: nv ~ v : ov nu :~ x v ui x v v ~ n i i i : v +

!ntcrvicwcd lrcqucntly in thc mcdia, Roth argucs that horror lms tcnd
to crop up morc whcn thc country is undcrgoing scvcrc social strcsscs, thc
\ictnam cra produccd thc original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on
the Left, and othcrs, and thc post/++ and !raq war cra also corrcsponds
with an inux ol violcnt horror lms. (!n contrast, according to Roth, thc
Clinton cra produccd lcwcr such lms.) Political corrclations asidc, Roth
argucs that human lcar and anxicty arc hcld in chcck during our dayto
day lunctioning, but somctimcs wc nccd to cxorcisc thcsc troubling cmo
tions. Horror lms allow us thc opportunity to scrcam and rclcasc anxicty
in a cathartic manncr,
33
according to Roth, thcy havc a thcrapcutic ccct.
Tcrc arc soldicrs in !raq, Roth cxplains, that writc mc and tcll mc that
Hostel is onc ol thc most popular movics in thc military.
Tcy lovc it. ! wrotc back and askcd, Vhy on carth would you watch Hos-
tel altcr what you scc in a day: And hc wrotc back and said that hc was out
during thc day with his lricnds and thcy saw somcbodys lacc gct blown
o, and thcn thcy watchcd thc movic that night with about oo pcoplc and
thcy wcrc all scrcaming. 8ut whcn thcyrc on thc battlccld, you havc to bc
a machinc. You cant rcact cmotionally. You havc to tactically rcspond to a
situation. And thcsc guys arc going out cvcry day sccing this horriblc stu,
and thcyrc not allowcd to bc scarcd. 8ut it all gcts storcd up, and its got
to comc out. And whcn thcy watch Hostel, its basically saying, lor thc ncxt
o minutcs, not only arc you allowcd to bc scarcd, yourc cncouragcd to bc
scarcd bccausc its okay to bc tcrricd.
34
Roth docs not cxplicitly invokc Frcud in his cxplanation, but that is only
bccausc thc thcory ol thc rcprcsscd and rclcascd !d has now attaincd thc
paradigm status ol common scnsc. 8ut il torturc porn cncouragcs a purg
ing ol anxictics, it ccrtainly adds ncw, prcviously unimaginablc imagcs ol
vulncrability to thc audicnccs cxpcricncc. Vhcn thcy cncountcr a grisly
corpsc, thc lathcr warns his son in Cormac McCarthys postapocalyptic
novcl Te Road (:oo6), Just rcmcmbcr that thc things you put into your
hcad arc thcrc lorcvcr.
35
!t rcmains to bc sccn whcthcr or not thc lcars and
anxictics that torturc porn takcs out ol vicwcrs by catharsis is supcrscdcd
by thc ncw lcars it puts in.
36
A compclling altcrnativc to this thcory ol horror, thc catharsis ol dan
gcrous inncr drivcs, is thc idca that slashcr and monstcr lms arc just
subspccics ol thc traditional morality talc. Tc anthropologist Claudc
LcviStrauss argucd that myths, whcthcr ancicnt or cincmatic, havc vcry
similar sociocultural lunctions. Tc purposc ol thc mythic narrativc is to
makc thc world intclligiblc, to usc magical mcans to rcsolvc thc contradic
tions ol lilc. Pcrhaps this gcncral point can bc applicd to thc horror gcnrc.
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ATENEO DE NAGA UNIV
AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974

In many myths, heroes overcome monsters as a mechanism by which we
resolve our anxieties about injustices in the world. Our daily experience is
lled with bad guys who are winning and prospering while good guys are
losing and suering. Our lms are cultural narratives that bring in justice
where it otherwise seems fugitive. On this account, horror movies must
end with a profound reckoning for the monsters, otherwise the restora-
tion of justice thesis cannot hold. Of course, many horror lms do indeed
end with a nal triumph of good over evil and may stand as evidence for
this thesis. In addition, the popularity of rst-person shooter video games
such as Halo, wherein the gamer can ght monsters directly and blast vir-
tual justice into place, seems to be evidence for a very satisfying moral
application of aggression. Nefarious aliens and zombies populate a whole
genre of survival horror video games, such as Resident Evil, and draw
a large market of young men who want to punish monsters themselves.
Why leave the meting out of justice to Hollywood stars when you can do
it yourself?
cvvvv: Nc vivsn
Although much more could be said about the relationship between hor-
ror monsters and human vulnerability, I wish to briey describe one other
signicant trend. Te monsters of horror are ostensibly external agents
of menace, but positioning them in the context of philosophical pessi-
mism and Freudian psychology has, I hope, rendered their subjective inner
dimension apparent. Freud explains the logic of projection in a way that
explicitly connects the inner and outer monsters. Phobias, he explains,
have the character of a projection in that they replace an internal instinc-
tual danger by an external perceptual one. Te advantage of this is that the
subject can protect himself against an external danger by eeing from it
and avoiding the perception of it, whereas it is useless to ee from dangers
that arise from within.
