:18:50,366 --> 00:18:51,666
Sometimes we merely see a

615
00:18:51,666 --> 00:18:53,533
monster, and the mere fact that

616
00:18:53,533 --> 00:18:56,333
it exists is enough to break

617
00:18:56,333 --> 00:18:59,900
those categories and terrify us.

618
00:18:59,900 --> 00:19:01,400
Even if the monster doesn't live

619
00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:02,566
next door.

620
00:19:02,566 --> 00:19:03,833
The mere fact that it's living

621
00:19:03,833 --> 00:19:06,433
somewhere makes us kind of crazy

622
00:19:06,433 --> 00:19:07,866
angry.

623
00:19:07,866 --> 00:19:11,200
So we're going to look again at,

624
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:12,500
we're going to look again at

625
00:19:12,500 --> 00:19:15,700
category crisis, and we're going

626
00:19:15,700 --> 00:19:16,933
to start with the absolute

627
00:19:16,933 --> 00:19:18,333
beginning here, the harbinger of

628
00:19:18,333 --> 00:19:20,000
category crisis.

629
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:21,733
This comes from

630
00:19:21,733 --> 00:19:24,333
Jeffrey Jerome Cohen,

631
00:19:24,333 --> 00:19:26,100
Monster Theses, and it's part of

632
00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:27,500
something called Monster Theory.

633
00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:29,900
And this theory, this kind of

634
00:19:29,900 --> 00:19:32,733
analysis, this particular text

635
00:19:32,733 --> 00:19:36,300
was a decade old just this year.

636
00:19:36,300 --> 00:19:38,300
So this idea, one of the

637
00:19:38,300 --> 00:19:41,133
earliest ideas is dragons.

638
00:19:41,133 --> 00:19:43,166
And if you think about it, they

639
00:19:43,166 --> 00:19:45,566
break physical categories, land,

640
00:19:45,566 --> 00:19:47,433
sky, water.

641
00:19:47,433 --> 00:19:48,833
They're both part worm, they're

642
00:19:48,833 --> 00:19:50,700
part bird.

643
00:19:50,700 --> 00:19:54,366
And they suggest a devolution, a

644
00:19:54,366 --> 00:19:55,933
return to an earlier or more

645
00:19:55,933 --> 00:19:58,600
primitive physical form.

646
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,266
And if you think about dragons,

647
00:20:01,266 --> 00:20:03,400
dragons are medieval and they're

648
00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:05,766
ancient and maybe they're kind

649
00:20:05,766 --> 00:20:08,333
of contemporary too.

650
00:20:08,333 --> 00:20:10,066
There's a book jacket at the

651
00:20:10,066 --> 00:20:13,733
bottom here for  Who Goes There?

652
00:20:13,733 --> 00:20:14,900
which is written by

653
00:20:14,900 --> 00:20:16,433
John Campbell.

654
00:20:16,433 --> 00:20:17,733
This is a classic of science

655
00:20:17,733 --> 00:20:21,300
fiction, and it becomes a film

656
00:20:21,300 --> 00:20:23,866
called  The Thing.

657
00:20:23,866 --> 00:20:26,700
And it's this beautiful science

658
00:20:26,700 --> 00:20:29,900
fiction story of something where

659
00:20:29,900 --> 00:20:32,900
the shape doesn't quite hold.

660
00:20:32,900 --> 00:20:34,433
You can see it as a dog.

661
00:20:34,433 --> 00:20:35,966
You actually showed a picture of

662
00:20:35,966 --> 00:20:37,200
The Thing earlier, and that was

663
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,500
its arachnid form where it's got

664
00:20:39,500 --> 00:20:41,066
a person's face and it's got

665
00:20:41,066 --> 00:20:42,766
kind of a spider body.

666
00:20:42,766 --> 00:20:44,500
And it's so darn dangerous

667
00:20:44,500 --> 00:20:46,766
because it's as if it's moving

668
00:20:46,766 --> 00:20:48,500
through evolution at its

669
00:20:48,500 --> 00:20:50,033
own rate.

670
00:20:50,033 --> 00:20:51,266
And, of course, one of the

671
00:20:51,266 --> 00:20:53,000
wonderful things is this thing

672
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,000
shows up essentially in a

673
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:56,533
spaceship.

674
00:20:56,533 --> 00:20:59,433
So it flew to get there.

675
00:20:59,433 --> 00:21:03,266
And it's kind of both a dragon

676
00:21:03,266 --> 00:21:05,233
and something from the stars.

677
00:21:05,233 --> 00:21:09,133
Okay, so let's see.

678
00:21:09,133 --> 00:21:11,866
One of my favorite ever dragons,

679
00:21:11,866 --> 00:21:13,000
everybody loves dragons, one of

680
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,866
my favorite ever dragons,

681
00:21:15,866 --> 00:21:18,366
Gojira, Godzilla, and you have

682
00:21:18,366 --> 00:21:20,566
two images of him.

683
00:21:20,566 --> 00:21:23,233
I particularly, again, like that

684
00:21:23,233 --> 00:21:25,533
darn dragon form.

685
00:21:25,533 --> 00:21:27,000
I like that darn dragon form

686
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,600
because in some cases you can

687
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:32,233
really see the primitive aspects

688
00:21:32,233 --> 00:21:33,700
of it.

689
00:21:33,700 --> 00:21:36,333
You can really see it as an

690
00:21:36,333 --> 00:21:37,633
older body.

691
00:21:37,633 --> 00:21:38,866
As a matter of fact, does

692
00:21:38,866 --> 00:21:40,066
anybody think that a lot of

693
00:21:40,066 --> 00:21:41,466
dragons look a little like

694
00:21:41,466 --> 00:21:43,000
dinosaurs?

695
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:44,633
Yeah.

696
00:21:44,633 --> 00:21:46,200
There is an argument that in

697
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:47,533
some cases people found the

698
00:21:47,533 --> 00:21:49,133
bones, they found fossilized

699
00:21:49,133 --> 00:21:53,600
bones, and they couldn't

700
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,000
necessarily tell how old those

701
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,000
bones were but they recognized

702
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:58,466
them as the interior pieces of a

703
00:21:58,466 --> 00:22:01,600
creature.

