From: "Mike Brose" <Mike-AT-puppetsandprops.com>
To: <puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org>
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 09:15:45 -0600
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Creepy puppets in culture


I think Fred hit the proverbial 'head on the nail'. Myself being one who
grew up with Bergen, Jimmy Nelson, and Winchell *and* one who builds
ventriloquist figures, I have always been comfortable with this style of
puppets. I loved these vent figures growing up. That's why I learned
everything I could about building them, starting at about 11 years old until
now. 

I performed with ventriloquist dummies, showed others the figures I owned on
a regular basis way back then. I don't recall anyone getting creeped out by
vent figures in those early days. As Hollywood started focusing more and
more on making dummies do creepy things, and trying purposely to scare
audiences with them, that's when I noticed a shift in some people's
reactions to them. I think exposure to these, has had a large bearing on the
current situation. A lot of kids growing up that would NOT have been
frightened of dummies, were now quite afraid of them.

As further proof of this (that a lot of this is induced through movies and
such), a good friend (whom I do a lot of custom and repair work for), a
ventriloquist performer in New York, does a ton of children's shows each
year. These kids are too young to have seen the creepy dummy movies and
such, and so are not conditioned to have such a phobia yet. This gentleman
uses the classic hard figures (which would be the type that those with the
phobias would run away from), and the kids have no problems, and just love
the performances and the figures. Some kids even request to give the figures
a hug!

And, unfortunately, some who have become phobic about vent figures, have
also become phobic about other types of puppets as well. Yes, I think there
are some that would have these kinds of phobias anyway, but I think the
numbers would not be nearly as high, without the negative conditioning of
people's psyches over several decades. People can become afraid of a lot of
things if properly (or is it improperly?) conditioned! 

Cheers,

Mike Brose
http://www.puppetsandprops.com/home.html

> -----Original Message-----
> From: puptcrit-bounces-AT-lists.driftline.org [mailto:puptcrit-
> bounces-AT-lists.driftline.org] On Behalf Of Fred Greenspan
> Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 3:40 PM
> To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Creepy puppets in culture
> 
> Some time back someone on the WorldVents list postulated that the
> generations who grew up with Edger Bergen and later Paul Winchell were
> not as likely to suffer from dummy phobia as those who came later and
> only had Twilight Zone, Chucky, and other dummy horror movies to
> reference their reactions to.  What about that Puppet Master series?
> Just a thought.
> 
> Fred Greenspan - Traditional Puppeteer
> Ossining, New York
> http://www.traditionalpuppetry.com


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