37
In twentieth- and twenty-rst-century horror we have a relatively new
aesthetic focus on the subjective revulsion and terror of the eshin short,
the terror of all things biological. After Darwin we have a radically dier-
ent theoretical picture of nature, and when we combine this with our age
of time-lapse photography, electron microscopy, and penetrating nature
documentaries, we have a new and chilling sense of biological suering.
38

Reect for a moment on the Rhizocephala or root-headed barnacle that
lives its life feeding inside crabs and other crustaceans. Tis complex
organism attaches itself to the shell of the crab, bores a hole through the
shell, and deposits a tiny seed of itself into the crabs body, whereupon the
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ATENEO DE NAGA UNIV
AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974
: nv ~ v : ov nu :~ x v ui x v v ~ n i i i : v +
outsidc attachmcnt lalls o thc hosts shcll and thc sccd bcgins to grow
insidc. Ncxt thc sccd bcgins to sprcad throughout thc crab in a scrics ol
complcx root systcms, oltcn inltrating, likc a crccping vinc, cvcry limb
ol thc crab. Tis root systcm castratcs its host (thus prccluding thc crabs
continuation ol thc gcnc linc), stops thc crabs molting cyclc, and kccps it
alivc, all thc whilc lccding o it, lor ycars. r considcr thc tarantula hawk,
a giant wasp (Pepsis) that hunts tarantulas as a lood supply lor its larvac.
Tc wasp paralyzcs a tarantula with its powcrlul sting, thcn bitcs o its lcgs
lor casicr transport and carrics it back to a burrow, whcrc it lays an cgg on
thc spidcrs paralyzcd body. Vhcn thc wasp larva hatchcs, it lccds slowly
on thc still living tarantula, cvcn carclully avoiding at rst thc consump
tion ol working vital organs to guarantcc cxtcndcd lrcshncss. Not cvcn thc
most invcntivc Hollywood writcrs can spin talcs this lantastic, yct it is thc
brcad and buttcr ol biology.
Prcdatorprcy and hostparasitc rclationships arc morc dctailcd and
documcntcd than cvcr bclorc. Tc contcmporary imagination is oodcd
with imagcs ol thc macabrc sidc ol naturc, and our own bodics sccm to bc
battlcgrounds lor viruscs, bactcria, and othcr immunological nightmarcs.
Not all thc monstcrs insidc us arc psychological, but ol coursc thc scnsc ol
vulncrability stcmming lrom this ncw biology is psychological.
Should wc thank thc E. coli in our gut that hclps us to digcst: Should
wc altcrnativcly blamc thc virus that is brcaking down our immunc systcm
and sprcading through thc host population: Tcsc organisms arc not cvil
or noblc crcaturcs, intcntionally wrcaking havoc or hcalth, thcy arc simply
doing what comcs naturally, surviving and rcproducing. Tis is not mcant
to sound callous or inscnsitivc, lor it is obvious that our strugglc with othcr
organisms mattcrs a grcat dcal to us, causing rcal dcspair. 8ut lrom thc
morc gcncral cvolutionary pcrspcctivc, this drama is valucncutral.
Many scicncc ction horror lms cxplicitly rccognizc this mctaphysical
position and build it into thc dcrangcd scicntist charactcr, who rcspccts thc
adaptivc powcr ol thc alicn crcaturc cvcn as it dcvours his comradcs and
himscll. Tc incrcasingly dctachcd r. Carrington ol thc lm Te Ting
(++) proclaims a numbcr ol dialoguc gcms, many ol which havc cchocd
throughout this gcnrcs lms, including Tcrc arc no cncmics in scicncc,
only phcnomcna to study. !n a soliloquy to thc alicn at thc cnd ol thc lm,
Carrington gushcs about thc supcriority ol this magniccnt monstcr spc
cics, whosc adaptivc powcrs arc lar bcyond our own. Tc alicn rcsponds to
this admiration, ol coursc, by bludgconing thc good doctor.
Lcgions ol mad scicntists lrom sci monstcr storics act as pcrsoni
cations ol thc arwinian mctaphysic. ur culturc bctrays its uncasincss
with thc arwinian paradigm by making thcsc charactcrs slightly insanc
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974

and denitely dangerous. Tese mad scientists understand the value-
neutral character of natural selection; they understand that humans have
no exalted place and are not insulated from a process that might eventu-
ally lead to their extinction. And they understand that this process knows
nothing and cares nothing about the human tragedy that may result. Te
aliens of these lms are destroying and even torturing human lives, but
always inadvertently. Human suering, in this genre, is an unintended
outcome of the predators natural survival and reproductive techniques.
It is this quality of innocence preceding the aliens destructive conse-
quences that invokes the peculiar admiration of the scientists in these
lms. It also prevents us from applying the old lexicon of evil to these
monsters.
Recent horror, from Lovecraft to Cronenberg to H. R. Giger, tries
to give us a subjective participatory experience of vulnerable esh rather
Te original thing, part animal, part vegetable, all sinister. From Howard Hawks
classic Te Ting from Another World (RKO, Turner Broadcasting). Image courtesy of Jerry
Ohlinger.
