(1) Recently I was checking out information about tarantulas on-line, and I came across a 1955 movie titled Tarantula! I had to watch it. (2) The movie is typical of B movies from that period, overly dramatic and ultimately predictable, but it was not as bad as I expected it to be. (3) However, I couldn’t help being distracted by the misinformation about tarantulas. (4) It was misinformation that might feed popular prejudices against them. (5) Since I have two Chilean Rose tarantulas, Santiago and Valparaiso, I’m especially sensitive about these common misconceptions.

(6) The movie is, of course, not about normal-sized tarantulas but one that has been injected with a growth hormone (in the movie they call it an “isotope”) that has made it grow as big and tall as a two-story building. (7) That, however, is not the “misinformation.” (8) It’s a monster movie, so you have to allow for the presence of a monster. (9) Other things bothered me: When the tarantula shows up, it is chasing people down a highway. (10) From what I know about tarantulas, if one ever saw cars speeding down a highway, no matter how big the spider was, it would scurry away. (11) Of course, that wouldn’t make a very good monster movie, but changing the way tarantulas behave to make a scarier movie supports and promotes the misperception that they are aggressive. (12) I couldn’t help mumbling back at the screen, “That’s not what a tarantula would do.” (13) I can accept the change in size because it makes this monster a monster. (14) I cannot accept the change in typical tarantula behavior.

(15) The tarantula also made a roaring or growling noise when it attacked people. (16) As far as I know, the only tarantula that makes any noise at all is the Goliath Bird Eating Tarantula, and it makes a hissing noise by rubbing the hairs on its legs together. (17) This noise is called stridulation, and it is loud enough to hear from 15 feet away. (18) People expect a monster to roar whether it is a giant ape, giant grasshopper, or as in this case, a giant tarantula, so it is understandable that the movie’s director wanted to give people what they expected. (19) Nevertheless, it is still a misrepresentation for a tarantula to roar, and I found myself saying, “That’s not the sound it would make.”

(20) At the end of the film, the monster had to be destroyed. (21) A regular-sized tarantula would be killed if it were dropped from a few yards above the ground. (22) It has a fragile exoskeleton and has to be careful to avoid getting bumped. (23) In the movie, they load up all the dynamite they can find, and as the tarantula chases them down the highway, they try to blow it up. (24) This does not phase the tarantula. (26) I know that zombies and other movie monsters are immune to normal gunfire and explosives, but this was not a zombie tarantula; it was just an extraordinarily large tarantula. (27) Therefore, an extraordinarily large explosion should have been more than enough to kill it.

(28) Explosives, however, are not enough, and finally the Air Force is called in to shoot the spider with rockets and napalm. (29) In a huge explosion resulting in a raging fire that looks like it is an acre in size, the spider is finally killed. (30) Everyone can go back to normal life including the viewers of the film. (31) I realize that most of these viewers are not watching to find out information about tarantulas. (32) Unfortunately, however, viewers will unconsciously be absorbing attitudes about tarantulas as they watch. (33) Tarantulas are not evil. (34) They are not vicious. (35) They are not dangerous. (36) Yet viewers may come away from this movie thinking of tarantulas as dangerous, vicious, and evil. (37) Movies like this lead viewers to accept unsubstantiated and mistaken beliefs. (38) In this case, the movie contributes to the belief that tarantulas (and by extension all spiders) are dangerous and should be killed. (39) Santiago and Valparaiso deserve better.