704
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:03,400
And, thus, they started telling

705
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,500
these stories about dragons.

706
00:22:06,500 --> 00:22:07,866
But when I say that, even as I

707
00:22:07,866 --> 00:22:09,400
say that, I think of, you

708
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:10,766
mentioned Beowulf.

709
00:22:10,766 --> 00:22:13,766
Beowulf gets killed by a dragon.

710
00:22:13,766 --> 00:22:15,133
That's the end of the story.

711
00:22:15,133 --> 00:22:16,400
He may have kicked Grendel's

712
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:17,900
butt, but he's put out.

713
00:22:17,900 --> 00:22:18,900
He's finished.

714
00:22:18,900 --> 00:22:20,200
Done in, as it were, by a

715
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,466
dragon.

716
00:22:22,466 --> 00:22:23,833
But the European dragons are

717
00:22:23,833 --> 00:22:25,866
often very different than the

718
00:22:25,866 --> 00:22:27,400
eastern dragons.

719
00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,866
The eastern dragons are often

720
00:22:30,866 --> 00:22:33,000
powerful, tremendous,

721
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,900
supernatural, but they tend to

722
00:22:34,900 --> 00:22:36,566
be the good guys in a lot of

723
00:22:36,566 --> 00:22:38,033
cases.

724
00:22:38,033 --> 00:22:39,500
And one of the figures I find so

725
00:22:39,500 --> 00:22:41,666
fascinating here with Gojira is

726
00:22:41,666 --> 00:22:45,133
that essentially that was kind

727
00:22:45,133 --> 00:22:49,666
of, well, maybe it was both an

728
00:22:49,666 --> 00:22:51,466
eastern dragon and a western

729
00:22:51,466 --> 00:22:53,500
dragon both come together.

730
00:22:53,500 --> 00:22:56,466
Talk about category crisis.

731
00:22:56,466 --> 00:22:57,700
So that's one of my very

732
00:22:57,700 --> 00:22:59,033
favorite ones.

733
00:22:59,033 --> 00:23:03,733
Again, have an eye out on size.

734
00:23:03,733 --> 00:23:05,100
George was great about talking

735
00:23:05,100 --> 00:23:06,633
about these monsters.

736
00:23:06,633 --> 00:23:08,066
In the corner there, only hell

737
00:23:08,066 --> 00:23:10,600
could breed the giant Gila

738
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:12,633
monster.

739
00:23:12,633 --> 00:23:14,633
It's a dragon except for that

740
00:23:14,633 --> 00:23:16,166
it's also something that's

741
00:23:16,166 --> 00:23:17,900
really not all that big and not

742
00:23:17,900 --> 00:23:19,566
all that terrifying.

743
00:23:19,566 --> 00:23:20,733
Maybe a little scruffy looking

744
00:23:20,733 --> 00:23:22,266
running around in the desert.

745
00:23:22,266 --> 00:23:23,833
But this tremendous fear that

746
00:23:23,833 --> 00:23:25,333
it's going to get out of

747
00:23:25,333 --> 00:23:26,566
control.

748
00:23:26,566 --> 00:23:28,866
That it's going to get too big.

749
00:23:28,866 --> 00:23:30,333
That it's going to maybe revert

750
00:23:30,333 --> 00:23:31,866
to a size that used to be

751
00:23:31,866 --> 00:23:33,233
common.

752
00:23:33,233 --> 00:23:36,933
Again, like the dinosaurs.

753
00:23:36,933 --> 00:23:38,300
Okay, there's our western

754
00:23:38,300 --> 00:23:42,466
dragons in their classic style.

755
00:23:42,466 --> 00:23:43,866
One of my favorite ideas is

756
00:23:43,866 --> 00:23:46,233
about the 10th century there was

757
00:23:46,233 --> 00:23:48,433
a common folklore about dragons

758
00:23:48,433 --> 00:23:52,100
that if people got too high and

759
00:23:52,100 --> 00:23:54,066
mighty and got a little too

760
00:23:54,066 --> 00:23:58,800
proud, they could slowly devolve

761
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,633
into dragons.

762
00:24:00,633 --> 00:24:01,966
That was one of the places that

763
00:24:01,966 --> 00:24:04,100
dragons came from.

764
00:24:04,100 --> 00:24:05,366
Ever heard somebody called a

765
00:24:05,366 --> 00:24:07,033
worm?

766
00:24:07,033 --> 00:24:09,500
The idea was that people could

767
00:24:09,500 --> 00:24:10,800
become dragons.

768
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:12,600
And it always came from pride

769
00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,933
and greed.

770
00:24:14,933 --> 00:24:17,033
Possessiveness.

771
00:24:17,033 --> 00:24:18,200
So all the sudden we're

772
00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:19,900
inscribing those thing into this

773
00:24:19,900 --> 00:24:22,166
fantasy figure.

774
00:24:22,166 --> 00:24:23,666
And if you think about dragons,

775
00:24:23,666 --> 00:24:24,933
they get really possessive about

776
00:24:24,933 --> 00:24:27,000
where they live.

777
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:28,333
They get possessive if you

778
00:24:28,333 --> 00:24:30,266
happen to steal a goblet.

779
00:24:30,266 --> 00:24:31,833
Heaven for fend you should steal

780
00:24:31,833 --> 00:24:34,733
a magic ring.

781
00:24:34,733 --> 00:24:36,500
All of these things make them

782
00:24:36,500 --> 00:24:37,666
angry, and they come after you

783
00:24:37,666 --> 00:24:39,066
because it's pride and it's

784
00:24:39,066 --> 00:24:40,400
greed.

785
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:41,666
All right, let's look at some

786
00:24:41,666 --> 00:24:42,900
more.

787
00:24:42,900 --> 00:24:44,000
Ancient monsters.

788
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:45,100
There we go.

789
00:24:45,100 --> 00:24:46,633
One more kind of wonderful

790
00:24:46,633 --> 00:24:48,433
Gojira there.

791
00:24:48,433 --> 00:24:51,566
And I have to point out, has

792
00:24:51,566 --> 00:24:53,233
anybody caught the connection

793
00:24:53,233 --> 00:24:56,700
between Gojira and pride?