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974
: nv ~ v : ov nu :~ x v ui x v v ~ n i i i : v :o+
than just a spcctators obscrvation. Tc lms makc our skin crawl. Tc
inucncc ol cvolutionary and palcontology data is clcar in carlicr bio
horror such as King Kong (+), Godzilla (+), and Tem (+),
39
but
a crccpicr locus on nauscating rcproduction, discasc, injury, and dccay
sccms to havc riscn to dominancc in thc last quartcr ol thc twcnticth
ccntury. avid Croncnbcrgs + lm Te Brood and Ridlcy Scotts
+ lm Alien arc good cxamplcs ol this disturbing mixturc ol rcpro
duction anxicty, parasitc monstrosity, and human vulncrability. Tc sccnc
in which Scott and Gigcrs chcstbursting alicn appcars, langcd, phal
lic, and lctal, sccms to havc shapcd ovcr thrcc dccadcs ol subscqucnt
monstcr acsthctics.
40
Vas thc lm itscll shapcd by largcr social anxict
ics surrounding abortion and rcproductivc rights during thc +os: Arc
thc currcnt lms and novcls about apocalyptic, monstrous discasc cpi
dcmics thc rcsult ol contcmporary anxictics ovcr biochcmical warlarc:
o Amcricans lccl morc vulncrablc altcr /++ and now scck to cxorcisc
thosc cmotions via torturc porn: nc suspccts that thc corrclations arc
not cntircly accidcntal.
Tc acsthctic crcatcd by H. R. Gigcr lor Ridlcy Scotts + Alien (:oth Ccntury Fox) con
tinucs to sct thc tonc lor a wholc gcnrc ol lms intcrcstcd in cxploring thc vulncrabilitics
ol postarwinian biology. !magc courtcsy ol Jcrry hlingcr.
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974
202 i n n e r mon s t e r s
The more hardcore Freudi an argument eschews specifc
sociopolitical contextualization. In every civilization, emerging adoles-
cent sexuality is always fraught with intense repression pressures, so that
new and powerful libidinal impulses cannot be straightforwardly fulflled.
According to Freud, the urges themselves and their hard-won contain-
ment involve a high degree of aggression. In this view, torture porn is just
an increasingly efcient catharsis of built-up adolescent sexual energy; thus
it is unsurprising that the target demographic audiences for such flms are
teenagers.
my goal i n thi s chapter has been to explore the recent
emphasis on the subjective emotional and cognitive aspects of monste-
rology, aspects that parallel the rise of psychology and underscore the
philosophy of human fragility and vulnerability.
41
Monsters make up a sig-
nifcant part of the frightening underbelly of modernity, whether they are
only hinted at in the uncanny experience or are chasing us with chainsaws.
Monsters of contemporary horror are not like their medieval counterparts,
who were more like Gods henchmen. Tat older paradigm held out the
inevitability of monstrous defeat by divine justice, but the contemporary
monster is often a reminder of theological abandonment and the accom-
panying angst. Nor are the more recent horror monsters like the monsters
of the Enlightenment, products of human superstition that can be con-
quered by the light of reason. Monsters after Schopenhauer, Nietzsche,
and Freud are features of the irrevocable irrationality inside the human
subject and outside in nature.
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974
+
Criminal Monsters
Psychopathology, Aggression,
and the Malignant Heart
Youre presenting him like a monster, and he wasnt. He was anything but a
monster.
, vssic~ n~:v, vvvvvvi xc :o s:vvvx x~z:i vvcz~x, nvv
novvvi vxb, wno wvx: ox ~ snoo:i xc v~:v~cv ~: xov:nvvx
i iii xoi s ixi vvvsi :v i x :oo8
xoNs+vvs : N +nv nvaoi: Nvs
s cn~xcv woiib n~vv i :, thc wcck ! sat down to writc this
chaptcr my alma matcr, Northcrn !llinois Univcrsity, was all ovcr
thc national ncws. n \alcntincs ay :oo8 ! turncd on thc T\
and immcdiatcly rccognizcd thc building whcrc ! had oncc had an algcbra
class. Now pcoplc wcrc bcing cartcd out ol it on strctchcrs. A CNN ncws
crawl at thc bottom ol thc scrccn rcportcd that cightccn or morc pcoplc
had just bccn shot in Colc Hall at N!U.
vcr thc ncxt lcw days somc lacts camc to light. Tc shootcrs namc
was Stcvcn Kazmicrczak. Hc cntcrcd a gcology lccturc carrying a pump
action shotgun in a guitar casc and thrcc handguns in his bclt. From thc
stagc hc bcgan shooting into thc audicncc, killing vc pcoplc and wound
ing twcnty othcrs. Tcn hc shot himscll.
Kazmicrczak was a lormcr studcnt ol criminology at N!U, and hc had
imprcsscd his instructors with his sophisticatcd rcscarch and writing. 8y all
accounts, hc was an cxcmplary studcnt. Apart lrom somc rclativcly tastclcss
A
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974

tattoos based on the horror movie Saw, Kazmierczak bore no marks in his
personal life of any impending deviance. His girlfriend, Jessica Baty, whom
he lived with, was so unaware of any threat that she perceived the early
report of his heinous deed as the result of mistaken identity. He was any-
thing but a monster, she said a few days later. He was probably the nicest,
most caring person ever.
