Hogzilla!

March 19, 2005 4:07 PM

The legend of Hogzilla approaches its dramatic conclusion.
posted by obloquy (12 comments total)

I never saw the big fuss over this. Looking at the snopes picture, it's obviously in the foreground relative to that guy (making it appear bigger), and even if it were right next to him it still only looks to be about as long as he is tall. Yes, it's a big pig either way, but it's definitely not what they reported and not really unusual.
posted by borkingchikapa at 4:18 PM on March 19, 2005

A meal fit for Obélix.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 4:30 PM on March 19, 2005

oops: bugmenot for the last link.
posted by obloquy at 4:50 PM on March 19, 2005

I hadn't heard of this either, but I can't wait to find out the truth!
posted by bendy at 6:37 PM on March 19, 2005

man, all that work to login to the stupid kansas city star website only to find out that i have to watch the national geographic channel sunday?

ugh. feels like i'm in a commercial.
posted by freudianslipper at 7:35 PM on March 19, 2005

This whole thing has gone way too far. In the early 20th century, entranced with new technology suddenly available to the masses, people were taking photos like Hogzilla's: trick photography of giant grapefruits behind horses and buggies, giant lobsters next to fishermen, etc. It's exactly as borkingchikapa says. How did this even rise to the surface of national news? Even the Times reported it without mentioning the likelihood of trick photography -- or pointing out that the dude is blurry while the pig is in sharp focus.

The one pleasure I get from it is this. The liberal elite (and don't carp at the name, I include myself) is saying "for chrissake, it's a faked photo by an ignorant hick. Anyone can see that." Meanwhile, the ignorant hick is saying "Well shee-it; I got on national news with a stupid faked photo and the liberal elite can't stop talking, e-mailing, and watching TV shows about it!" So who's the dumb one here?

Don't throw him in the briar patch.
posted by Miko at 9:03 PM on March 19, 2005

Miko: I think that's one of the reasons I find the Hogzilla phenomenon somewhat compelling.
"Drinking a mixture of Fanta Cherry and Pibb Extreme sodas on his lunch break, Griffin, 32, told the story he has told a thousand times..." What other possible reason is there for printing a sentence like that?

However, I don't believe that Hogzilla is most likely "Faulknerian myth". However, it will be just as easy for Liberal Elitists to ridicule Ignorant Hicks, and vice versa, regardless if he be Myth or Hog. Er, dagnabbit.
posted by obloquy at 10:04 PM on March 19, 2005

The Nation Geographic has a channel now?
posted by TwelveTwo at 1:35 AM on March 20, 2005

Err.. Agh, nevermind.
posted by TwelveTwo at 1:35 AM on March 20, 2005

Indeed, when the National Geographic Society sent a team of scientists to exhume Hogzilla, what they found was not a 12-foot behemoth of a hog, but an animal measuring 7-1/2 feet in length--a hybrid of wild boar and domestic Hampshire pig that the the Atlanta Journal-Constitution described as "large, perhaps even record-setting large, but not hide-the-children-and-get-your-guns large."
posted by ManicExpressive at 10:31 AM on March 20, 2005

/me brings children out of hiding, puts away guns
posted by bendy at 11:46 AM on March 20, 2005

However, it will be just as easy for Liberal Elitists to ridicule Ignorant Hicks, and vice versa, regardless if he be Myth or Hog. Er, dagnabbit.

You're absolutely right. That's why I'm glad to see Mr. Griffin making the most of it.
posted by Miko at 2:15 PM on March 20, 2005