Mosters Misunderstood How Fear Creates the Moster...

What is an archetype and what is a stereotype? That was the question I was asked on the first day of class. It was something that I had never thought of for more than a minute, but I would soon learn that archetypes and stereotypes show themselves in everyday media and have walked, hand and hand, throughout time. Of the many archetypes and stereotypes that popped into my head, one has rang true throughout the quarter, the idea that we, as a society, make monsters out of those people or cultures that we fear or do not understand. This can be seen throughout time, but the most noticeable ones are: the myth of vampires, especially Dracula, from Eastern Europe, the urban legends that surround homosexuals, and the stereotypes that society†¦show more content†¦This has led to the myth of Dracula taking on a comical air that was not seen in Eastern Europe. The mischaracterization of Dracula and the propagation of the archetype and stereotype of vampires can mainly be blamed on the media. While this is not the grossest mischaracterization that we will see in this paper, it is certainly an early starting point for the making of monsters out of the misunderstood and unknown. â€Å"Gerbiling:† The Misunderstood Homosexual The homosexual community is one of the most misunderstood and degraded cultures in today’s society. Homosexuals are usually the brunt of much of the misunderstanding and, as a result, have most of the unban legends and denigrating jokes that are found in modern tradition centered on themselves. Two legends stand out above many others; the myth of â€Å"Gerbiling†, which describe a supposed cruel and exotic practice of gay men, and â€Å"The Gay Roommate†, in which a gay man sexually assaults his heterosexual roommate in a college dorm. Both of these legends exemplify the fact that, through misunderstanding or fearing a culture, you can create horrible monsters out of average men. One of the most â€Å"popular † legends in society is that of Gerbiling. As the story goes, a homosexual celebrity who pleasured himself by inserting a live gerbil into his rectum was discovered when he checked himself into an emergency room to have the