1
In , after Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed thirteen people
and injured twenty-three others at Columbine High School, Time maga-
zine published a cover with photos of the killers and the headline Te
Monsters Next Door. Harris and Klebold saw themselves as avengers,
paying back jocks and princesses for a high school career of humiliation
and persecution.
In December Willie Kelsey was charged by authorities in Dekalb
County, Georgia, with breaking into a home and shooting two children in
their beds while they slept. Willie Kelsey is one of these individuals that
when you look at his record and you look at who he is, hes just a monster
among us, and thank God we got this monster o the street, said Police
Chief Terrell Bolton. In the face of such appalling inhumanity, one cant
help but grow philosophical, and Chief Bolton continued, Anytime you
live in a society where you cant shut your doors at night and expect peace
and tranquility while you sleep and somebody come in and shoot two of
your children, I dont know how else to describe anybody like that. Hes a
monster among us.
2
While were touring some staggering examples of deviance, consider
the appalling aberration of the British sex oender Paul Beart, who in
April sadistically tortured to death a waitress, Deborah OSullivan.
Beart rst assaulted his victim on the street and dragged her behind a wall,
where he bit o her face and ripped open her torso with his bare hands. He
also burned her with a lighter, smashed her with a trash can, broke her arm,
strangled her, and sexually assaulted her.
3
For the likes of Paul Beart, even
the horrible label monster seems much too polite and dignied.
Te same revulsion seems appropriate for the Austrian Josef Fritzl,
whose crime was discovered in the spring of . Te Austrian newspaper
Die Presse called it the worst and most shocking case of incest in Austrian
criminal history.
4
Seventy-three-year-old Fritzl had begun raping his
daughter Elisabeth when she was only eleven, and when she was eighteen
he imprisoned her in his basement fallout shelter, where he kept her for
twenty-four years. Worse yet, he fathered seven children with Elisabeth,
three of whom (ages nineteen, eighteen, and eleven) lived their entire lives
locked in the basement with their mother; three others lived upstairs and
one died at birth. He did all this while living normally upstairs with an
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974
c v i :i x ~ i :ox s : v v s :o
unknowing wilc, Fritzl claimcd that thc upstairs childrcn had bccn lclt on
his doorstcp by thcir long lost runaway daughtcr lisabcth. Ncwspapcrs
rclcrrcd to Fritzl as thc monstcr who kcpt his daughtcr in a dungcon.
Tc monstcr cpithct is applicd libcrally thcsc days to a widc varicty
ol criminal dcviants, but thcrc is no cntircly accuratc prolc ol thc mod
crn criminal monstcr. 8y all accounts Stcvcn Kazmicrczak was nothing
likc thc socially incpt, mcgalomaniacal loncr Cho ScungHui, who killcd
thirtytwo pcoplc at \irginia Tcch in :oo. And whilc Cho apparcntly
claimcd somc sick solidarity with thc Columbinc killcrs, it sccms that only
thc monstrous acts thcmsclvcs unily thc othcrwisc divcrsc mcmbcrs ol
thc psychopathic club.
Still, thc paramctcrs ol thc monstcr cpithct arc not innitcly mal
lcablc, and onc can assumc that ordinary languagc uscrs arc somcwhat
cohcrcnt in thcir application ol such labcls. ltcn thc labcl is applicd to
thosc criminals who transccnd thc usual or traditional motivcs lor violcnt
crimc. Somctimcs thc criminal is di cult to undcrstand bccausc his ragc
lul bchavior is so cxtrcmc, but somctimcs our bcwildcrmcnt is bascd on
thc abscncc ol any motivc whatsocvcr. A criminal who kills lor cconomic
gain or lor romantic rcvcngc is odious to bc surc, but at lcast hcs undcr
standablc in principlc. Such a villain is ccrtainly a tragcdy, but still a distant
rclation in thc human lamily. Tc labcl ol monstcr, on thc othcr hand, is
usually rcscrvcd lor a pcrson whosc actions havc placcd him outsidc thc
rangc ol humanity.

n thc south sidc ol Chicago on May :+, +:, Nathan Lcopold, agc
ninctccn, and Richard Locb, agc cightccn, abductcd 8obby Franks, agc
lourtccn, and murdcrcd him with a chiscl. Tcy drovc to a swampland ncar
Hcgcwisch and stucd thc boys body into a conduit pipc undcr a railroad
cmbankmcnt. Altcr thc thrill kill, Locb, thc rcspcctablc son ol thc vicc
prcsidcnt ol Scars and Rocbuck, toycd with unsuspccting dctcctivcs by
voluntccring all manncr ol hclplul thcorics and possiblc suspccts. vcntu
ally thc body was discovcrcd, as wcrc Lcopolds ncarby glasscs. Tc glasscs,
togcthcr with thc discovcry ol a matching typcwritcr uscd by Lcopold to
crcatc a bogus ransom lcttcr, lcd to thc arrcst ol thc a ucnt boys. !n thc
introductory cssay lor Lcopolds latcr book, Life Plus Years, thc writcr
and crcator ol Pcrry Mason rlc Stanlcy Gardncr cxplains, Socicty lookcd
upon Lcopold and Locb with rcvulsion and horror. Coming lrom good
homcs, thcy had committcd a murdcr apparcntly just lor thc thrill. Tc two
boys wcrc considcrcd monstcrs.
