Friday, December 21, 2007

Editorial: Monsterquest: Good or Bad For Cryptozoology Studies?

So far, for 8 episodes, the White Wolf Entertainment Productions series Monsterquest has presented 8 different cryptids for examination, starting with America's Loch Ness Monster, also known as Champ, the Lake Champlain Monster, and examining Sasquatch, Thunderbirds, Giant Squid, Bigfoot, Mutant Canines, Melanistic Lions and Giant Fish in subsequent weeks. There was DNA found in the Sasquatch episode which seemed promising but was ultimately deemed too old and too corrupted to be of any value. Certainly the whole series has been I would say a help to Cryptozoological studies even if it seems in some cases "staged" or too much like reality TV. Some researchers have bemoaned the seemingly staged and in their opinion phony nature of some of the episodes, but these opinions seem to be based only on observation of the show as they watch it on TV, not behind the scenes experience, such as what some individuals who participated more particularly in the Sasquatch Attack and Bigfoot episodes experienced, and they have not reported any staging or phoniness going on when they were filming. So it seems to me that a lot of negative opinions on the show are based on outsider experience and not any actual one-on-one experience. I personally think the show is well done and is very helpful to the studies of Cryptozoology, and it is good to see a weekly Cryptozoology series which even if it finds nothing, it at least advances the studies of cryptids for the general public who may not know that much about it. In that, it is refreshing to see a serious cryptozoology program which does not make the public feel like idiots. So, I would say that Monsterquest is good for Cryptozoology studies.

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