Wild Hog Follow-Up: Good bye, Fred

There are constant reminders that things are often not what they appear... and what doesn't apear to be what it seems has a tendancy to scare us. A most recent example is best illustrated by a follow-up to this week's story (reflections about which were posted on this blog) that the "Hogzilla" killed last weekend by an eleven year old was in truth no "'Zilla," or monster at all... he was simply a 1,000 pound farm pig named Fred.

As reported in the article 'Monster Pig’ was huge — just not wild on MSNBC.com, Fred's origins are more reminiscent of Babe or Wilbur, than those of Godzilla or King Kong. Given this update, the thematic comparisons between this "monster" story and Princess Mononoke (1999) eluded to in my previous post ring even truer. Perhaps, as in Mononoke, it is not the iron bullet which corrupted the great beast, but in Fred's case, it was the misinformation and media frenzy created around the discovery of such an awe inspiring natural wonder as Fred that turned him from a farm pig into a 'zilla.

For me, this further illustrates our defense mechanism of vilifying those natural occurrences which we fear or misunderstand, resulting in the celebration of the senseless: the destruction of a great animal by a child.

Take it easy, Fred.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!