5
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974
:o6 i x x v v :ox s : v v s
Vhcn Lcopold rccctcd back on thcir murdcr, hc tricd to convcy thc
complcx and contradictory naturc ol his lricnd Locb. Lcopold idolizcd
thc charismatic Locb and marvclcd at his dual capacity lor gcncrosity and
warmth on thc onc hand and coldhcartcd brutality on thc othcr. How
could a contradiction likc that, askcd Lcopold, livc in onc body: !d
rcad Stcvcnsons Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, ol coursc. And with his litcrary
wizardry, Stcvcnson had madc it sound almost plausiblc, at lcast whilc you
wcrc rcading it. 8ut cvcn Stcvcnson had madc thc pcrsonalitics altcrnatc.
Hcrc |in Locb| was a man in whom Jckyll and Hydc cocxistcd at onc and
thc samc momcnt.
6
!t is a tcstamcnt to thc cvocativc powcr ol thc mon
stcr mctaphor that cvcn thc murdcrcr himscll must appcal to it in ordcr to
cxplain his partncr.
!n Stcvcnsons novclla Te Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (+88),
Jckyll crcatcs a potion that, oncc consumcd, scparatcs thc good and cvil
insidc him. Stcvcnson givcs us a mclodramatic sccnario ol a split pcrsonal
ity, but onc that prcsagcs thc alicnatcd or lracturcd Frcudian scll. Jckyll rcp
rcscnts thc socializcd cthical scll, whilc Hydc cmcrgcs likc thc !d incarnatc
to cngagc in abcrrant lust bingcs and murdcr sprccs. Stcvcnson cxplains,
vcn as good shonc upon thc countcnancc ol thc onc, cvil was writtcn
Nathan Lcopold (+o++) and Richard Locb (+o+6). Pcncil drawing by Stcphcn
T. Asma :oo8.
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Account: s6347974
c v i :i x ~ i :ox s : v v s :o
broadly and plainly on thc lacc ol thc othcr. vil bcsidcs (which ! must still
bclicvc to bc thc lcthal sidc ol man) had lclt on that body an imprint ol
dclormity and dccay.
7
vcntually thc monstcr insidc Jckyll ovcrcomcs thc
good doctor, and Hydcs dcviant dcbauchcry bccomcs uncontrollablc. !n
thc cnd, lacing discovcry and thc thrcat ol justicc, Hydc kills himscll. 8ut
Stcvcnson bcqucathcd a powcrlul allcgory that would providc a dramatic
lormulation ol thc psychoanalytic idcas to comc.
!n +: thc publishcr ol thc Tribune ocrcd Frcud +:,ooo to comc
to Chicago to analyzc Nathan Lcopold and Richard Locb, but Frcud
dcclincd. Tc invitation was ccrtainly scnsationalistic, but cvcn il it was
only partially sinccrc wc still rccognizc thc inlant stagcs ol lorcnsic psy
chothcrapy and a cultural validation ol thc bclicl that a scicncc ol thc mind
can tcll us how human monstcrs arc lormcd.
Frcuds rclusal did not dissuadc thc dclcnsc tcam, lcd by Clarcncc ar
row, lrom cnlisting a small army ol thc brandncw \icnncsc psychiatry
A promotional postcr lor thc ++
lm Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde (Univcrsal Picturcs).
!magc courtcsy ol Jcrry hlingcr.
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experts, ve principal analysts and about a dozen auxiliaries. It is no acci-
dent that professional mental pathologists of this era were called alien-
ists, trading on the notion that insane people were especially estranged
or alienated from themselves.
8
But in Freuds conceptual secularization
of evil, all of us, not just Leopold and Loeb, are only so many steps away
from the extreme cases of monstrous killers. All of us are a little alienated.
Darrow strategically chose to plead the boys guilty instead of the expected
plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and he built his argument around
the idea that the precocious boys were tragically confused by the heady
intellectualism of amoral Nietzschean philosophy and other such danger-
ous medicines, imbibed too young for healthy result.
9
Te psychoanalytic approach to Leopold and Loebs crime stressed
the continuity rather than dissimilarity between the healthy and the
unhealthy psyche. Erle Stanley Gardners rst sentence in the introduc-
tion to Leopolds book makes a boldly unifying declaration of boyhood
narcissism: Tere comes a time in the history of every bright boy when
a constantly increasing inux of knowledge, the recognition of growth in
his own powers of reasoning make him feel he is able to outwit the world
if he chooses.
Would Freuds own analysis of Leopold and Loeb have produced a
dierent outcome? Doubtful. Te judge, John Caverly, claimed that the
entire brilliant defense, with its elaborate psychiatry, had no real inuence
on his decision to spare their lives in the sentencing phase; they were sim-
ply too young to hang. But the whole scenario gives us an opportunity to
reect upon a new kind of psychologized monster. How do Freuds ideas
about aggression and psychopathology explain certain kinds of twentieth-
century monsters?
vacv aNo accvvss: oN
A highly imaginative artist, according to Freud, might give expression to
deep psychological truths, even in the form of jokes and humor. In a sin-
ister but playful mood, Freud quotes the Romantic poet Heinrich Heines
description of the good life:
Mine is a most peaceable disposition. My wishes are: a humble cottage
with a thatched roof, but a good bed, good food, the freshest milk and
butter, owers before my window, and a few ne trees before my door; and
if God wants to make my happiness complete, he will grant me the joy of
seeing some six or seven of my enemies hanging from those trees. Before
their death I shall, moved in my heart, forgive them all the wrong they did
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c r i mi n a l mon s t e r s 209
me in their lifetime. One must, it is true, forgive ones enemiesbut not
before they have been hanged.