794
00:24:56,700 --> 00:24:59,666
Because he actually came from

795
00:24:59,666 --> 00:25:00,833
what?

796
00:25:00,833 --> 00:25:03,366
The bomb, which a lot of people

797
00:25:03,366 --> 00:25:07,066
looked at as an excess of pride.

798
00:25:07,066 --> 00:25:09,300
Something that was man-made, man

799
00:25:09,300 --> 00:25:11,500
evoked, and had to do with a

800
00:25:11,500 --> 00:25:13,533
tremendous pride in controlling

801
00:25:13,533 --> 00:25:15,800
the elements.

802
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,066
So Gojira works especially well.

803
00:25:19,066 --> 00:25:20,433
But here's another one, and yes

804
00:25:20,433 --> 00:25:22,566
it's naked.

805
00:25:22,566 --> 00:25:24,566
The Donestre, and I thought of

806
00:25:24,566 --> 00:25:26,066
that image you had.

807
00:25:26,066 --> 00:25:27,466
We have to talk later.

808
00:25:27,466 --> 00:25:29,100
I thought of the Donestre

809
00:25:29,100 --> 00:25:30,333
because, of course, they're

810
00:25:30,333 --> 00:25:31,766
lion-headed.

811
00:25:31,766 --> 00:25:33,700
They're ancient monsters.

812
00:25:33,700 --> 00:25:37,266
They're lion heads.

813
00:25:37,266 --> 00:25:39,700
They're, well, they eat people.

814
00:25:39,700 --> 00:25:41,066
I can't say they're people who

815
00:25:41,066 --> 00:25:42,466
eat people because they're not

816
00:25:42,466 --> 00:25:43,833
quite people.

817
00:25:43,833 --> 00:25:45,200
But the idea is that they are

818
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,266
people eaters.

819
00:25:48,266 --> 00:25:50,366
And in the  Libra Monstrum,   The

820
00:25:50,366 --> 00:25:54,000
Big Book of Monsters,  which is

821
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,600
an Anglo-Saxon text that's

822
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,133
connected with the Beowulf text

823
00:25:59,133 --> 00:26:02,733
again and with a text that,

824
00:26:02,733 --> 00:26:04,933
shockingly enough, might be kind

825
00:26:04,933 --> 00:26:08,066
of fudged, which is Alexander's

826
00:26:08,066 --> 00:26:10,333
letter to Aristotle.

827
00:26:10,333 --> 00:26:12,266
We get a lot of these ancient

828
00:26:12,266 --> 00:26:14,400
monsters that are captured, if

829
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,466
you will, by the medievals.

830
00:26:17,466 --> 00:26:18,700
They're captured, they're

831
00:26:18,700 --> 00:26:21,000
painted, they're discussed, and

832
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,100
the Donestre are wonderful.

833
00:26:23,100 --> 00:26:24,666
They're dangerous to travelers.

834
00:26:24,666 --> 00:26:25,966
They live somewhere in the east.

835
00:26:25,966 --> 00:26:28,933
The mysterious east.

836
00:26:28,933 --> 00:26:31,566
The far away east.

837
00:26:31,566 --> 00:26:34,066
Potentially India.

838
00:26:34,066 --> 00:26:35,766
They live somewhere there, and

839
00:26:35,766 --> 00:26:39,033
what I really love about them is

840
00:26:39,033 --> 00:26:42,133
that a Donestre would

841
00:26:42,133 --> 00:26:44,966
recognize you.

842
00:26:44,966 --> 00:26:46,533
He's living far, far away.

843
00:26:46,533 --> 00:26:48,366
Thousands of miles away.

844
00:26:48,366 --> 00:26:49,633
He'd recognize you as a

845
00:26:49,633 --> 00:26:50,866
traveler, and he'd say, "Hi,

846
00:26:50,866 --> 00:26:52,900
Cindy," and he'd say it in

847
00:26:52,900 --> 00:26:55,233
English.

848
00:26:55,233 --> 00:26:57,033
He would call to you in your own

849
00:26:57,033 --> 00:26:59,466
language.

850
00:26:59,466 --> 00:27:01,000
And that's a real category

851
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:02,533
breaker, isn't it?

852
00:27:02,533 --> 00:27:04,700
That category of language is one

853
00:27:04,700 --> 00:27:06,933
of the markers of the monster.

854
00:27:06,933 --> 00:27:09,066
The fact that this thing,

855
00:27:09,066 --> 00:27:11,033
completely not human, calls to

856
00:27:11,033 --> 00:27:12,700
you in your own language and

857
00:27:12,700 --> 00:27:14,800
convinces you sweetly to come

858
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:17,766
walk with him.

859
00:27:17,766 --> 00:27:20,533
I'm a traveler just like you,

860
00:27:20,533 --> 00:27:22,966
and in that way, the Donestre

861
00:27:22,966 --> 00:27:27,100
will kind of sneak up, if you

862
00:27:27,100 --> 00:27:28,366
will.

863
00:27:28,366 --> 00:27:30,333
They'll take the traveler, and

864
00:27:30,333 --> 00:27:32,000
then they'll eat it.

865
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,166
But when they're done, they cry.

866
00:27:35,166 --> 00:27:36,600
They weep.

867
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:37,733
They weep because they are

868
00:27:37,733 --> 00:27:39,600
Donestre.

869
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:41,566
And one of my favorite parts of

870
00:27:41,566 --> 00:27:43,200
this is that monsters aren't

871
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:44,466
supposed to feel guilty, are

872
00:27:44,466 --> 00:27:47,033
they?

873
00:27:47,033 --> 00:27:48,300
Unless it's one of the things

874
00:27:48,300 --> 00:27:49,900
that makes them so human, and,

875
00:27:49,900 --> 00:27:52,200
thus, even scarier.

876
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:53,500
And talk about your category

877
00:27:53,500 --> 00:27:55,333
breaking, can you guys see this

878
00:27:55,333 --> 00:27:59,100
little tush of the Donestre and

879
00:27:59,100 --> 00:28:00,200
his leg and his knee and then

880
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:01,733
his foot?

881
00:28:01,733 --> 00:28:03,700
Have a look.

882
00:28:03,700 --> 00:28:05,000
He's just stepped out of the

883
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,200
frame.

