Goldenwolf wrote:This is not a Furry thing, nor is it about being a "Wolfaboo", this is about wanting something that returns us to the awe we should have for the world, for the magical, for the mysterious in life that leaves us tingling but a little bit terrified, for something that makes us long even harder for that which we cannot have, or be.
I can't say I think the werewolf is something that should be romanticized, but I will say this: For something to have earned the name "werewolf," it had to appear in such a way that immediately made all who saw it think "half man, half wolf." And not "half man, half rat" or "hairy slobbering gorilla-man."
I was expecting to go into this thread and say "A werewolf wouldn't be beautiful because s/he spends most of his time in human form (or at least they should), so the more time was spent on grooming while shifted, the more cause for concern it would raise among the rest of the pack." But I do believe in a "beautiful werewolf" in the sense of one looking like a seamless blending of man and wolf.
I agree absolutely about the mysterious, but I think the magical is part of the problem. Hollywood doesn't see the werewolf as anything more than a hokey relic from the Bella Lugosi era, so they refuse to take it seriously.
I think there's also been too much focus on answers, not just with werewolves, but with Hollywood monsters as a whole. Everybody feels compelled to try to explain it; to try to make everything sound sciency so they can try to look like they put some actual thought into these things, though doing so more often than not leads to the opposite effect.
So I say embrace the mystery before the magic. Magic can lead to the same lazy cop-out feeling that fake science can lead to, so I think the best thing one could do with the werewolf is create a pattern that seems to follow a logical behavioral pattern but that still defies conventional wisdom; something that seems ob the verge between the natural and supernatural, and to constantly tease with the possibility of both but never outright confirm either as being the case.