Large statues = scary
Sep. 28th, 2003 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silversolitaireHaving this odd dream last night made me realize the full extend of my fear of large statues again. After Lil asked me what scared me so much about it I typed up a reply and I thought I might as well make a post of it. So here it goes.
Large statues. I don't know why they scare me so much. They just do. I can't stand looking at them. Or rather, they fill me with a mixed feeling of fascination and horror. Like I always look at them, but they really really scare me. I remember being scared for the first time when I saw a gigantic lying buddha in a forest when I was a kid. First I only saw the head between the trees and then I walked closer and realized it was a huge statue. I was so spooked, I couldn't go near.
They need to be really tall though, not just a bit larger than life. Although they frighten me a bit then already. But I also like them. It's strange. Maybe it's the fear of something really large that might start moving? I really don't know.
Come to think of it, the fear might have been caused by these cheesy old stop-motion movies that I still love. You know? Clash of the Titans, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts and so on. I don't remember all the titles, but they have moving figureheads and statues and giants all the time. Large seamonsters and giants scare me too. It's one of the reasons why I don't like swimming in the sea. I know it's really silly, but I can't help but think about the seamonsters that might hide there. I used to have a book on seafarers as a kid and one chapter was about beasts of the sea and there was this gigantic octopus that pulled an entire ship into the depth of the sea. It scared me shitless. And then there was this quite inaccurate version of the Odyssey where Ulysses encountered a seamonster that was SO big that when it walked through the sea the water merely reached its ankles. I still remember the horror I felt when I saw that.
So maybe it simply is the largeness... I don't know. But just writing this and thinking about it makes me feel all queasy inside.
Here's a very small selection of statues that I find scary:
The Statue of Motherland, Volgograd (and that other thing in front of it)
Isn't it scary? It's SO HUGE! It boggles my mind. Even worse, her face! ;_; In the book I have you can see her face and it's twisted into an angry scream and really horrible. The sword alone weight 12 tons or so and the statue isn't fixed to the ground. It rests in its own weight... *shudders*
Basically any Sleeping Buddha statue, especially this one *shudders*
I didn't find a satisfying picture. I find them especially scary when they're surrounded by buildings or trees. When you don't see them at first and suddenly you're in front of them. *twitches*
The Crazy Horse Monument, Black Hills of South Dakota
It'll be so scary once it's finished ;_;. It's already scary now.
The Arminius (Hermann) monument, Hiddesen
It's not really that tall, but tall enough. And the worst thing about it is that it's embedded in a forest ;_;. I imagine the hand or so suddenly poking out of the trees as you approach... *hugs self*.
The Colussus of Rhodes
We all know it didn't look like that, that it's even impossible to erect a statue this tall in such a posture, and yet... the mere idea of such a large statue towering over the port of Rhodes... and even worse, looking out onto the sea. And uber-worse, it was destroyed by an earthquake and parts of it are probably still lying at the bottom of the sea!!! Depths of the sea AND a large statue! I just actually twitched...
Okay I need to stop now. I can't stand this anymore...
Large statues. I don't know why they scare me so much. They just do. I can't stand looking at them. Or rather, they fill me with a mixed feeling of fascination and horror. Like I always look at them, but they really really scare me. I remember being scared for the first time when I saw a gigantic lying buddha in a forest when I was a kid. First I only saw the head between the trees and then I walked closer and realized it was a huge statue. I was so spooked, I couldn't go near.
They need to be really tall though, not just a bit larger than life. Although they frighten me a bit then already. But I also like them. It's strange. Maybe it's the fear of something really large that might start moving? I really don't know.
Come to think of it, the fear might have been caused by these cheesy old stop-motion movies that I still love. You know? Clash of the Titans, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts and so on. I don't remember all the titles, but they have moving figureheads and statues and giants all the time. Large seamonsters and giants scare me too. It's one of the reasons why I don't like swimming in the sea. I know it's really silly, but I can't help but think about the seamonsters that might hide there. I used to have a book on seafarers as a kid and one chapter was about beasts of the sea and there was this gigantic octopus that pulled an entire ship into the depth of the sea. It scared me shitless. And then there was this quite inaccurate version of the Odyssey where Ulysses encountered a seamonster that was SO big that when it walked through the sea the water merely reached its ankles. I still remember the horror I felt when I saw that.
So maybe it simply is the largeness... I don't know. But just writing this and thinking about it makes me feel all queasy inside.
Here's a very small selection of statues that I find scary:
The Statue of Motherland, Volgograd (and that other thing in front of it)
Isn't it scary? It's SO HUGE! It boggles my mind. Even worse, her face! ;_; In the book I have you can see her face and it's twisted into an angry scream and really horrible. The sword alone weight 12 tons or so and the statue isn't fixed to the ground. It rests in its own weight... *shudders*
Basically any Sleeping Buddha statue, especially this one *shudders*
I didn't find a satisfying picture. I find them especially scary when they're surrounded by buildings or trees. When you don't see them at first and suddenly you're in front of them. *twitches*
The Crazy Horse Monument, Black Hills of South Dakota
It'll be so scary once it's finished ;_;. It's already scary now.
The Arminius (Hermann) monument, Hiddesen
It's not really that tall, but tall enough. And the worst thing about it is that it's embedded in a forest ;_;. I imagine the hand or so suddenly poking out of the trees as you approach... *hugs self*.
The Colussus of Rhodes
We all know it didn't look like that, that it's even impossible to erect a statue this tall in such a posture, and yet... the mere idea of such a large statue towering over the port of Rhodes... and even worse, looking out onto the sea. And uber-worse, it was destroyed by an earthquake and parts of it are probably still lying at the bottom of the sea!!! Depths of the sea AND a large statue! I just actually twitched...
Okay I need to stop now. I can't stand this anymore...
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no subject
Date: 2003-09-28 06:55 am (UTC)My GOD, how creepy! Esp. the first one. And the sleeping Buddha. At first glance I didn't even recognize what it is, and then suddenly - there it was.
A statue that scared me recently was the Walking Man in Munich...
It's not nearly as tall as the horror woman, but it's standing in such an unconspicious surrounding... we were driving through a normal street, normal houses, normal trees, and suddenly we're under this HUGE white thing, without any warning. It seemed much bigger to me than on this photo. Though it would be a lot scarier if it looked more human.
no subject
Date: 2003-09-28 04:05 pm (UTC)