884
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:08,833
That's the best part is when

885
00:28:08,833 --> 00:28:10,833
they step out of the frame they

886
00:28:10,833 --> 00:28:13,366
kind of walk into your world,

887
00:28:13,366 --> 00:28:15,466
don't they?

888
00:28:15,466 --> 00:28:16,700
To the medievals this was

889
00:28:16,700 --> 00:28:17,866
terrifying.

890
00:28:17,866 --> 00:28:19,166
Maybe even to the ancients as

891
00:28:19,166 --> 00:28:20,300
well.

892
00:28:20,300 --> 00:28:22,733
What if there was a "foreigner"

893
00:28:22,733 --> 00:28:25,000
who knew your language?

894
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,133
How could you be sure just who

895
00:28:28,133 --> 00:28:29,366
this person is?

896
00:28:29,366 --> 00:28:31,833
How terribly dangerous that is.

897
00:28:31,833 --> 00:28:33,733
What a monster to know your

898
00:28:33,733 --> 00:28:35,766
language and yet not be one of

899
00:28:35,766 --> 00:28:37,366
your "kind."

900
00:28:37,366 --> 00:28:41,466
Interesting.

901
00:28:41,466 --> 00:28:43,000
Got to give you a local cannibal

902
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:44,800
here at least a little bit.

903
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,400
Anybody recognize this one?

904
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:48,633
>> [INAUDIBLE]

905
00:28:48,633 --> 00:28:49,800
>> Yeah, Ed.

906
00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:50,900
>> Ed Gein.

907
00:28:50,900 --> 00:28:52,133
>> Yes indeed, Ed.

908
00:28:52,133 --> 00:28:53,566
Okay, cannibals, whether they're

909
00:28:53,566 --> 00:28:55,100
the Donestre or whether they're

910
00:28:55,100 --> 00:28:58,433
local, homegrown, as it were,

911
00:28:58,433 --> 00:29:00,366
break the categories of predator

912
00:29:00,366 --> 00:29:01,733
and prey, and it's the

913
00:29:01,733 --> 00:29:03,666
darnedest thing.

914
00:29:03,666 --> 00:29:05,566
We're all supposed to be prey

915
00:29:05,566 --> 00:29:08,766
together if a lion shows up,

916
00:29:08,766 --> 00:29:10,100
right?

917
00:29:10,100 --> 00:29:11,300
They are the lion.

918
00:29:11,300 --> 00:29:12,566
They're just pretending

919
00:29:12,566 --> 00:29:13,933
to be prey.

920
00:29:13,933 --> 00:29:15,933
They're actually the predator.

921
00:29:15,933 --> 00:29:17,600
And it's in this deception that

922
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:19,333
they are dangerous and

923
00:29:19,333 --> 00:29:21,133
terrifying, and the mere fact

924
00:29:21,133 --> 00:29:22,933
that they can lie with their

925
00:29:22,933 --> 00:29:26,000
bodies and with their voices,

926
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:27,333
that's maybe one of the scariest

927
00:29:27,333 --> 00:29:29,266
monsters of all.

928
00:29:29,266 --> 00:29:31,933
And they suggest social

929
00:29:31,933 --> 00:29:35,600
devolution so that not only

930
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:37,966
could bodies slide backwards

931
00:29:37,966 --> 00:29:41,000
into something more primitive,

932
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,766
maybe people, maybe communities

933
00:29:43,766 --> 00:29:47,033
could slide from an organized

934
00:29:47,033 --> 00:29:48,333
situation where there are laws

935
00:29:48,333 --> 00:29:50,633
and rules we all recognize into

936
00:29:50,633 --> 00:29:53,200
something that's a free for all,

937
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:54,766
into something that's terribly

938
00:29:54,766 --> 00:29:59,866
dangerous.

939
00:29:59,866 --> 00:30:02,066
So be careful of cannibals who

940
00:30:02,066 --> 00:30:03,666
address you in fine language and

941
00:30:03,666 --> 00:30:05,700
offer you help.

942
00:30:05,700 --> 00:30:06,966
And in that way, I have the

943
00:30:06,966 --> 00:30:10,466
fictional Hannibal Lecter.

944
00:30:10,466 --> 00:30:13,100
Some of Hannibal's

945
00:30:13,100 --> 00:30:14,600
characteristics, as he is a

946
00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:15,933
character, some of his

947
00:30:15,933 --> 00:30:17,366
characteristics, though, are

948
00:30:17,366 --> 00:30:20,333
taken from actual serial killers

949
00:30:20,333 --> 00:30:22,733
and cannibals.

950
00:30:22,733 --> 00:30:24,266
So in the same way that in that

951
00:30:24,266 --> 00:30:25,733
big book of monsters that you

952
00:30:25,733 --> 00:30:27,133
look at and you go, they just

953
00:30:27,133 --> 00:30:30,600
made that up, that's not real,

954
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:32,900
well, perhaps it is real in

955
00:30:32,900 --> 00:30:34,433
certain times and certain

956
00:30:34,433 --> 00:30:36,833
places.

957
00:30:36,833 --> 00:30:38,466
Perhaps there are folks out

958
00:30:38,466 --> 00:30:41,033
there who are disturbed enough

959
00:30:41,033 --> 00:30:42,700
to enact these behaviors.

960
00:30:42,700 --> 00:30:45,466
It seems as if there are, which

961
00:30:45,466 --> 00:30:46,766
doesn't necessarily mean they're

962
00:30:46,766 --> 00:30:48,466
supernatural, but it might mean

963
00:30:48,466 --> 00:30:50,500
that they're monsters.

964
00:30:50,500 --> 00:30:52,266
And there's certainly something

965
00:30:52,266 --> 00:30:54,166
that, boy, the culture gets

966
00:30:54,166 --> 00:30:56,466
really scared of.

967
00:30:56,466 --> 00:30:58,500
And it's really scared, well,

968
00:30:58,500 --> 00:31:00,700
it's scared enough to try to

969
00:31:00,700 --> 00:31:03,000
control Hannibal Lecter.

970
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,000
It's scared enough to try to

971
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,500
control a criminal.

