The Stuff of Nightmares

As a child I was drawn to horror flicks. These were generally in black and white and shown late at night on the only TV in the house. So I was generally alone in the living room in the dark with the sound really low. I was warned off this practice by my mother who was sure The Monster from the Black Lagoon would give me nightmares. Never did. Tarzan, afternoon reruns, however were a totally different animal.

Mother, hoping to get a total night's sleep without a screaming child, explored why Tarzan gave me nightmares. 

"Because they are real," I responded.

"They are just actors," Mother explained.

"But they have no zippers down their backs," I said. 

Ever the very attentive to detail child I had seen the zippers on the monsters. I knew they were wearing costumes. But not the bad men on Tarzan. They were real. Africa, the dark continent existed. And there were evil white men who killed and enslaved. They also existed outside of Africa in places like the Amazon. The black lagoon did not exist. And if it did it would be a place for great cat fish and frog gigging. 

All my monsters of my youth were older white men with real faces. And it got more real in the era of Trump. Some juvenile part of me kept looking for his zipper but he does not have one. And this last couple of weeks there was Kavanaugh! What monster could be as bad as him. And trust me no zipper or special effects.

I went looking on Google Images to find the monster of my nightmares but I think the real monsters behind the scenes have sanitized the worst away. Even Kavanaugh rage does not yield the worst which I am sure I saw on the news.

I have the greatest pity for his wife and children. Not for what they endured during this confirmation hearing but for what I am sure they see when he is drunk - a monster with no zipper. And why would one want to summit to a possible face like that arguing before the Supreme Court? A place to me which always seemed so quiet and orderly and polite. While in DC I had the opportunity to witness a case, or part of it. I was in awe. I have always worshiped intelligence and decorum.  

Now it is a place of at least one horrible monster with no zipper. And another one is in the people's house. Maybe DC is the Black Lagoon. Home for all the monsters without zippers.