Essay/Term paper: Dragons in america

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Critical Essays

Ian Richards
World Literature Hr. 3
9 September 1996

Dragons in America
Monsters or dragons in present day America are feared .Monsters in America
consist of politicians, celebrities, and criminals. In America they are portrayed through
media, television, and movies. Monsters in America are feared but can also be seen as a
source of entertainment.
Media and entertainment create most of the fear in Americans. In the news we hear
of shooting, killings, and rapes everyday. The media always gives a very in depth look a
each incident to satisfy the audiences every wonder. Entertainment on the other hand
enhances these modern day monsters in movies and television. Movies about serial killers
such as "Natural Born Killers", "Seven" "The Stand", and "Silence of the Lambs" strike
fear in to the hearts of millions of Americans all too often. This creates people to fear
monsters in reality more than ever because Hollywood makes monsters as scary as
possible. The television is another source of violence in the world. It seems that every
shows on TV has to do with some kind of terrible murder. Shows like "New York
Undercover" always end up with a seen where someone is shot to death. This makes the
viewer perceive society as a place too dangerous to live in.
A very obvious monster in America is a criminal. Americans fear burglars, rapists,
and killers in their own cities and states. They are feared because their victims are people
like themselves and are victimized in very familiar places to the average American. That is
why people protect themselves with security systems and weapons. Criminals are feared
mainly because their victims are random. People never feel completely safe knowing that
they may be the next victim.
Besides fear of monsters that pose physical threats, there are monsters in politics
that scare people as well. Corrupt politicians are feared because of past and foreign
politicians that have caused unfair, and painful treatment of the people they represent.
That is why all candidates for office are thoroughly examined to make sure that they can
be trusted. And every time a politician makes a mistake or something negative is said
about him or her people panic and fear that the person that represent them could end up
harming them instead of representing them in their best interest. Incidents in the past that
have caused great turmoil in politics is Watergate, and Communism in foreign countries
such as Germany and Russia.
Some celebrities scare Americans because they are seen as hero"s or idols in the
films, or events they are in. O.J. Simpson is a monster because he was a legend and a hero
of all football fans. When he turned out to be a killer his fans became scared because they
idolized him and he was a very evil man. I think that celebrity monsters tend to be seen
more as entertainment. The O.J. trial was seen more as entertainment than the trial of a
killer. This is all too common on television such as in shows like" America"s Most
Wanted" where the audience is entertained by hearing the stories of killers and the fact
that they are loose. Criminals on TV are not seen as evil but rather as entertaining.
Fear exists in all Americans. Monsters such as Charles Manson, Hitler, and Randall
Flag (from "The Stand") are feared for what they did can happen to you. Americans are
afraid to be victims and monsters need victims. Through media, entertainment and politics
people of America fear Monsters.