972
00:31:08,500 --> 00:31:09,866
But maybe one of the scariest

973
00:31:09,866 --> 00:31:11,366
things is when you can't tell

974
00:31:11,366 --> 00:31:13,933
that someone is a criminal.

975
00:31:13,933 --> 00:31:15,133
And the culture is frightened

976
00:31:15,133 --> 00:31:17,866
of that.

977
00:31:17,866 --> 00:31:19,733
Okay, another quote from

978
00:31:19,733 --> 00:31:21,700
Jeffrey Jerome Cohen.

979
00:31:21,700 --> 00:31:23,166
"The monster's body is a

980
00:31:23,166 --> 00:31:24,866
cultural body."

981
00:31:24,866 --> 00:31:26,433
And I throw that out to you only

982
00:31:26,433 --> 00:31:28,133
because what it means to be

983
00:31:28,133 --> 00:31:29,766
different, even maybe what it

984
00:31:29,766 --> 00:31:32,533
means to look like a criminal,

985
00:31:32,533 --> 00:31:33,900
seems to be something that our

986
00:31:33,900 --> 00:31:37,033
culture decides upon.

987
00:31:37,033 --> 00:31:40,366
[INAUDIBLE]

988
00:31:40,366 --> 00:31:42,000
Isn't it interesting that

989
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,166
the cultural body, the culture

990
00:31:44,166 --> 00:31:46,333
tells us what the body may look

991
00:31:46,333 --> 00:31:49,366
like and what's inappropriate,

992
00:31:49,366 --> 00:31:51,233
and there's even a monstrosity

993
00:31:51,233 --> 00:31:53,933
to those of us today who dress

994
00:31:53,933 --> 00:31:55,933
up for Halloween.

995
00:31:55,933 --> 00:31:57,266
If you were to wear these

996
00:31:57,266 --> 00:31:58,800
costumes at other times, you

997
00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:01,266
might get a bit of grief because

998
00:32:01,266 --> 00:32:03,200
the culture has accepted some

999
00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:04,600
things in the body and some

1000
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:09,900
things it says, no, no.

1001
00:32:09,900 --> 00:32:11,933
One of my favorites here,

1002
00:32:11,933 --> 00:32:13,933
this is Abarimon.

1003
00:32:13,933 --> 00:32:15,600
They're found in Scythia.

1004
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:17,233
Their feet are turned backwards.

1005
00:32:17,233 --> 00:32:18,533
Their feet are turned backwards

1006
00:32:18,533 --> 00:32:19,700
because they're on the other

1007
00:32:19,700 --> 00:32:20,800
side of the globe and clearly

1008
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:21,933
you need that.

1009
00:32:21,933 --> 00:32:23,266
[LAUGHTER]

1010
00:32:23,266 --> 00:32:24,733
And you find yourself looking at

1011
00:32:24,733 --> 00:32:26,200
it and going, that's the oddest

1012
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:27,266
thing in the world.

1013
00:32:27,266 --> 00:32:29,133
I personally find it unlikely

1014
00:32:29,133 --> 00:32:30,433
that they exist.

1015
00:32:30,433 --> 00:32:31,433
I don't know.

1016
00:32:31,433 --> 00:32:32,366
You know.

1017
00:32:32,366 --> 00:32:34,066
The Donestre I'm working with.

1018
00:32:34,066 --> 00:32:37,233
These guys, maybe not.

1019
00:32:37,233 --> 00:32:39,333
The monster dwells at the gates

1020
00:32:39,333 --> 00:32:42,000
of difference.

1021
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:43,600
Maybe they're the maker for when

1022
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:46,633
things are very, very different.

1023
00:32:46,633 --> 00:32:49,100
And maybe we mark them to try to

1024
00:32:49,100 --> 00:32:52,400
identify them as different.

1025
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:53,600
I married a monster from outer

1026
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:54,800
space.

1027
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:56,033
He didn't look like that when

1028
00:32:56,033 --> 00:32:57,700
she married him.

1029
00:32:57,700 --> 00:33:00,033
He changed.

1030
00:33:00,033 --> 00:33:01,500
I'm just saying.

1031
00:33:01,500 --> 00:33:03,533
He changed and, sure enough, he

1032
00:33:03,533 --> 00:33:07,733
was able to "pass as one of us."

1033
00:33:07,733 --> 00:33:09,633
That bodily fluidity.

1034
00:33:09,633 --> 00:33:11,066
That idea that shapes don't

1035
00:33:11,066 --> 00:33:13,266
hold.

1036
00:33:13,266 --> 00:33:14,366
It's interesting because it

1037
00:33:14,366 --> 00:33:15,700
suggests that if you're going to

1038
00:33:15,700 --> 00:33:17,366
protect yourself from monsters,

1039
00:33:17,366 --> 00:33:19,966
you need to keep a real eye out

1040
00:33:19,966 --> 00:33:23,833
for anybody, any body, who's

1041
00:33:23,833 --> 00:33:26,366
a little bit different.

1042
00:33:26,366 --> 00:33:28,566
And what an interesting cultural

1043
00:33:28,566 --> 00:33:30,300
fear that if we could just

1044
00:33:30,300 --> 00:33:33,533
examine everybody, if we could

1045
00:33:33,533 --> 00:33:36,133
just control them carefully and

1046
00:33:36,133 --> 00:33:37,666
keep an eye on them, then we'd

1047
00:33:37,666 --> 00:33:38,900
be able to root out the

1048
00:33:38,900 --> 00:33:41,100
monsters.

1049
00:33:41,100 --> 00:33:42,533
And all the sudden that starts

1050
00:33:42,533 --> 00:33:44,700
sounding kind of scary because

1051
00:33:44,700 --> 00:33:46,600
what if I don't fit?

1052
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:48,000
What if I've got a little bit

1053
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,700
more difference than the culture

1054
00:33:49,700 --> 00:33:51,733
accepts?

1055
00:33:51,733 --> 00:33:53,333
Yeah.

1056
00:33:53,333 --> 00:33:54,566
I understand going after the

1057
00:33:54,566 --> 00:33:56,066
lion.

1058
00:33:56,066 --> 00:33:57,100
Personally, I don't care if

1059
00:33:57,100 --> 00:33:58,900
somebody is wearing a lion head

1060
00:33:58,900 --> 00:34:01,233
over everything else.

