” Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… ” – Friedrich Nietzsche

The annual national fright fest known as Halloween has come and passed, and, having been out of the country for the latter half of the month, I missed most of the shenanigans: the pumpkins, the costume parties, the endless horror films on TV, etc. And being in Poland, I realized just how much of a distinctly American “holiday” it really is. Poland doesn’t really celebrate it. Only recently has the concept of Halloween begun to creep into the culture of that country. It doesn’t compare to Halloween in America.

As a kid, I always loved everything about the Halloween season. The horror films, carving out pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, eating pumpkin pie, playing pranks on Mischief Night, dressing up as some otherworldly hero or villain, and getting enough sweets for weeks – these were things I looked forward to every year. But there were other things about being a kid back then that I took for granted as well – namely, the concept of the villain. Invariably, the villain /monster was obvious right away. Skeletor from He-Man … looked like a skeleton and sounded like a monster. Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles looked like a killer. The Star Wars villains…looked evil. Pop culture essentially ingrained into the collective youth mind what Nietzsche had observed a century earlier:

monstrum in fronte, monstrum in animo (“monster in face, monster in soul”)

The bad guy / villain…looked like a monster. Perhaps this generalization has its roots in Dante’s Inferno and his vision of all the damned souls in Hell enduring everlasting torment at the hands of monsters. Whatever the origins…the powers in charge, the cartoon creators, wanted to make the good versus evil distinction simple – black and white, no blurred lines, no grey areas. And, as a kid, it was that simple. As we grow up, however, we slowly begin (or, in some cases, should begin) to realize it’s not that simple. In fact, oftentimes, the heroes and villains flip roles – sometimes within very short periods of time, whether warranted or not (remember the Lance Armstrong saga?). Ironically, I think this sentiment is best expressed by Mathis when he’s chatting with James Bond outside in his villa in perhaps the worst Bond film in recent memory, Quantum of Solace:

When one’s young, it seems very easy to distinguish between right and wrong. But, as one gets older, it becomes more difficult. The villains and the heroes get all mixed up.

And do they ever. Our country’s roots have certainly bared testimony to this phenomenon. Look no further than the Salem witch trials, a scandal so profound that it essentially destroyed the notion of a theocracy in America less than a century after the Pilgrims had arrived here precisely to set up that theocracy! Literally hundreds of people were accused of being witches, twenty-five of whom were executed or died in prison. The notion of the “monster” – the witch – was so real, so terrifying…that it drove entire communities to paranoia and mass hysteria and led to mob rule that prosecuted the outcasts of that society who did not adhere to the social norms of that day. Family feuds used the concept of the “witch” to off rivals. Innocent people died. And it all started when a Reverend’s nine-year old daughter and eleven-year old niece started having fits and seeing monsters – witches – until the phenomenon snowballed into mass hysteria to other members of the community. The leaders of the community took the visions and actions of kids at face value as proof of guilt of a crime that was punishable by death. Only decades later were convictions reversed, apologies issued, and monetary compensation authorized to the real victims and their families. It was an unmitigated disaster, and it changed the course of the country forever; to this day, over 300 years later, the fascination continues – as evidenced by the numerous books, films, etc. in popular media. And the greatest irony of this entire scandal…was that the monsters of the community were never the “witches” – they were always the regular members of the community who decided to eat each other alive.

Revolutions have always been a monster breeding ground as well. Maximilien Robespierre, probably the most prominent individual during the French Revolution, started out innocently enough: he was an orphan – but a star pupil – who had been awarded with the honor of reciting a poem that he had composed to the king and queen as they passed by. Unfortunately for him, it was raining. And, being the callous depots that King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were, they drove off without hearing him and, instead, splashed his only good cloths with mud as they passed. It seems that Robespierre never forgot this insult, and he would have his revenge on the monarchs years later when their heads were being chopped off. But Robespierre, with his extreme ideologies for the democracy, soon became the most feared individual during the Terror, when he was responsible for thousands of people losing their heads to the guillotine. In the end, ironically, he lost his head under the guillotine once competing factions had taken over his power. In the wake of all the chaos of the French Revolution, Napoleon stepped in to fill the power vacuum, took over absolute power, and basically started a world war that left millions dead. The Russian Revolution, in some ways, was similar. Czar Nicholas II was an incompetent military leader during WWI and seemed to care little for his people, who were suffering the worst number of casualties of any country at the time during the war. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin’s communist ideologies, stepped in and instituted a brutal terror campaign throughout the country that culminated with the cold-blooded massacre of the entire royal family, including all their children. And I’m not even going to start with Stalin! Indeed, history repeatedly shows that monsters often get replaced by…monsters.

