 |
| Figure 1: Chupacabra (Google Images) |
You may or may not have heard of the Chupacabra (Figure 1),
but it actually one of the newest monsters to arrive on the monster mythos
scene. It was first conceived of in
March 1995 when Madelyne Tolentino reporting seeing the creature near her
home in Puerto Rico. Coined the “Chupacabra,”
or literally goat sucker, the creature apparently sucked animals dry of their
blood. The story of the Chupacabra spread quickly across
Latin American countries, transforming within five years to accommodate the
needs of ranchers and farmers who claimed that they had killed Chupacabras that
had attacked their livestock. Although
it has since been revealed that these creatures are actually dogs, coyotes, and raccoons suffering from mange, a parasitic infection, the legend persists, but where did it come from
and why? Those are the questions that
will be focused on in today’s blog post.
The first mention of the Chupacabra was from Puerto Rico in
March 1995. At that time the citizens
were distressed by both natural and social disasters. Hundreds of Puerto Ricans had died as a
result of diseases, a large-scale drought was affecting the agriculture
industry, and Puerto Rico was in the path of a hurricane that meant to
devastate the island further. Puerto
Rico is a territory of the United States, and many Puerto Ricans have never
been happy about that, leading to anti-American sentiments felt at varying
degrees by many Puerto Ricans. It is
these circumstances that provided the ideal conditions for creating the
Chupacabra mythos.
According to interviews conducted by Benjamin Radford many
Puerto Ricans claimed to have seen the Chupacabra, and they all reported
similar depictions of the creature, which matched the one of Madelyne Tolentino,
the first reporter. She claimed that the
Chupacabra was a large creature with long claws, red eyes, leaping legs, and
spikes running down its back. Radford
believes that these depictions are actually the result of Tolentino’s active
imagination as this creature closely resembles the monster in the movie Species, a movie about an alien-human hybrid created by human scientists, that debuted around the same
time as the first sightings.
There are definitely similarities between Tolentino’s
description and the monster in the movie, which also may account for some of
the origin stories of the creature. One
such story claims that the creature was released by extraterrestrials to
terrorize unsuspecting humans. Another
story states that the Chupacabra was an escaped science experiment commissioned
by US forces who had a secret laboratory deep in the Puerto Rican jungles (which matches closely with the plot of the movie). A final story claims that the creature is the
product of the Devil and that all should repent in order to save themselves
from the creature.
While these origin stories do vary they ultimately meet
social and cultural needs of the Puerto Ricans, as well as other cultures that
eventually adopted the myth. For the
conspiracy theorists the Chupacabra supports their beliefs that aliens exist,
as well as supports Radford’s hypothesis that Tolentino was influenced by the
movie Species. The anti-American sentiment felt by Puerto
Ricans could be channeled into this tale, which fostered a negative outlook on the
American control of the island country and blamed them for the creature's creation and release.
Lastly, the link between the Devil and the creature assisted the Church
in converting more people to the faith, while also satisfied present believers’
ideas about the power and influence of the Devil. Overall, the creation of this mythos was to satisfy
the needs of the Puerto Rican people.
This may also in part explain its spread among other Latin
countries. The internet and world wide
broadcasting allowed the story to diffuse quickly among Latino populations
across North, Central, and South American cultures, and the myth morphed
according to the needs of the people. It
was particularly prevalent in the face of unknown and thereby unexplained
phenomenon, such as the loss of livestock.
This trend has existed and continues to occur whenever people are faced
with challenging and unexplained events, so as long as people are stressed new
myths are sure to come.
References
Gabbatiss, J. 2016. “The
Truth About a Strange Blood-sucking Monster.” BBC. http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161109-the-truth-about-a-strange-blood-sucking-monster
Radford, B. 2011. “Tracking
the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore.” University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque.
Radford, B. 2012. “Chupacabra:
Facts About the Mysterious Vampire Beast.”
Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/24036-chupacabra-facts.html
Than, K. 2010. “Chupacabra Science: How Evolution Made a
Mythical Monster.” National
Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101028-chupacabra-evolution-halloween-science-monsters-chupacabras-picture/
31 comments:
I'm not sure why, but when I read about the part about the church using the Chupacabra for converting people to their religion it reminded me of the crusades. I think it's just the fact that people with go through great lengths to either use religion to justify things that are extremely bad, or in this case using a myth or something that is potentially bad to convert people to their religion.
I learned and heard about the Chupacabra on a show called Unsolved Mysteries. Its one of my favorite shows so I think that its interesting that your blog is about it. I think that once a myth or story has spread and more people know and start to believe in it then it becomes true to most and a myth to some. You dont know what to believe or know what is true anymore.
Akwila Cooks
This is an interesting article because some of the things we learn in Anthropology I never thought about before class. Reading and learning about the Chupacabra makes me think about other "monsters" and are they real.
This was a very interesting article. I did not know how they had something like that in their culture that exist and stands for the devil. I guess different country and culture really do have different beliefs.
This is interesting if the story was to be true ill believe that it was an escaped science experience from the US Force .If this is true then monsters may be real I didn't know the Chupacabra was a thing I never heard of it.
