We sweat the small stuff.
We get bogged down in minor trivialities and teeny-tiny insignificances.
By re-adjusting the scales, messing with proportional ratios and shifting paradigms, perspective is wholly altered.
(And I really do feel it.
The ground is shaking and violent ripples keep on appearing in the glass of water on my desk.)
(And the big screen is obviously an appropriate format in which to appreciate such almighty entities.)
Roam awhile through the mythology of elder religions and youll eventually encounter an epic, oversized abomination.
Think the Nephilim, the Behemoth and the Leviathan of Judeo-Christian scripture.
See also the Titans, the Cyclops and sea monsters like Scylla and Charybdis that frequent Greek myth.
In Swifts classic satire, the titular Lemuel Gulliver personally experiences giganticism from both sides of the size divide.
The satirist also uses the Brobdingnagians to take shots at his own society and slap down self-important humanity.
More than just entertaining large-scale spectacles, monster movies and giant-starring films serve deeper purposes.
A very humbling experience awaits those who sit down to enjoy colossal creature features.
Thats a massive perspective shift a positive outcome from eschatological events instigated by threatening immense entities.
We are too small on our own to effectively handle the indomitable and overwhelming cosmos.
Guillermo del Toros macrocosmic sci-fi fantasy sums up it best, I feel.
Thus, we achieve cosmic harmony and enjoy some highly entertaining spectacles while were at it.
You canread James last column here.
