Sunday, October 03, 2010
It's kinda funny how Peter will say something that so closely ties into something that's been on my mind. Last week he told me that he wanted to make a film about spiders, Black Widows to be precise. He has this weird fear that a Black Widow is hiding under the toilet seat, just waiting for him to sit down. He goes so far as to lift the toilet seat and do a visual inspection every time he uses the restroom. Of course this phobia has spread to other areas of his life as well; shaking out towels before use, banging shoes together and of course the Maria Von Trapp nightly bed check. Peter wants to make his "Jaws" by exorcising his fear of Black Widows, while at the same time imposing that fear upon the viewer.
This whole story ties into something that has interested me for quite some time: There have been recent advancements in the study of spider ingestion over the past 3 or 4 years. You've probably heard the numbers, on average each American swallows 12 spiders in their sleep per year. That's one of those statistics that most people believe is just an urban myth. Of course we tell ourselves that, otherwise we'd be a nation of insomniacs. I bring this up because just last Thursday I woke up in the morning with that dry, gritty sensation in my mouth. Sure enough, I Googled the symptoms and it means I not only swallowed, but obviously chewed on a spider while I slept (most likely a Western Wolf spider based on the tangy aftertaste). The recent studies conducted by some very prestigious universities have sought to explain why spiders are eaten in such high quantities. The first conclusion these studies reached is that in all reality 12 spiders per person per year isn't really a whole lot. Considering that there are approximately 17,373 spiders (of every species) per person on the planet, you'd almost expect the ingestion numbers to be higher. At the same time, people don't swallow many Ladybugs, Inchworms or Dragonflies either, so why spiders? The answer is actually much more obvious than you might have expected. The self-image of the spider has been eroded considerably by popular American culture. The result is that the instances of Acute Depression in spiders has been rising exponentially since the late 1950s. Spiders are actually throwing themselves into our throats, taking "the easy way out". I know what you're thinking; "this is horrible, but what can I do?" The truth is that there is no one solution, no silver bullet to this problem. Some people think that making comments like, "don't kill spiders, they eat a lot of bugs" is enough. But that's like saying "don't make fun of Italians, they make good sauce". Spiders don't want to be judged on what they can do, rather they want to be appreciated for who they are. So the next time you wake up in the middle of the night and you see an eight-legged friend dangling inches above your mouth, whisper some words of encouragement, and talk that little guy down.
