Do people really identify with "personally murdering everyone in Manhattan"? I like horror and some violent books and movies but in a good vs. evil struggle. Not the hero killing every living thing he just happens to come across.
So what drives someone to identify with monsters? demons? and murderers?
I have my own theories, but I would like to see how you guys think. And if you think that such things influence a character's actions?
Most people would never ruthlessly kill everyone they meet, but maybe they've had a day or two (or several hundred in the course of 30+ years--it's possible) when they wanted to do just that. Reading these stories can be an outlet for that frustration, allowing them to take on the role of super bad guy, perhaps transposing the fictional characters with real life people they know.
And, of course, some people are just attracted to these things because they are a child of Satan. (kidding)
Line of thinking-
It wouldn't matter if you killed every mosquito in the world if you thought that all mosquitos caused you pain, were stupid, ugly, annoying, and/or inferior.
Still, it can be funny the things that bug you. I was just looking at something called...um, Marylith. The background splash has a girl firing an FN P-90. I've got no problem with that, P-90's are pretty cool, and just the right size for a girl. Now, you don't see a lot of them on the black market (and they use a specialized ammo), so the fact that this girl is supposed to be...you know, kinda damps the fun a bit.
But the picture clearly shows giant shell casings being ejected upwards and to the right of the weapon. I mean, those casings are at least .45's even if you allow for the maximum allowable cartoonish distortion.
Now, I didn't think much of the comic. How much of it was because of that, and how much because of the rest of the comic? I don't know. It's really hard to say. That was just the first thing. But it kinda set the tone.
Turns out, in this story, the mosquitoes were a crucial link in the environmental chain.
But I'm still with you, Netstorm. I still like to believe the birds and bats would adapt.
If he only took two of every animal...then why didn't he just swat those two little buggars? No more mosquitos!!!
I know the summers here in MN would sure be a lot nicer w/out them!
If the rain theory is true, Noah must have let most of them go here in MN before he finished the little journey....
I'm sure Noah did his best. Besides, if there had only been two mosquitos on the ark, and someone had killed them, it would have a violation of a divine ordanance.
Perhaps someone on Noah's Ark did kill the mosquitos but God stepped in and re-populated the species. Then, as a punishment for violating His directives, He made them into the scourge of campers and forest dwellers for all time.
That being said, I am also fascinated by a certain type of dark character that I find difficult to describe exactly. It is easier to give examples:
Anne Rice's Lestat from the Vampire Chronicles
C.S. Friedman's Gerald Tarrant from the Coldfire Trilogy
Louise Cooper's Tarod from the Time Master Trilogy
Janny Wurts' Arithon from the Mistwrait series
Of course, any of those characters could be justified as either "good" or "evil" since that is simply a matter of opinion but they are all undeniably "dark" characters of one type or another. All of which I am supremely fascinated by. Why.....I have no idea. I'd like to know myself.
Vampires are often considered monsters but they also capture my undivided attention in a mixture of infatuation and horror and extreme curiosity. Why is that? If I actually met one I'd faint dead away in fright yet when READING about one....I am enthralled.
So...I can't answer your question. Perhaps it is as HSO said that we like to vicariously experience feelings we would never permit ourselves in real life. Perhaps there are dark sides to our nature that are drawn to characters of like darkness.
Who knows? It is interesting.