“The human element, the human flaw and the human nobility- those are the reasons chess matches are won and lost.” Even though this quote by chess master Viktor Korchnoi, it can also be related to life. Human flaws are the reason you succeed and fail. The short film Monsters are on Maple Street, directed by Debbie Allen, is about an experiment on a neighborhood that goes horribly wrong. This experiment tested how long humans could sustain themselves in an event that they become isolated. The Monsters are on Maple Street examines the existence of human flaws, and how these flaws will determine the outcome of certain situations. These flaws include suspicion and aggressiveness.
The first human flaw that pulls the neighborhood apart is suspicion. One of the neighborhood residents, Phyllis, is telling a long story about her military husband in a neighborhood watch meeting, when the group’s power in the house suddenly goes out. Their phones are ringing out of control, shut off, and a large earthquake of sorts breaks the window. The group suspects terrorists did the damage, and their point is further backed when Phyllis chimes in. Phyllis states, “Frank called me this week to warn me. He said we went on orange alert two days ago...He says there's been chatter on the terrorist networks. He says we have to be watchful.” Phyllis is paranoid and suspicious that the terrorists are the cause of everything. This trait makes other people worry and wonder about the possibilities of what could happen. Once humans start overthinking, this causes them to do things they wouldn't normally do. Next, the residents become suspicious about their new neighbors. They start to suspect the neighbors being the cause of everything because during this whole catastrophe, they never came outside to see what was going on. One of the residents, Dylan, and a cop that lives …show more content…
In one of the sciences, Dylan is punched by Will when he accuses terrorists to be in the neighborhood. Dylan falls to the ground and while on the ground, breaks a beer bottle and attacks Will with it. Will dodges the hit with the beer bottle and punches Dylan again. The two men fighting each other is clearly aggressiveness. As a whole, the group turns on each other, and starts to turn on Will. Next, Dylan pulls a gun on Will, accusing Will of working with the terrorists. Will tries to convince the group that he is not the terrorist, but Dylan is the one they should be afraid of. Dylan puts down his gun after threatening to shoot Will. Again, this is clearly aggressiveness. Threatening to shoot somebody shows how frustrated and scared someone is, which is why Dylan did what he did and brought his gun out. This scene is one of the last scenes leading up to the whole neighborhood to turn on the neighbors and resort to violence. In the final scene, the neighborhood turn on the new neighbors completely. After Dylan finds a spy camera on his house and another man finds a recording device, Dylan decides to take action. All of the residents of Maple Street, except Will, come with torches and fire starters and light the new neighbor’s house on fire. The residents acted without knowing the full story. This was pure violence. The full story was that they were setup. The military was
The first human flaw that pulls the neighborhood apart is suspicion. One of the neighborhood residents, Phyllis, is telling a long story about her military husband in a neighborhood watch meeting, when the group’s power in the house suddenly goes out. Their phones are ringing out of control, shut off, and a large earthquake of sorts breaks the window. The group suspects terrorists did the damage, and their point is further backed when Phyllis chimes in. Phyllis states, “Frank called me this week to warn me. He said we went on orange alert two days ago...He says there's been chatter on the terrorist networks. He says we have to be watchful.” Phyllis is paranoid and suspicious that the terrorists are the cause of everything. This trait makes other people worry and wonder about the possibilities of what could happen. Once humans start overthinking, this causes them to do things they wouldn't normally do. Next, the residents become suspicious about their new neighbors. They start to suspect the neighbors being the cause of everything because during this whole catastrophe, they never came outside to see what was going on. One of the residents, Dylan, and a cop that lives …show more content…
In one of the sciences, Dylan is punched by Will when he accuses terrorists to be in the neighborhood. Dylan falls to the ground and while on the ground, breaks a beer bottle and attacks Will with it. Will dodges the hit with the beer bottle and punches Dylan again. The two men fighting each other is clearly aggressiveness. As a whole, the group turns on each other, and starts to turn on Will. Next, Dylan pulls a gun on Will, accusing Will of working with the terrorists. Will tries to convince the group that he is not the terrorist, but Dylan is the one they should be afraid of. Dylan puts down his gun after threatening to shoot Will. Again, this is clearly aggressiveness. Threatening to shoot somebody shows how frustrated and scared someone is, which is why Dylan did what he did and brought his gun out. This scene is one of the last scenes leading up to the whole neighborhood to turn on the neighbors and resort to violence. In the final scene, the neighborhood turn on the new neighbors completely. After Dylan finds a spy camera on his house and another man finds a recording device, Dylan decides to take action. All of the residents of Maple Street, except Will, come with torches and fire starters and light the new neighbor’s house on fire. The residents acted without knowing the full story. This was pure violence. The full story was that they were setup. The military was