Of course, this concept of the “monster” has also been used to characterize and oppress ethnic minorities by those in charge. Perhaps the most famous “recent” example is Nazi Germany, which utilized a highly effective propaganda campaign to depict certain ethnic minorities as monsters in order to warrant systematic oppression (the most famous example is the movie, Der ewige Jude, comparing Jewish people to rats). I imagine this comparison must’ve been humorous to at least some people during that time period. It wasn’t in the end when this dehumanization resulted in the Holocaust – and, this time, millions were senselessly slaughtered. And it all happened because of unchecked mass hysteria and unfounded paranoia. By the time Allied soldiers forcibly marched German villagers through the concentration camps to see the atrocities of the Holocaust firsthand, it must’ve become apparent to these villagers who the real monsters were – it was them the whole time.

Pop culture has seized on this theme of the “monster” as well. One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes ever plays into this theme of mob psychology: The Monsters are Due on Maple Street. If you’ve never seen it, watch it to see just how easily the “Maple Street” of the 1950’s could – and does – exist in today’s society, more than half a century later. Not to totally ruin the episode, but it is essentially the twentieth century version of the Salem witch trials in suburban America. All it takes is a few random, unusual events to drive a community mad to the point where mob rule supersedes rule of law, inherent prejudices within the community get exposed, the collective fears and imaginations run wild, and innocent people (even kids) end up being harassed, oppressed, and killed as an end result of the mass hysteria. Again, the “monsters” in the community…turn out to be the townsfolk. One of my favorite TV shows, The Walking Dead, does a great job of capturing the many faces of a “monster.” Anybody who’s followed the series probably remembers the worst moments of the show originating not from zombies…but, rather, from the evil actions of people who have evolved into monsters due to the zombie apocalypse. In the end, the worst monsters on the show…are the people. The protagonist even touches upon this concept in one of his more famous quotes, “We are the Walking Dead.” Besides struggling to survive in a veritable Apocalypse, the greatest challenge facing the protagonist group…is to retain their humanity and not turn into the monsters all around them (a sentiment that is apparently shared by some current combat war veterans, based on an article I once read). And the current movie, The Joker, brilliantly captures the hypocrisy of society’s concept of a “monster.” Every other Batman comic, series, and movie featuring the Joker painted a clear division between the morality of the heroes, the Wayne family, and the depravity of the homicidal psychopath that is the Joker. Yet, in this movie, the lines are blurred and, by movie’s end, it’s no longer clear who the heroes are – if any. Thomas Wayne is a complete asshole – utilizing his privileged upbringing for narcissistic self advancement with no regard whatsoever for the welfare of those suffering in his city. The three “businessmen” that the Joker kills…are nothing more than three drunken, privileged bullies who probably tormented several people before they picked a fight with the wrong guy and got a shot of karma. And the celebrity late night comic that society holds on the highest of pedestals…is perhaps the worst human being of them all, elevating himself at the expense of a mentally ill individual. If the Joker is a monster / villain in this movie, then he is no worse than any other character in the film. If anything, the real monsters are the people that society has elevated to its highest levels.

If you think the “Maple Streets” are confined to Hollywood and the saddest episodes from our nation’s past…think again. It’s everywhere in today’s society, and it can flare up anytime. Terrorism is one of the most important contemporary issues – but, oftentimes, it’s not entirely clear who the real terrorists are! Case in point: my home state of New Jersey when Hurricane Sandy hit in the fall of 2012. During the four days of power outage that I experienced in my parents’ town of Marlboro, I saw, firsthand, the disintegration of society when the proverbial shit hit the fan. The National Guard was stationed at some nearby Shore towns to prevent opportunists from robbing and looting their neighbors. The scarcity of resources such as gas led to fist fights as people lost their patience (and their minds) waiting in excruciatingly long lines. The monsters came to life. At my local gas station, I remember a man (who just happened to be an ethnic minority) make an honest mistake, driving his car towards the gas pump to ask the attendant a question – presumably about the situation and how long a wait to expect. The mob immediately pounced on him…and it was brutal. He was with his kids, and I remember hearing some vile, bigoted comments yelled towards him and, by extension, his kids. The reaction was completely over the top, and his family did not deserve it. And how about Black Friday? Every year, we see videos of people literally fighting each other at malls and department stores over materialistic items that are supposed to represent the spirit of “the most wonderful time of the year.” And every year, invariably, we see these people devolve into animals. So much for “peace and good will to men!”

