Monsters can take on
many forms, including internal, external, human, and dead, among others.
Regardless of the form, the majority of monsters serve as a means to understand
or learn more about a culture. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's "Monster Culture"
thoroughly explains the use of monsters to portray cultural moments and issues.
However, he only briefly touches on the political purpose of the monster, and
focuses mainly on the political as it relates to culture. The idea of a
politically driven monster is worth further discussion because not only is it a
reflection of a specific cultural moment, but it often points to a larger
social movement as well. One of America's most recent monsters, which is still
somewhat taboo and misunderstood, is the Communist. The portrayal of Communists
in propaganda and the absurdity of the Red Scare is the embodiment of Cohen's
concept of the monster who "polices the borders of the possible"
(Thesis V) because it depicts how monsters can be constructed to maintain the
social order, limit or control thought, and, perhaps most importantly, cause
people to fear crossing a political border.
The Red Scare initially
began after the Bolshevik Revolution, but it really took off in the late 40s to
50s, courtesy of Joe McCarthy. Initially, the reaction to Communism could be
described as a fear of the unknown. However, it quickly grew into a cultural
movement that became a way of life. Though many did not know what Communism
was--and many still don't--it was clear that it was a threat to both capitalism
and the American ideal of individualism. Joe McCarthy took the tiny seed of a
threat, and turned it into a huge monster used to scare everyday Americans.
Communists were portrayed as rapists, murders, and evil anarchists (which makes
very little sense, since the two political ideologies are completely different
and not really compatible) hell-bent on world domination. People were asked to
turn in the names of suspected Communists, and to help alleviate this monstrous
threat, people were blacklisted and lost their jobs. Communism was
essentially outlawed, and took on the role of the “monster of prohibition”
(Cohen 13). Cohen explains that this type of monster “exists to demarcate the
bonds that hold together that system of relations we call culture, to call
horrid attention to borders that cannot—must not—be crossed” (13). By
effectively painting Communism as pure evil, McCarthy—and many others—were able
to police the border of political thought and prevent many from crossing it.
Those who did were punished.
In this instance, the
evil Red monster was able to reinforce a rigid ideology of individualism and
capitalism, thus maintaining the social order. As Cohen predicts, the monster
always returns. An irrational fear of Communism still exists, and for some odd
reason, the term is still used as an insult. Though we may have made it through
the Red Scare and past that particular cultural moment, the ideal of the
Communist monster will likely never go away.
3 comments:
Monsters have taken hold of other political tools throughout time as well. Just as with the Red Scare on communism, the Jews were primarily persecuted as monstrous since early times for their differing beliefs in a primarily Christian world and their success as a different group within multiple contexts of society. As a result they were decried as monstrous for feasting on the blood of Christian children and depicted monstrous for being money mongers. The Nazi's played on this predisposed fear of Jews and made them monstrous to the point that the people reacting to them became monsters in their own right. It just goes to show that sometimes a monster is more of an idea or a perception than a fact. Your fear disperses when the monster in your room turns out to be a bundle of clothes when you turn on the lights.
This post captures the reality of American propaganda techniques that developed the archetype of Communist Monster, a version of which still floods media outlets as well as films/television/video games, etc. Cohen's claim that "the monster always escapes" fits well in describing this situation, which can also apply to the way American media still seeks to stir fear through mentions of "culture wars" in the Middle East and radical Communism in China and elsewhere. In this sense the Communist Monster is bolstered by a fresh set of paint to perpetuate the desired fear and intolerance in the name of new enemies to keep the war industry occupied.
Only through "reading" this monster accurately can we begin to consider a society evolved beyond the brutal darwinism that is naming a foreign ideology monstrous.
The portrayal of Communism as a monster did well for the political agendas of the politicians in the early to mid-20th century, but regardless of political agendas western culture still feared its spread and domination. This is very relevant in novels such as 1984 by Orwell, where the main antagonist is only referred to as Big Brother, who was easily pictured as Stalin. The society/culture at the time feared totalitarian rule and a merciless government and in a way that whole concept and fear of that political system is the monster. Even in more modern literary pieces such as The Hunger Games trilogy, a totalitarian government still haunts the lives of the characters in various forms. Regardless of either of the books' endings, the monster is never completely gone.
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