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MEGA-PUPPETS
FALL/WINTER 2007- ISSUE NO. 22
Contents • Selections
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BIG
by Andrew C. Periale
Human beings are impressed by big
stuff: Shaquille O'Neal, the Statue of Liberty, Mount
Rushmore-all big.
We are a "super-size me" culture that buys in bulk
and dreams of "living large." Our suspicion that size
matters is no recent phenomenon. Consider the so-called
Wonders of the Ancient World: big times seven. I don't
know who voted to determine which wonders made the list,
but I'm sure "bronze
spear point" was never in the running despite its larger
impact on our history over time than, say, the Colossus
of Rhodes.
But humans were awed by the Colossus, as they still are
by Mounts Fuji, Everest, Kilimanjaro, tidal waves, mushroom
clouds, comets, constellations and, ultimately, the universe.
Those who have believed in a God or Creator of the Universe
typically pictured the entity as big, huge, even humongous.
Ancient Egyptians had earthly existence springing from
the union of anthropomorphic sky and earth entities (Nut
and Set). The Greek gods were Titans and, later, Olympians;
the names say it all.
But why? Why don't we encounter religions that believe
the universe was created by a flea, for instance? Fleas
have laid armies low, after all, have decimated whole
populations with their ability to carry Plague, yet though
we despise them, we do not fear them.
Perhaps the need for a real whopper of a God is coded
into our DNA. Though Haeckel's theory of Recapitulation
has been discredited in its particulars (namely, that
our fetuses appear to progress through forms resembling
creatures from which we presumably evolved- amoeba, fish,
amphibian, politician and so on), it is a useful metaphor.
With our embedded cellular memories, we emerge from the
womb's ocean into a world of giants-parents who wield
absolute power over us. With luck, these awesome creatures
prove benevolent, loving beings. Over time, they become
less gigantic , and we are left with a deep longing for
the next big thing.
As an adult, being in the presence of giant- or mega-puppets
has the powerful effect that parents (by sheer dint of
size) have long since failed to exercise over me (unless
I happen to be visiting them over the holidays).
In our last issue, we sought out
the world's smallest puppets, in whose presence puppeteers
looked titanic. We stood like gods beside our "Mini-me" simulacra.
In this issue we stand in the presence of figures that
make even Shaquille O'Neal look like an infant, or, in
some cases, a flea.
The largest of these are actors in pageants and celebrations,
rituals of death-and-rebirth, or creation. They reinforce
the bonds of community, remind us that there are both
things and ideas in the universe bigger than we, and
give us hope that the humongous forces that rule our
lives may also be benevolent and loving. |
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