Athletic events offer up great opportunities to see our society devolve into monsters as well. I’ve been a lifelong New York Yankees fan, but I can’t condone this mob behavior and find it completely appalling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylpRy9wTdY8 After that sad display, I was actually happy that the Yankees lost the series. That’s karma. But even that disgusting, dehumanizing display isn’t as bad as all those reports of stampedes at football (soccer) stadiums around the world that literally kill people. There’s no shortage of monsters at sporting events.

How about the social scene? Oh that’s shit, too. I’ve personally witnessed prejudices laid bare. Minorities and people of “lesser” classes or social standing are welcome members of the community…until they start competing for limited resources! And when that happens (whether it be money, women, etc.)…the “privileged” people start ganging up to restore their version of “order” to eliminate the “monster.” I’ve seen it happen at nightclubs. I’ve seen it at school. I’ve seen it at work. It’s everywhere.

But the worst contemporary venue for witnessing monsters hard at work…is the Internet. The unfiltered nature of the Internet was originally envisioned with good intentions in mind – to share information and provide previously unimaginable resources for education. Unfortunately, the benefits of quick and immediate access to information can also destroy lives. The Internet has become a hotbed for defamation and blatant violation of privacy. And the perpetrators, who now have the unprecedented advantage of anonymity combined with zero accountability, get to exhibit a level of cowardice never before seen in society; they essentially get to hurl stones at people from behind a computer screen with little risk of exposure. The entire concept of privacy, at least the one I knew when I was a kid, has been thrown out the window. Technology has blown up, but, unfortunately, the law has not been able to keep pace. Defamation and violation of privacy laws in this country are relatively weak compared to Europe and often cost the victim extraordinary time and money before a remedy is found. And, by that time, it’s often too late anyway. Celebrities and politicians have obviously received the most media attention with regards to this issue, given their elevated status in society. But celebrities and politicians are also uniquely equipped to handle such situations given their elevated status: they are, by definition, “celebrated” or “public representatives” and often have PR reps, managers, agents, security, etc. at their disposal to effectively handle such situation. And, in the end, they signed up for the attention; the dangers of fame are balanced out by the obvious benefits. The same cannot be said of the numerous victims of public shaming and online bullying.

Public shaming and online bullying is rampant, and it can be quick, brutal, completely unjustified, and provide zero opportunity for the victim to defend him/herself…until it’s too late. It is the modern day equivalent of tarring and feathering – a form of psychological torture to enforce the vision of “justice” for the masses – albeit, of course, without all the information or proper context to make a sound judgement (see Cersei Lannister’s “Walk of Shame” from Game of Thrones for a recent pop culture example) . Of course, that’s why a civilized society has judges and a formal judicial system – to prevent mob rule and mass hysteria. Yet the court of public opinion is often the one that exacts the most brutal punishments – and they can be fatal. I’ve heard of countless tales of kids being bullied so bad…that they can’t continue and, sadly, decide that suicide is the only option. For those that do manage to escape the mental trauma, psychological scars can last a lifetime – often in the form of depression, anxiety, and mental illness. The Internet has provided a much, much larger forum for bullies to broadcast their “monsters” to the world than previously imagined. Memes and social media are an effective medium to expose the “monster” to society. The irony is…in striving to destroy the “monster”…they turn into the worst monsters themselves.

So, even though Halloween has ended and the all the horror films on TV have taken a back seat…rest assured there is no shortage of monsters; they’re everywhere around you – and they are real. They could be hiding inside that cozy home on that peaceful street within the idyllic confines of suburbia. Or, they could be walking down the streets of your city. They’re inside everybody and they are latent, waiting to spring out at the slightest and most innocuous of provocations.

In the end, Friedrich Nietzsche went clinically insane; he spent the last eleven years of his life in a mental asylum and died at the age of 56. One of my relatives once told me that this was karma coming back to bite him for boldly declaring that “God is dead.” I personally disagree. Geniuses seem to have a special gift – and curse – that comes with having a penetrating mind. I have my own theory regarding why he went mad: I think he managed to perceive humanity to such a depth…that it literally drove him crazy. The addendum to the opening quote of this article, perhaps his most famous quote, sums it up best:

“… for when you gaze long into the abyss…the abyss gazes also into you.”