Painting by Artist Bethany Marchman.I have an unusual and perhaps irrational fear of rabbits. They scare me shitless. I cringe at just the thought of them and I have no desire in psychoanalysing my mating habits (or lack thereof) to get to the bottom of this. I've always thought that it was a quirky disposition, much like the fear of clowns. Admittedly, a clown is significantly scarier than a rabbit for the obvious reason of it being a human covered in sinister, primary coloured makeup which forces a smile at all times. (Speaking of a forced smile, Heath Ledger did a fantastic job of the Joker in "The Dark Knight". Absolutely brilliant; totally swamped Christian Bale's performance as Batman. I'm a Tim Burton chick when it comes to the Batman movies but the latest Joker was just perfect, no disrespect to the original Jack Nicholson of course. But damn was Heath Ledger good).
A clown is repression personified at it's most colourful. A rabbit, on the other hand, is a furry little animal that's deemed "cute" by most. But some of those fuckers have red eyes. And they multiply rapidly. In fact, they do everything rapidly: Chew, skip, hop, breathe. They're like those creatures in Francis Lawrence's interpretation of "I am Legend": Agitated, frenzied and soulless.
This fear became blatantly apparent when I began to feel physically ill at the thought of going to Le Pasha boat in Zamalek for dinner. For some absurd reason there happens to be an enclosed area with almost a hundred rabbits (& counting) frantically chewing away at cucumbers and carrots. Why on earth is that, I ask? Are they trying to give me a stroke? Is it even hygienic? Screw hygiene, what's the idea behind it? There's nothing rabbit related anywhere near the boat so why have these gnawing, slithery creatures at the entrance of a complex full of restaurants, upon both entering and exiting I get sick to my stomach? Why?
Staying true to my contradicting self, and despite having realized that my fear has almost become a socially limiting characteristic (I'm beginning to doubt my love for both L'Asiatique and the friends who suggest dining there), I'm very much intrigued by people, artists in particular, who find rabbits as freaky as I do. There is something sinister & grotesque about them (See: Donnie Darko) and artists have always been intrigued by the grotesque. I personally love the Grotesque, written an entire 8000 word chapter on the Grotesque in my MA thesis & will continue to point out its existence every chance I get, but I will never like a rabbit. I will never digest them as a concept, never mind with Molokhiya, and I will forever respect those who find them as awful and creepy as I do.
