As we see time and time and time and again, people are weird. Really weird.
And some people are really, really weird. Like really.
Really.
Case in point, the fellow in Japan who has dreamed, from the time he was a little boy, of being an animal.
The man was delighted when he finally got to wear the gray and white costume modelled on a timber wolf and created by Zeppet Workshop, which cost three million yen (£18,600). (Source: Telegraph-UK)
In case you're wondering, that's about $23K.
The costume is a full body suit, covering the man from head to toe.
He said: "At the final fitting, I was amazed at my transformed self in the mirror.
"My order to look like a real wolf walking on hind legs was difficult to say the least but the complete suit looked exactly like what I imagined."
I wish there'd been more info on exactly what this fellow had in mind in terms of always wanting to be an animal.
Once he dons the suit, does he really feel something other than human?
Sure, people may react to him differently than they do when he's walking around in standard issue clothing (e.g., a salary-man business suit) or even in his birthday suit. I can imagine that if he's loping along, even if it's not exactly at the same speed as a real wolf-in-the wild, and someone spots him, there's a bit of a fear factor reaction.
Does this make the wolfman feel powerful?
Wolves are carnivores. Does wolfman hunt for meat? Is he quick and savvy enough to catch a mouse? A rabbit? A deer?
And do wolves stand on their hind legs? Or, by standing, is this guy just waltzing around in a really expensive cos-play costume.
Just what does on in this guy's mind?
Is he just a variant on a furry - someone who's interested (sometimes fetishistically) in anthropomorphic animal characters? Or something else?
I'm all for anthropomorphisizing animals. Who among us who's ever known an animal up close and personal hasn't imposed at least a tiny bit of humanity on them?
But I draw the line at pretending to be Daisy Duck or Petunia Pig or RinTinTin.
Maybe an animal who's closer to us DNA-wise. Like bonobos.
Long story. I've made the acquaintance of a few bonobos - a.k.a. pygmy chimpanzees - in my time. And during that time, I did occasionally ask myself what might be going on in their minds. (Bonobos have nearly 99% of their DNA in common with ours. Wolves share about 84%. Petunia Pig, as a cartoon animal, shares approximately 0%, as she has no DNA to share.)
But perhaps because I'm singularly lacking in imagination, it never occurred to me to wonder what it's like to actually be one.
Some things I just don't get.
Anyway, Zeppet Workshop is a Japanese company that actually doesn't specialize in costumes for really weird people.
But Zeppet was happy to help the would-be wolfman out. And he's happy as a pig in shit, to borrow another image from the animal kingdom.
When he put on his costume:
"It was a kind of excitement I have not felt for a long time."
This figures. After all, when I first read this story, I asked myself whether this guy is someone whose girlfriend is an anime pillow that goes everywhere with him. And wondered whether he was going to get a wolf suit for his anime pillow GF, too. (Interesting, my brother-in-law had the same reaction.)
For wolfman, this dream was a wish his heart made years ago. And:
"Thanks to the studio, one of my childhood dreams has come true."
Hmmm. Wonder what other dreams Howlin' Wolf has had.
On second thought, I'd put those dreams on a 'need to know' basis. And I don't need to know.
So I do have one question: is it werewolf or weirdwolf?
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A shout out - make that a howl - goes to my sister Kath, who spotted this article and sent it my way. Awoo!
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