Bigfoot (also known as Sasquatch) is the name given to a cryptid Hominin-like creature that is reported to inhabit forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, luckily where I live. Immediately after the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film, the public went wild. Newspapers were filled with articles and interviews with the two men, and now that there was footage, witnesses were no longer afraid of being called crazy. Dozens of new reports poured into the local Willow and Bluff Creek police stations, and many people began confessing to being part of the hoax, trying to get a share of the money. One man was Bob Heironimus, who confessed to having purchased a gorilla costume, and appearing in the now-famous footage. But after further investigation, his claim, along with all other hoaxers’ was disproved. The buzz and attention surrounding the two men was certainly of envy, and scientists and began making it their mission to disprove the film’s credibility. The footprints casted by Patterson after the film received critiques by disbelievers like Primatologist John Napier who noticed inconsistencies in the height and length of strides taken by the subject, and John Green, who produced a recreation of the film, predicting the creature to be much smaller than Patterson had claimed in a previous interview. Although it seemed that everyone was against the two men, scientist and Bigfoot researcher Grover Krantz discovered the evidence that would prove the film credible. Krantz explained that when a human walks, they must lock their knees, which the creature in the film does not do. Other supporting scientists like Jeff Meldrum have examined the film frame by frame only to discover that the way the subject distributes its weight as well as turns its neck is extremely uncommon for a human. These scientists, along with new eye witness reports, were the foundation for the Bigfoot phenomenon. This evidence turned Bigfoot from a legend to a possible species. The years following the film, Bigfoot became part of an everyday conversation in Bluff Creek, eventually connecting all fifty states in a search for the illusive creature.
Because of the lack of official conclusion on the Patterson-Gimlin film, the public grew more fascinated with the creature. But why does such a creature captivate us humans in such a strong manor? Perhaps it is the connection to our ancestors, the early humans. The more publicity the Patty film received, the more expeditions took place, and the more eye witness evidence surfaced, which started to create an image of the creature, and eerily enough, the description of Bigfoot was similar to that of a human. Theories of Bigfoot being a giant “half ape, half man” became the concrete for
Bigfoot’s exposure in the media, and shortly after the famous Patty film, the well-known drive-in movie “The Legend of Boggy Creek” was released in 1972, based on real reported events happening to a family living in rural Arkansas. The horror film also featured stories from other residents in the area, and recreated the stories reported. The dramatization of the real life events is what seemed to have shocked the public the most, being that the portrayal of the creature was that of all eye witness accounts, a six to ten-foot tall apelike man covered in black hair. But the eeriness of its silhouette in the darkness was perhaps what caused the attention from a younger generation. I believe people like to be scared, and to find out that an ape-like man is walking through your local state park is creepy enough. Then add a terribly scary horror moving that claims to be based on true events. The younger generation became fascinated, and every drive-in viewing was packed. Because of the almost cheesy exaggeration of true events in, “The legend of Boggy Creek”, Bigfoot took a quick turn from a possible scientific discovery, to a tale of a folk monster. Similarly, the media released another movie, mocking the creatures existence in the 1987 “Harry and the Hendersons”. In this comedy, a Bigfoot moved in with a family and learned to blend in with everyday life. The film was so popular, a TV show was shortly produced after.
•Coleman, Loren. Bigfoot!: The True Story of Apes in America. New York: Paraview Pocket, 2003. Print.
•Meldrum, Jeff. Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. New York: Forge, 2006. Print.
•National Geographic Animals 2014 Bigfoot The Definitive Guide Full Documentary. Youtube, n.d. 5 Aug. 2014. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. <http://youtu.be/UyBGsTDMRHw>.
•Roger Patterson Bigfoot Footage. YouTube, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. <http://youtu.be/lOxuRIfFs0w>.