There has been no actual evidence of this creature attacking people or animals no photographic proof or video so these people are still allowing themselves to be tricked blindly by something that doesn't exist.
Ashlee, just to clarify the chupacabra is not real. None of the evidence of such a creature existing has actually demonstrated its existence, and it has all been proven to be something else, such as hairless dogs. This post shows you how myths change to meet the values of any society/culture, as this myth has transformed as it spread to other cultures. :)
Tiffany Creer
This is interesting to read. I grew up in Los angeles, California with a lot of Hispanic friends that used to tell me about the Chupacabra. For the longest time i believed it was real until i actually looked it up for myself.This is for sure a cultural myth that has lasted a long time.
This was very interesting because I've always heard of the Chupacabra and I've seen it on TV shows, but I never actually knew what it was referring too. This was a good topic.
I think that it was a good idea for the congregation to utilizing the Chupacabra for changing over individuals to their religion it
I have heard of the dreaded Chupacabra before in my younger years. Although, I never knew that the stories began to surface in 1995 which is just a few years before I was born in 1998. I previously assumed that all sightings and stories where much older than this.
I think that this is interesting to hear about an animal who sucks others dry from blood. I've never heard about this until now. Reading that it is first heard in 1995 makes me think of it as it should be in a old horror movie.
Kenneth Granger
This post makes me believe that different cultures can come up with different theories to bring attention to different situations in their culture.
It is interesting to see all the cryptozoology animals that are different all over different regions and cultures. As in the Ozarks, where I grew up, the ozark howler is a common creature that is discussed as our own monster.
I never heard of this creature until now it may be true that they sucked the animals dry but I think this is myth because I never heard of it in history class etc, but then again you never know
phinasia butler
ive never been interested in mythical creattures and/or legends. i know that they all are not real. but this is something that if was to really be real life would be a weird site to see. considering that the creature may be harming others.
I have never heard of this creature until reading this blog and it was very interesting learning how people view these myths. Over time myths start to change because the more people who have an input can change the story up to be something bigger than it was.
I have heard tales about the Chupacabra but that's one myth that I didn't believe in especially because it has never been documented as an actual siting. But I did find that this blog was interesting because the Chupacabra was created in the same year I was born. That's something that I didn't know I thought it was a really old myth because I heard about it growing up.
-Kaleshia Gibson
It is interesting how movies may depict ones imagination and what they may think they may have saw. One can also dream about something and believe it was a real siting. Such as if somebody dreamed that the chupacabra was sucking the blood of her goat and she found her goat dead the next day, they may have a strong belief that this situation actually happened. The imagination can be very wide and broad, anything is possible to imagine, especially if the person is in certain mind states.
Although I have never heard of the Chupacabra this was a very interesting article. The power behind a myth is strong because some can believe it is true. Myth can become a reality for some people and a myth can stay a myth for some people.
Anthony Townsend
Your statement about the link between the Devil and the creature assisted the Church in converting more people to the faith made me think about how a lot of religions use these mythical creatures in order to persuade people to have a better relationship with whatever God they believe in. Those people who just see things as a myth and nothing more don't let anyone influence how they go about what they believe in while those who may believe it is true have many influences and use it to gain a better relationship with their God.
-Apreshana Page
I have always heard about chupacabra but never knew what it was. This article surprised me to know that it was all just made up to blame Americans. I cannot believe a myth took that much power over a community to change their beliefs. A myth should only be a myth but some people take it to new heights.
I understand that people have ways to cope with certain things that happen in their life. I have never heard of Chupacabra but I would assume what was really killing their livestock would be coyotes or some small predator. Either way interesting post.
-Logan Shea
This is interesting considering that we hear about different kind of monsters growing up but as we get older you wouldnt think that they were true,...there arent any real ones are they?
I've never heard of this myth until now. I don't understand how could people believe these myths. I guess some fall into it deeper than others
I had read this article, where it talks about how watching, hearing, or seeing certain things, sometimes comes back unconscious and alters the way we view things in the conscious. More than anything this monster could have just been a way that people deal with their feelings about the government.
A Chupacabra is not something I have ever heard of. It definitely does not seem like a pleasant creature at all. It sounds like it would be an old myth from back before my time (1993), but with it originating in 1995 I think that’s pretty neat. This blog was very informative on the topic, and reading the replies on this blog I was informed there is an episode of unso;bed mysteries on this creature that I definitely want to watch! Great blog and replies!
Kahla Perry
My name is Tonii Saffore. I remember watching the cartoon American Dragon and they were talking about the Chupacabra and the boy Jake called it a ugly dog. This kind of made me laugh thinking about it because according to the post it was a dog suffering from a disease. I also didn't know that this had anything to do with religious beliefs with I found interesting.
Hi my name is Avery Davis,and I think this blog is so interesting. i like this blog for the Chupcabra has been told to me before. I was 6 when I heard about that myth. They only told me the story to scar me.
I have never heard of this creature until reading this blog and it was very interesting. I use to hear a lot about big foot and over time the story always changes, so i can only imagine how much this story had changed over time
-Kyla Thomas
I had only heard of the chupacabra as a way to scare children into behaving. It was interesting to learn that some believe that you should repent to the devil in order to save yourself from them.
Elaine christopher
Post a Comment