1061
00:34:01,233 --> 00:34:02,500
The gates of difference.

1062
00:34:02,500 --> 00:34:06,900
Think about that one.

1063
00:34:06,900 --> 00:34:10,333
I brought you Blemmyes,

1064
00:34:10,333 --> 00:34:11,666
another one from

1065
00:34:11,666 --> 00:34:12,700
The Big Book of Monsters.

1066
00:34:12,700 --> 00:34:13,733
The Blemmyes, these people live

1067
00:34:13,733 --> 00:34:14,900
in the deserts of Libya.

1068
00:34:14,900 --> 00:34:16,033
Their necks are on their chests.

1069
00:34:16,033 --> 00:34:17,433
They lack heads and necks.

1070
00:34:17,433 --> 00:34:20,066
Shakespeare says they've got to

1071
00:34:20,066 --> 00:34:24,266
be cannibals.

1072
00:34:24,266 --> 00:34:25,600
And I love their bodies.

1073
00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:26,866
Their bodies are so fascinating

1074
00:34:26,866 --> 00:34:28,266
to me because I think

1075
00:34:28,266 --> 00:34:30,200
they're real.

1076
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:31,500
I think it's, I don't know that

1077
00:34:31,500 --> 00:34:32,633
they were cannibals.

1078
00:34:32,633 --> 00:34:33,633
I think Shakespeare was

1079
00:34:33,633 --> 00:34:35,466
fudging it.

1080
00:34:35,466 --> 00:34:36,500
Anybody who's in

1081
00:34:36,500 --> 00:34:37,533
Titus Andronicus' class, yeah,

1082
00:34:37,533 --> 00:34:39,533
he did indeed get a little crazy

1083
00:34:39,533 --> 00:34:41,833
with things.

1084
00:34:41,833 --> 00:34:43,133
But I want you to look at those

1085
00:34:43,133 --> 00:34:44,400
shapes, and I want you to

1086
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,400
picture a human being shaped the

1087
00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:48,933
same as all of us, human being

1088
00:34:48,933 --> 00:34:51,433
carrying a shield in front of

1089
00:34:51,433 --> 00:34:54,633
herself or himself, and they

1090
00:34:54,633 --> 00:34:57,133
duck their head down.

1091
00:34:57,133 --> 00:34:59,166
What you'd have is you'd have

1092
00:34:59,166 --> 00:35:00,500
the appearance of eyes and a

1093
00:35:00,500 --> 00:35:03,266
face, and you'd have someone

1094
00:35:03,266 --> 00:35:05,900
very wisely hiding behind that

1095
00:35:05,900 --> 00:35:08,733
shield.

1096
00:35:08,733 --> 00:35:10,300
It's entirely possible that the

1097
00:35:10,300 --> 00:35:11,566
Blemmyes did exist.

1098
00:35:11,566 --> 00:35:13,000
As a matter of fact,

1099
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:14,566
Scholasticus, like you got

1100
00:35:14,566 --> 00:35:15,866
nothing better to do, go read

1101
00:35:15,866 --> 00:35:18,333
Scholasticus, argued that one of

1102
00:35:18,333 --> 00:35:19,766
the tribes that was attacking

1103
00:35:19,766 --> 00:35:21,900
certain groups were

1104
00:35:21,900 --> 00:35:23,133
the Blemmyes.

1105
00:35:23,133 --> 00:35:24,500
So this was actually a name of

1106
00:35:24,500 --> 00:35:26,433
a tribe.

1107
00:35:26,433 --> 00:35:29,000
Again, not terribly far off.

1108
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:30,266
Don't you like the one that's

1109
00:35:30,266 --> 00:35:31,433
just looking over the shoulder

1110
00:35:31,433 --> 00:35:32,866
and kind of smiling?

1111
00:35:32,866 --> 00:35:35,600
Smiling over their butt a bit.

1112
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:37,166
By the way, where does reason

1113
00:35:37,166 --> 00:35:42,800
reside in the human body?

1114
00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:44,033
Where do you think reason might

1115
00:35:44,033 --> 00:35:45,166
reside?

1116
00:35:45,166 --> 00:35:47,133
Here?

1117
00:35:47,133 --> 00:35:49,966
If there's nothing to actually

1118
00:35:49,966 --> 00:35:52,466
to reason about what you eat,

1119
00:35:52,466 --> 00:35:54,666
then all of a sudden, your

1120
00:35:54,666 --> 00:35:56,566
reasoning is directly related to

1121
00:35:56,566 --> 00:35:59,266
your appetite.

1122
00:35:59,266 --> 00:36:01,900
Reason with no filter but

1123
00:36:01,900 --> 00:36:05,333
appetite, that's, appetite with

1124
00:36:05,333 --> 00:36:07,666
no filter I should say, that's

1125
00:36:07,666 --> 00:36:08,833
interesting.

1126
00:36:08,833 --> 00:36:11,333
And how often that is put on

1127
00:36:11,333 --> 00:36:12,966
another culture.

1128
00:36:12,966 --> 00:36:15,300
You know them.

1129
00:36:15,300 --> 00:36:16,300
They can't control their

1130
00:36:16,300 --> 00:36:18,200
appetites.

1131
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:20,733
Again, a cultural marker that

1132
00:36:20,733 --> 00:36:27,066
makes someone else monstrous.

1133
00:36:27,066 --> 00:36:28,700
One more real one from

1134
00:36:28,700 --> 00:36:31,500
The Big Book of Monsters .

1135
00:36:31,500 --> 00:36:32,766
The sky pods lived in India.

1136
00:36:32,766 --> 00:36:34,133
They spent their days taking

1137
00:36:34,133 --> 00:36:35,900
shelter under their single great

1138
00:36:35,900 --> 00:36:39,200
big foot.

1139
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,100
Well, once more, the idea, and

1140
00:36:42,100 --> 00:36:44,433
this is common amongst monster

1141
00:36:44,433 --> 00:36:46,033
scholars, which kind of sounds

1142
00:36:46,033 --> 00:36:48,200
sketchy, but it's a common idea

1143
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,866
that some of the people

1144
00:36:50,866 --> 00:36:52,466
traveling may have seen

1145
00:36:52,466 --> 00:36:56,466
individuals performing yoga and

1146
00:36:56,466 --> 00:36:59,733
holding positions that seemed

1147
00:36:59,733 --> 00:37:01,200
"unnatural."

