I think one of the biggest misconceptions about monsters is what makes someone or something a monster. Many think that anyone who looks abnormal or doesn’t act normal is a monster. But this is a bad way to identify who is and isn’t a monster. Cohen’s 4th thesis is “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference” (Cohen, 7) which talks about this very point. People are extremely quick to judge what makes someone a monster and one of the biggest reasons is due to the first thing we typically judge on is appearance. Not only is it the first thing typically judged but it is the first thing that we see when we meet someone new.
Cohen talks about a man named Richard from the Renaissance time who used to transform from monster to man by raising his arm to look deformed (9). This showed that people judged him and called him a monster only when he looked, unlike others. Another example of this is when Cohen talked about people in Africa with black skin. “Dark skin was associated with the fires of hell” (Cohen, 10). People believed that because their skin was black it signified hell and people with dark skin must have come from there. This is another visual trait that caused many to judge another based on appearance.
Another factor contributing to the idea of someone being a monster is how they act but this can be affected by how they are treated. In modern movies, creatures do not start out wanting to destroy cities or kill people but after armies come in and try to kill the creature, only then do they typically become violent and destructive. Something is not built to be dangerous but becomes that after being mutually hated and feared. Frankenstein is another example of something that turned into a monster because of how people reacted. I remember movies with Frankenstein and how he did not like fire and when someone had a torch he would become scared and violent.
Being able to tell if someone is truly a monster puts minds at ease because we can stay clear of people ho could cause us harm, but when people found out that someone could be a monster and not look like one becomes scarier. I believe this is why people only wanted to call people who looked different monsters, because we could see it with our eyes. Knowing there are people who are as evil as some look but we are unable to tell is terrifying. This still does not give us the right to judge someone or call someone a monster just by there appearance.
