Media Monstrosities

The following is an excerpt from my LiveJournal, which I'm opting to repost here instead of repeating myself. Further content will be added below.

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I am watching this right now.

I am, needless to say, very disappointed with who they selected to represent therianthropy. But I really shouldn't be surprised now, should I? This is the media, after all, and I'm willing to wager the saner ones out there wouldn't appear on camera. I wouldn't, whether I may be sane or not--and that is very likely under debate, too haha. Because, of course, I'd totally dig the idea of wanting to appear on a show titled "Ten Ways To Meet A Monster". Right.

I especially loved the part about this person describing the "howls" she goes on, and how whenever she sees a wolf's natural prey animal during these gatherings, she has urges to chase it. If this was the case with an actual wolf in the wild, it probably wouldn't survive for very long, having uselessly burned up calories and put itself at risk during repeated chases, all triggered by the appearance of its prey species--whether the animal is well-fed or not. L. David Mech has some pretty good statistics on this.

This, to me, only betrays obvious ignorance of wolf behavior--which also begs the question, if this person really was a wolf, wouldn't she have behaviors more reflective of actual wolf behavior?

Oh yes, and while wearing a fake tail can certainly have its uses, I always found it rather got in the way with my "phantom" tail. However, it will "play ball" or orient/overlap better with a real, organic tail rather than a fake one made of polyester. But that's only after certain mojo is performed--otherwise, try strapping a false tail on a dog or wolf, and see how fast it comes off.

Oh well. At this point, I really shouldn't be surprised anymore.

EDIT: Clip from the show can be found here--the part about therianthropes appears at about 2:02 in the clip.

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As it turns out, there are other such shining examples of the media exploring the Therianthrope and Otherkin phenomenon. Said media-vultures enjoy feasting on the various nutcases that come crawling out, seeking attention and then later playing victim when they are presented in a way that clearly further paints them as freaks (let alone the rest of us, as collateral damage). This, as it turns out, was clearly the case here with the person(s) involved in the interview. And yet, it would be hard for the bystander not to want to paint a broad brush, given most media potrayals, and selections like this one from the 'community'.

As it also turns out, the primary person that was interviewed for this show later declared herself a "born-again human", which only seems to further betray obvious ignorance (and, as another reader/commenter so aptly put it: ""Born again human" sounds like a pretentious way of saying "I took on the therian label without giving it much thought and don't want it any more". :-/"). We can, at the very least, be grateful that she finally realized her mistake, decided to be honest with herself and stick with the furry scene, though not without driving one more nail in the proverbial coffin of credibility for therianthropes and otherkin.

I believe, in this current culture and society, no credibility can possibly be attained through media attention. One person who commented hit the nail right on the head: "I've never understood the need to go public with this to people who don't understand. The knowledge of it comes to those who live it and those who seek understanding. As far as I'm concerned, media involvement is entirely unsupported, no matter how accurate it might be." Either the media is determined to depict us as socially maladjusted freaks, or the socially maladjusted freaks find their way to the media. The end-result is more blanket-criticism and broad-brushing, or the attentions of those unstable individuals who feel they might find acceptance within the therian/otherkin ranks. Neither is desirable, and leaves those of us with at least some amount of commonsense carefully in the shadows, trying hard to avoid negative attention and the ever-growing and vocal population of flakes (which the media does seem to love) from within. I do not think that the Otherkin and Therianthrope communities are ready for the media. On both community and individual level. There is still a lot of growth that is needed.

Most of the human race has moved far from the daimonic beliefs and worlds where the human and the nonhuman mixed more freely. It seems like this line of thinking is making a slow comeback. Indeed, the Otherkin and Therianthrope phenomena is making itself known gradually through the Occult and Pagan circles, and slowly knowledge and understanding is being cultivated. This sort of thing should not be pushed before its time, nor should we be dwelling over the 'fringe' descriptor it is commonly given. For the most part we are free to believe as we please, and in the long run developing a victim complex will only be detrimental to our personal growth as psycho-spiritual individuals.