1148
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:02,633
Category breakers.

1149
00:37:02,633 --> 00:37:04,400
They held those positions.

1150
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,333
They were from a foreign place.

1151
00:37:06,333 --> 00:37:08,700
They lived in a different way.

1152
00:37:08,700 --> 00:37:09,933
They looked physically

1153
00:37:09,933 --> 00:37:11,033
different.

1154
00:37:11,033 --> 00:37:12,266
They brought these back.

1155
00:37:12,266 --> 00:37:13,400
And I have to tell you, many

1156
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:14,966
people would look at the woman

1157
00:37:14,966 --> 00:37:16,666
doing the yoga move and say

1158
00:37:16,666 --> 00:37:19,400
that's not natural.

1159
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:21,700
But, of course, maybe it is.

1160
00:37:21,700 --> 00:37:22,900
It's just that we don't

1161
00:37:22,900 --> 00:37:24,533
recognize it.

1162
00:37:24,533 --> 00:37:25,700
And don't you just love him

1163
00:37:25,700 --> 00:37:28,566
taking shade under his foot.

1164
00:37:28,566 --> 00:37:29,800
He doesn't look like somebody

1165
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:31,833
who would hurt you, does he?

1166
00:37:31,833 --> 00:37:33,200
What's he going to do, hop over

1167
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:35,766
and attack you?

1168
00:37:35,766 --> 00:37:37,533
But his body doesn't fit the

1169
00:37:37,533 --> 00:37:39,466
cultural markers of the body,

1170
00:37:39,466 --> 00:37:41,766
and it's from far away.

1171
00:37:41,766 --> 00:37:42,866
It's from far away.

1172
00:37:42,866 --> 00:37:44,033
So you've got to be careful, got

1173
00:37:44,033 --> 00:37:47,400
to look out for them.

1174
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:48,633
All right, we have some more

1175
00:37:48,633 --> 00:37:52,100
Blemmyes, and I'd love to tell

1176
00:37:52,100 --> 00:37:53,366
you that that outfit on the

1177
00:37:53,366 --> 00:37:54,733
other side there is a costume,

1178
00:37:54,733 --> 00:37:56,300
but it's not.

1179
00:37:56,300 --> 00:37:58,366
That's science again.

1180
00:37:58,366 --> 00:38:00,066
That's science again.

1181
00:38:00,066 --> 00:38:01,566
And sure enough, those are the

1182
00:38:01,566 --> 00:38:03,566
Blemmyes who've been taken in

1183
00:38:03,566 --> 00:38:06,533
and at this point painted over,

1184
00:38:06,533 --> 00:38:08,033
and all of a sudden, you have

1185
00:38:08,033 --> 00:38:09,266
someone meeting the Blemmyes and

1186
00:38:09,266 --> 00:38:11,900
controlling them.

1187
00:38:11,900 --> 00:38:13,066
And that would be Alexander,

1188
00:38:13,066 --> 00:38:15,133
Alexander the Great, who's

1189
00:38:15,133 --> 00:38:16,666
perceived to be a man of great

1190
00:38:16,666 --> 00:38:20,300
reason and great control because

1191
00:38:20,300 --> 00:38:21,533
you've got to watch out for

1192
00:38:21,533 --> 00:38:22,833
those monsters.

1193
00:38:22,833 --> 00:38:24,066
You never know when they're

1194
00:38:24,066 --> 00:38:25,000
going to sneak in.

1195
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:26,366
I think people would recognize

1196
00:38:26,366 --> 00:38:30,933
the Blemmyes.

1197
00:38:30,933 --> 00:38:36,766
Okay, I've given you a dog

1198
00:38:36,766 --> 00:38:38,800
head here.

1199
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:40,700
The dog heads were absolutely

1200
00:38:40,700 --> 00:38:42,633
great.

1201
00:38:42,633 --> 00:38:44,500
St. Christopher is identified as

1202
00:38:44,500 --> 00:38:47,400
a dog head.

1203
00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:50,233
Cynocephali essentially.

1204
00:38:50,233 --> 00:38:51,433
Just dog head, that's all it

1205
00:38:51,433 --> 00:38:53,400
means.

1206
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,500
According to at least one of the

1207
00:38:55,500 --> 00:38:59,000
ancient stories on this,

1208
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:00,633
and I believe it's

1209
00:39:00,633 --> 00:39:02,366
Wonders of the East.

1210
00:39:02,366 --> 00:39:04,500
The dog heads live in India.

1211
00:39:04,500 --> 00:39:06,166
They bark at one another.

1212
00:39:06,166 --> 00:39:07,600
They live in caves.

1213
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:08,833
They use bows.

1214
00:39:08,833 --> 00:39:09,966
They use javelins.

1215
00:39:09,966 --> 00:39:12,433
They use swords.

1216
00:39:12,433 --> 00:39:13,500
But they're people except for

1217
00:39:13,500 --> 00:39:15,966
their dog heads.

1218
00:39:15,966 --> 00:39:18,833
Another interesting one places

1219
00:39:18,833 --> 00:39:21,466
the dog heads in Japan.

1220
00:39:21,466 --> 00:39:22,733
Again, this needs to be far

1221
00:39:22,733 --> 00:39:24,533
enough out of the way that we

1222
00:39:24,533 --> 00:39:25,733
aren't worried about them.

1223
00:39:25,733 --> 00:39:27,666
Far enough out of the way.

1224
00:39:27,666 --> 00:39:29,066
One of the arguments for the dog

1225
00:39:29,066 --> 00:39:31,400
heads is that what people were

1226
00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:33,700
actually seeing or hearing were

1227
00:39:33,700 --> 00:39:36,700
great apes, and it looked like a

1228
00:39:36,700 --> 00:39:39,200
person but the face was wrong.

1229
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:40,866
It wasn't a human face.

1230
00:39:40,866 --> 00:39:42,233
That becomes such a marker

1231
00:39:42,233 --> 00:39:43,866
of our humanity.

