Monsters

Suspension of disbelief:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Watching "Dawn of the dead" with my patient is making me think of how the suspension of disbelief is important to the one experiencing the story.
Having been in nurisng for 25 years sispension is a bit harder when dealing with horror films.

First, let's look at zombies.
I believe the genre was inspired by a bored office worker's quest for coffee. The zombies enthusiasm for brains has been the single woman's deepest desire afer the afterglow wears off. j'Brains. Brains? How to find a man who has one?"


In "Dead Snow'" the zombies are Nazi's fallen in battle. The suckers are fast-very well coordinated- cosidering rigor mortis set in 60 years ago and they are frozen in ice.

I had to laugh at one zombie flick whan a chaacter pointed to the lumbering monster and screamed. '"It's a zombie, run!"
"Why?" the hero responsded knowing he had plenty of time to escape.

Sorry, but the bowels release upon death, one would smell a zombie before seeing it.

As monsters go, zombies are the wall flowers, yet the cult classics live on with parodies, satire, and attempts to make them more interesting by ingnoring the biological and throwning n some dark humor.
"Send more paramedics," says one zombie over the radio after the formers EMT's were chomped.

Werewolves:
My favorite monsters.
These characters stay truest to the classics I grew up with. Tortured souls under a curse, werewolves hope for release from the bloodlust overtaking them during a full moon.

A writer has the most room with our fuzzy friends becasue they are just folks most of the time. like any ohter life condition, lycanthropy will affect different people different ways. Werewolves generally have the intelligence to seperate themselves from people during a full moon.

I had th scoff at Remus Lupin, Hogwarts teacher. When protecting Harry Potter he forgot about both the moon and the potion (it kept him sane during the change) and ran off in his desperation to keep the boy safe. Wouldn't this be more motivation to take the potion early?

I never got an explanation for the werewolves who turn all wolf versus the wolf man versus the monstrous wolf like creature portrayed in some movies.
In my opinion, "Brothers Grimm" portrayed best the way I see them.

I can more esily suspend my disbelief with the author because whether a curse, dark spell, or ancient ritual, the werewolf can get past my nursing barometer via the use of magic or ritual.
I like the wolf like atributes.

I can see a werewolf being loyal, family/pack oriented and protective. As a result, I have a probelm with them being promiscuous, wolves do mate for life. A point well played by Jack Nicholson in "Wolf".
When he caught his wife cheating she told him "It meant nothing" the werewolf responded with something like "Its supposed to make me feel better that you threw away our marriage over nothing?"
Perfect.

Vampires:
They are almost over done.
My inner nurse has to wonder what women find sexy aobut something cold and dead sucking thier neck.
Eww...
can you say necrophilia?
I notice the crosses and holy water are gone from the stories now..
The symbols of good no longer are mentioned. As with zombies, Vamps have no reason to be coordinated and agile as they are. Intelligent I can accept. When you're 200 you should know something.

Sorry ladies.
Vamps got no blood circulation. They wouldn't be able to have an erection.
No Blood. No party.

(werewolves dont' have this problem)

Why would you want to cuddle something room temp at best?
Dead things are cold, they probably clean up, but the vamps would have a dead smell too.
"Blade" had an interesting idea using Calcium Caltrate as a means of starving vampires to death. (it makes blood clot).

I finally watched "Twilight" not too bad though vampires in the day light bugs me as a purist-hence Washington's constant cloud cover, I suppose.
Other things are logical. They don't eat, use the bathroom, and they have loyalty to the clan. Wasn't wild about the diamond skin. Sun makes vamps didintegrate-maybe Cullen's quest to be harmless allows the day trips?

Big plot hole:
Bella's (heroine) scent drives him (Edward, vamp boy) wlid, even at a distance.
He tells her its like a heroin addiction, so what happens when she menstruates?

A group of women spending lots of time together will frequently cycle around the same time. Vampires in a high school would lead to a blood bath.
It's YA so its nice to keep the ick factor down. I like Edward's manners and compassion so suspend (the disbelief) I do.

He calls himslef a monster and fights to control himself while being respectful of Bella. Girls need to see that, but I look forwared to more Jacob. The kind hearted and loyal werewolf who lives on a reservation with his pack.
He can apparently change form at will which makes him more shapeshifter than werewolf, but I look forward to seeing what the author does with his pack.

A werewolf is evenly matched against a vampire. The "underworld" movies where werwolves are vampy pets.

give me a break!