10
Tis bit of gallows humor helps us, Freud thinks, to recognize a true aspect
of ourselves, an aspect that usually lies submerged under the surface of the
more sunny socialized image. He argues that men are not gentle creatures
who want to be loved, and who can at the most defend themselves if they
are attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among whose instinctual
endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness. My
neighbor, Freud says, is not just a potential helper or sexual object, but
also a prospective target for my aggression. I am tempted to exploit his
capacity for work without compensation, to use him sexually without his
consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to
torture and to kill him. Homo homini lupus (man is a wolf to man). With
neighbors like this, who needs monsters?
Freud derived his pessimism from experience via the headlines of cur-
rent newspapers, plus his own personal familiarity with anti-Semitism, and
also from a Darwinian view of the human animal.
11
We must have a fair
share of aggression in our instinctual endowments, else we would never
survive the severe challenges of living to adulthood (e.g., avoiding preda-
tors, outstripping competitors, fghting enemies). In his structural model
of the psyche, Freud calls this selfsh, instinctual, amoral aspect of the self
the it, the Id (das Es).
Rage is a powerful force that, along with other socially deleterious
impulses, lives like a frustrated virus in the dark cellars of the Id. Te Ego
(the I) emerges slowly in the postuterine life of the baby and forms a
node of conscious awareness, a locus of self-identity. Later, the toddler
internalizes the values and mores of the external society (the nuclear fam-
ily), regulating its own behavior by internal conscience rather than parental
punishments. But unfortunately it all goes wrong sometimes. When con-
ditions are right, the viral rage escapes the usual Superego subjugation and
vents its terrible energy on hapless victims.
Freud explains that we all have a policeman in our head if our parents
do a decent job of raising us. A childs basic mix of love and fear toward the
parent is utilized in the earliest forms of discipline. If the parent scolds the
child after some infraction, the child will feel the direct fear of the parent
(especially if struck), but also the fear of the loss of parental love. Tese two
fears combine to form a powerful motive to accommodate the wishes of the
parent. Te move from external control (parent) to internal (conscience)
happens when a more mature child encounters reasonably consistent and
just punishments from the parent. Te natural aggression that a child
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974

points outward toward his or her external punisher can turn back upon the
self when the parent remains a lovable (nonabusive) and consistent force in
the childs life. When the childs aggression turns on his or her own behav-
ior and desires, it provides the repressive force requisite for self-mastery
and the formation of conscience. If a child is brought up by an unloving
and overly strict parent, the childs own aggression stays trained outwardly
on the abuser and subsequent surrogates, failing to turn inward. But if the
parent is overindulgent and too lenient, the childs aggression has nowhere
to go but inward, causing an overly severe Superego.
12
Tus abusive parents
create outwardly rageful ospring, and indulgent parents create inwardly
rageful, self-punishing ospring. In reality, of course, human character
formation is much more complicated than this, but Freuds explanation
continues to be highly inuential in our understanding of psychological
pathology. After Freud, monstrous murderers and abusive people could be
theoretically dissected and understood through an examination of their
own childhood. Metaphorically speaking, ones childhood is the parent of
ones adulthood.
13
Given our aggressive nature its a miracle we dont have more violent
crime and even extreme serial-killer pathology. Most of us manage to
acquire a second nature, which writes a new program over the original
caveman program. Monstrous crime such as rape and murder can be seen
as the unfortunate byproduct of failed socialization, failed psychological
accommodation to social realities. In the history of ideas it is not long
after this psychologizing turn that criminal responsibility or agency begins
to seep out of the individual and into the larger societal context, but that
discussion will come in the next chapter.
I noted in part I the monstrous nature of rage in the case of Medea,
who killed her own children. In some ways Freudian theory only modern-
ized and formalized the penetrating insights of the ancients, but no one
has yet successfully moved this discussion out of the metaphorical domain
of knowledge. Indeed, the arts, rather than the sciences, still are more accu-
rate in their treatment of powerful emotions such as rage.
14
Psychologists
remain divided, for example, about a clear taxonomy of alienating emo-
tions. Is rage always an impulsive expression, without calculation, plan-
ning, forethought? Is it explosive, like a mysterious animal that bursts out
of a human being? Or is it merely the last culminating violent gesture in
a long series of mental meditations on ones own wounded pride? Is ego
consciousness quietly fomenting rage for long stretches before rage nally
sheds its cognitive tutor and makes its own terrible way?
In many monstrous crimes the cognitive picture that an oender has of
himself is a signicant component in the pathological emotionally charged
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974
c v i :i x ~ i :ox s : v v s :++
bchavior. !n :oo a 8ritish tccnagcr, 8rian 8lackwcll, uscd a claw hammcr
to bcat and stab his parcnts to dcath in thcir Mcrscysidc homc. Tcn hc
wcnt on a o,ooo holiday spcnding sprcc using his parcnts moncy, includ
ing a thrccnight stay in thc Prcsidcntial Suitc at Ncw Yorks Plaza Hotcl.
