This term is also from Garrad's chapter on animals. Theriophobia is derived from the Greek prefix therio- [(wild)animals] and the term phobos [fear] and accordingly refers to an excessive fear of wild animals. Garrad discusses how Hollywood used to exploit and reinforce this particular fear in their 80s movies, such as the Jaws-series. Here, animals serve as the antagonists, the evil, that has to be slain by the human heroes.
Written by Christopher O'Sullivan
So, I am curious how this particular term might be helpful to our class discussions. I'm not saying it couldn't be. I'm just interested in your sense of its importance to our subject material.
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