1232
00:39:43,866 --> 00:39:45,100
And the language wasn't quite

1233
00:39:45,100 --> 00:39:47,333
human, so they were barking.

1234
00:39:47,333 --> 00:39:49,233
With St. Christopher,

1235
00:39:49,233 --> 00:39:51,366
interestingly enough, even

1236
00:39:51,366 --> 00:39:53,900
though he's a dog head, his

1237
00:39:53,900 --> 00:39:55,433
language, and this is biblical

1238
00:39:55,433 --> 00:39:57,600
language, his language of

1239
00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:00,300
Christianity, those words were

1240
00:40:00,300 --> 00:40:02,900
so magic that even with the dog

1241
00:40:02,900 --> 00:40:06,266
head people understand him.

1242
00:40:06,266 --> 00:40:07,633
And in that way, you can see how

1243
00:40:07,633 --> 00:40:09,900
that inscription has got all

1244
00:40:09,900 --> 00:40:12,300
kinds of cultural meaning.

1245
00:40:12,300 --> 00:40:14,533
The animal made human through a

1246
00:40:14,533 --> 00:40:17,900
specific religious word and a

1247
00:40:17,900 --> 00:40:23,400
kind of power and even magic.

1248
00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:25,300
One last one for you here, and

1249
00:40:25,300 --> 00:40:27,566
that is fear of the monster is

1250
00:40:27,566 --> 00:40:29,033
really a kind of desire.

1251
00:40:29,033 --> 00:40:30,100
Again, this is from

1252
00:40:30,100 --> 00:40:31,800
Jeffrey Jerome Cohen.

1253
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:33,166
I've given you some lovely

1254
00:40:33,166 --> 00:40:34,533
vampires here.

1255
00:40:34,533 --> 00:40:39,733
Some kind of pretty vampires.

1256
00:40:39,733 --> 00:40:41,266
You guys looked at one earlier

1257
00:40:41,266 --> 00:40:42,633
where a werewolf was biting a

1258
00:40:42,633 --> 00:40:44,933
woman in half, and is that maybe

1259
00:40:44,933 --> 00:40:48,733
Gilles de Rais?

1260
00:40:48,733 --> 00:40:52,400
Yeah, the loup-garou,

1261
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:53,700
which many people think was an

1262
00:40:53,700 --> 00:40:55,600
actual person who had some

1263
00:40:55,600 --> 00:41:00,200
problems and chewed people up.

1264
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:01,366
Fair to say?

1265
00:41:01,366 --> 00:41:02,533
Okay, great.

1266
00:41:02,533 --> 00:41:03,733
I don't know that he looked

1267
00:41:03,733 --> 00:41:04,900
fabulous doing it.

1268
00:41:04,900 --> 00:41:06,033
I don't know that he actually

1269
00:41:06,033 --> 00:41:07,000
got ears or anything else,

1270
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:08,000
but he's very fierce.

1271
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:09,566
That's the idea.

1272
00:41:09,566 --> 00:41:11,200
Isn't it interesting that

1273
00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:12,600
vampires, on the other hand,

1274
00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:15,666
tend to be looking what?

1275
00:41:15,666 --> 00:41:18,000
Well, here, come on up, George.

1276
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:19,800
Look.

1277
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:21,433
Suave.

1278
00:41:21,433 --> 00:41:22,766
[LAUGHTER]

1279
00:41:22,766 --> 00:41:25,500
The marker of vampire is suave

1280
00:41:25,500 --> 00:41:28,033
How scary is it if the really

1281
00:41:28,033 --> 00:41:31,633
pretty ones are dangerous?

1282
00:41:31,633 --> 00:41:32,966
How frightening is it?

1283
00:41:32,966 --> 00:41:34,266
As a matter of fact, I don't

1284
00:41:34,266 --> 00:41:35,333
think we should trust him.

1285
00:41:35,333 --> 00:41:36,366
He's in a suit.

1286
00:41:36,366 --> 00:41:37,533
Anybody ever seen him in that

1287
00:41:37,533 --> 00:41:39,133
suit before?

1288
00:41:39,133 --> 00:41:40,300
[LAUGHTER]

1289
00:41:40,300 --> 00:41:41,400
I don't recognize that cultural

1290
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:43,733
body, sir, I'm sorry.

1291
00:41:43,733 --> 00:41:44,866
>> Violation.

1292
00:41:44,866 --> 00:41:45,933
>> Violation.

1293
00:41:45,933 --> 00:41:47,866
On the other hand,

1294
00:41:47,866 --> 00:41:49,233
it's kind of cute.

1295
00:41:49,233 --> 00:41:51,066
It's a nice suit, isn't it?

1296
00:41:51,066 --> 00:41:53,866
He's well groomed.

1297
00:41:53,866 --> 00:41:55,700
Isn't it interesting because,

1298
00:41:55,700 --> 00:41:57,400
you know, we're really afraid of

1299
00:41:57,400 --> 00:41:59,933
the monster but everybody in

1300
00:41:59,933 --> 00:42:02,400
here is looking for him.

1301
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:04,066
We desire the monster.

1302
00:42:04,066 --> 00:42:05,466
We want to see him.

1303
00:42:05,466 --> 00:42:06,600
We want to find him.

1304
00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:07,966
We want to see where they live.

1305
00:42:07,966 --> 00:42:10,333
We want to keep an eye on them

1306
00:42:10,333 --> 00:42:12,466
so that fear of the monster

1307
00:42:12,466 --> 00:42:14,200
leads to us searching for maybe

1308
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:16,433
even making monsters, but

1309
00:42:16,433 --> 00:42:18,766
keeping our eye on them.

1310
00:42:18,766 --> 00:42:20,166
Fear of the monster is a kind

1311
00:42:20,166 --> 00:42:21,500
of desire.

1312
00:42:21,500 --> 00:42:23,966
We want our monsters.

1313
00:42:23,966 --> 00:42:25,866
We want to keep an eye on them

1314
00:42:25,866 --> 00:42:27,700
because they're part of the

1315
00:42:27,700 --> 00:42:29,800
marker that makes us human and

1316
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:34,666
them something else.

1317
00:42:34,666 --> 00:42:36,766
And I think we're ready for Q&A.

1318
00:42:36,766 --> 00:42:38,866
[APPLAUSE]