!n his mind, hc somchow dcscrvcd this. His dclcnsc argucd succcsslully
that 8lackwcll sucrcd lrom narcissistic pcrsonality disordcr, claiming that
hc had a grandiosc scnsc ol scllimportancc and sucrcd lrom lantasics ol
limitlcss powcr, brilliancc, and succcss. Tc radical cognitivc mispcrccption
ol his own status in thc world was uscd as a lcvcr by thc dclcnsc to gct
8lackwcll a lcsscr chargc. Ragc is intimatcly conncctcd with indignation,
which is intimatcly conncctcd to subjcctivc notions ol justicc. Tc cmo
tional shadcs into thc intcllcctual, and vicc vcrsa. nc aspcct ol narcissistic
monstcrs is thcir inability or unwillingncss to conlront cxistcncc and acccpt
it on its own tcrms. Hcalthy, socializcd human bcings lcarn to livc with and
cvcn acccpt somc dcgrcc ol anxicty, lrustration, hostility, and aggrcssion in
thcir livcs (in thcir romantic livcs, thcir rolc as parcnts, childrcn, siblings,
schoolmatcs, o cc collcagucs, ctc.). l coursc, cvcn lor a hcalthy pcrson,
thcrcs a limit to thc amount ol lrustration onc can and should bcar, but thc
poorly socializcd pcrson nds that limit vcry ncarby.
Tc sociologist Jack Katz, who mastcrlully analyzcs thc criminal mind
in Seductions of Crime, points out that many murdcrcrs scc thcmsclvcs, at
lcast at thc momcnt ol slaughtcr, as rightcous avcngcrs. Vhat is thc logic
ol ragc, Katz asks, such that it can grow so smoothly and quickly lrom
humiliation and lcad to rightcous slaughtcr as its pcrlcctly scnsiblc (il only
momcntarily convincing) cnd:
15
Vhcn an individual lccls cithcr humili
ation or ragc hc simultancously has a lccling ol powcrlcssncss, as though
somcthing or somconc has lorccd or compcllcd him. Hc lccls victimizcd
by lorccs outsidc himscll in thc casc ol humiliation, and by lorccs insidc
himscll in thc casc ol ragc. Tc spousc who lccls rcpcatcdly humiliatcd by
hcr partncr may lccl, according to Katz, as though hcr vcry identity is bcing
brokcn and dcgradcd by thc othcr pcrson. Ragc promiscs to rcbalancc thc
situation.
Tc logic Katz discovcrcd is morc topographic than syllogistic, but
it is cvidcnccd in ordinary languagc. Humiliation lowcrs onc, it makcs
onc lccl small. Humiliation rcduccs, diminishcs, lcsscns, shrinks, dispirits,
dcprcsscs, and casts down. Ragc rcvcrscs this downward trajcctory: ragc
riscs up, blows up. !t may start in thc pit ol thc stomach, Katz cxplains,
and soon thrcatcn to burst out ol thc top ol your hcad. Tc ragclul arc
cautioncd to kccp thcir lids on and not to blow thcir tops. !n rcsponsc to
humiliation, ragc might bc said to bc a psychological asccnt (with tcrriblc
conscqucnccs).
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974

Two people, both dead, really know whether or not O. J. Simpson killed
his wife and her friend in that other famous trial of the century.
16
Simpson
was acquitted in his criminal case in but found guilty in his civil trial
in . Te popular and even academic discussions of the Simpson mur-
der case were remarkable in their avoidance of the issue of monstrous rage
at the heart of the case. Questions of racial justice and injustice expanded
geometrically and crowded out any real reection on the more mysteri-
ous question: How angry do you have to be to cut o somebodys head?
Whether or not Simpson committed the murders, such rageful acts usually
betray monstrous levels of frustration and fury.
17
Te forensic psychologist
Stephen Diamond goes so far as to say that, although anxiety is a strong
facet of neurotic modernity, rage is the major problem of our times: Te
preeminent problem in contemporary psychopathology is not anxiety, but
repressed anger and rage.
18
Rage is only one aspect of the aggressive Id. Te Freudian view of
crime is similar to Platos description in the Republic. As we saw in part
I, we are all capable of the most disturbing deviance, and evidence of our
innate depravity can be found in our sadistic and forbidden dream life.
Te criminal monster is just the waking dream, the nightmare realized.
Te psychopath is simply acting out all the taboo fantasies that the rest of
us have learned to control. Plato says that the deranged man has lost his
powers of self-discipline and let loose the inner beast: You know there is
nothing [this beast] wont dare to do at such a time, free of all control by
shame or reason. It doesnt shrink from trying to have sex with a mother,
as it supposes, or anyone else at all, whether man, god, or beast.
