The Power of the Metaphorical

Well, here’s your weekly dose of dumbassery. This nonsense comes from Eric Kripke, who is the showrunner for the Amazon television series THE BOYS. Here’s what he had to say: “Not to overstate it or be overdramatic, but it’s a little dangerous to train an entire generation to wait for someone strong to come in and save you…the way that pop-culture conditions people subtly, I think it’s conditioning them the wrong way…” How asinine. I’m not the only one who thinks so, either. Said Professor Kristen Warner of the University of Alabama: “That impulse to look to someone else to help us is reinforced by these movies, but I don’t know that I would say it’s dangerous.” And Sharon Ross, a professor at Columbia College Chicago, said: “…there are some gaps in his logic…I hesitate when I see showrunners make these broad statements, because they have the tendency to often undermine the sophistication of the viewer.” I won’t be as nice as these professors. I’ll just say it outright. Kripke is a dumbass.

The superhero is a metaphor for all that is heroic in human beings. We don’t believe Superman will come flying in to save us in an emergency. Rather Superman inspires us to act like him, to be heroic. Kripke apparently doesn’t have the mental acumen to understand this.

As for what any of this has to do with werewolves, I would hope that I wouldn’t have to draw the parallels with too thick-tipped a magic marker. It’s metaphor. If the superhero is the metaphor for all that is best and brightest in human nature, the werewolf is the polar opposite of that. It is the metaphor of the human being with all civilizing influences stripped away, the human being as an animal, behaving like an animal.

If Kripke ever thinks about werewolves, I bet he carries around wolfsbane in his pockets, because he obviously can’t differentiate between metaphor and reality.

By The Evil Cheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 MORTUI VELOCES SUNT!

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