19
Incest
is one of the monstrous, albeit primordial, urges that must, according to
Freud, be subjugated and transformed into more socially healthy expres-
sions of libido. Like violent rage, lust for ones own family members must
be chained by socialization on a very short leash. Freudian monsters come
into being when those chains are poorly fashioned, become too slack, or
break altogether.
xoNs+vous ovs: vv vvv: s: +vo
One of the most imaginative artistic representations of Id forces unchained
from the fetters of socialization and sublimation is the classic
Hollywood lm Forbidden Planet. Tis science ction lm is an allegorical
meditation on a world wherein our natural pleasure-principle narcissism
is given free rein, unchecked and unrestrained by the social greater good.
We may want to overcome our repressive constraints, but we must be care-
ful about what we wish for. Our nave quest to attain happiness through
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EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 8/2/2014 1:45 AM via
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974
c v i :i x ~ i :ox s : v v s :+
grcatcr powcr and libidinal cxprcssion is tantamount to thc opcning ol
Pandoras box.
Looscly bascd on Shakcspcarcs Te Tempest, Forbidden Planet givcs
us a dcsolatc island in thc lorm ol planct Altair !\, sixtccn lightycars
lrom carth. !nstcad ol Prospcro and Miranda, wc havc r. Morbius and
his daughtcr, Altaira, who arc thc only surviving mcmbcrs ol thc carlicr
Bellerophon cxpcdition. A ncw spacccralt and crcw, lcd by Commandcr
John Adams, arrivc on thc lorbiddcn planct to invcstigatc thc mystcrious
disappcarancc ol thc Bellerophon. Tcy nd Morbius and his daughtcr liv
ing in a kind ol paradisc, aidcd by Robby thc Robot. Altcr rcpcatcd warn
ings and attcmpts to turn back thc ncw crcw, r. Morbius rcvcals that all
his collcagucs lrom thc Bellerophon wcrc vaporizcd ycars ago and hc now
spcnds his timc rcscarching thc long lost indigcnous civilization ol Altair
!\, thc Krcll.
Vhilc a romancc bcgins to hcat up bctwccn thc innoccnt bcauty Altaira
and thc commandcr, thc ovcrly protcctivc Morbius grudgingly rcvcals
amazing tcchnologics ol thc cxtinct Krcll. A brainboosting machinc,
callcd thc plastic cducator, provcd highly dangcrous, but altcr bricl usagc
it incrcascd Morbiuss !Q signicantly. Gradually it comcs to light that thc
plastic cducator is somchow conncctcd to a massivc undcrground machinc,
a twcntymilc cubc powcrcd by thousands ol nuclcar rcactors. Tis vast
and ancicnt machinc, originally built by thc Krcll, has bccn mystcriously
maintaining itscll and gcncrating powcr lor hundrcds ol thousands ol
ycars. cspitc all this advanccd tcchnology, thc Krcll, Morbius cxplains,
pcrishcd long ago in onc violcnt night ol dcvastation.
Tc plot thickcns whcn Chicl nginccr Quinn, lrom thc ncw crcw, is
mystcriously murdcrcd, rippcd limb lrom limb, by an invisiblc monstcr.
cspitc its invisibility thc ncw crcw is ablc to inlcr somc ol thc crcaturcs
physical propcrtics and dctcrminc that it is a horric chimcrical bcast.
20

Vhcn thc monstcr rcturns thc lollowing night to wrcak havoc, it disap
pcars at thc prccisc momcnt that r. Morbius awakcns lrom a nightmarc,
clucing us in on thc conncction bctwccn thc good doctors drcam lilc and
thc prowling bcast that thrcatcns thc crcw, cspccially thc lovc intcrcst ol
his shcltcrcd daughtcr.
!n light ol thcsc thrcats, Commandcr Adams and his crcwmatc
r. strow dccidc to cxplorc thc mystcrious Krcll tcchnology morc
thoroughly. cspitc thc warnings, strow trics on thc brainboosting
plastic cducator and lcarns thc sccrct conncction bctwccn thc machinc,
r. Morbius, and thc invisiblc monstcr. Tc knowlcdgc is too much lor
him, howcvcr, and strow pcrishcs in thc cxpcrimcnt, but not bclorc hc
rcvcals thc truth. Tc Krcll had originally built thc powcrlul machincry as
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EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 8/2/2014 1:45 AM via
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Account: s6347974

Forbidden Planet (MGM), made in , capitalized on Freudian ideas
about the monstrous Id. Image courtesy of Photofest.
a wish-granting technology: if the Krell could but think it, the machine
would realize it. Te advanced intellectual sophistication of the Krell, how-
ever, merely veiled the deeper and darker instinctual realities. But the Krell
forgot one thing, Dr. Ostrow cries to the commander. Monsters, John!
Monsters from the Id! Teir own internal monsters were unleashed that
fateful night thousands of years ago, and the entire race was wiped out by
those fearsome incarnations.
Te commander realizes that Dr. Morbius, through his much ear-
lier experiments with the plastic educator, now has the Krell technology
wired into his own Id. Every disaster, from the original destruction of the
Bellerophon to the new attacks, has been a manifestation of Morbiuss own
subconscious desires. When Altaira confesses her love for Commander
Adams and her desire to leave her father, Morbiuss monstrous Id attacks
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EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 8/2/2014 1:45 AM via
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AN: 361959 ; Asma, Stephen T..; On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Account: s6347974