Cannibalism in popular culture

Cannibalism in popular culture is a recurring theme, especially within the horror genre, and has featured in a range of media that includes film, television, literature, music and video games. Examples of prominent artists who have worked with the topic of cannibalism include Ruggero Deodato, Bret Easton Ellis, and Herschell Gordon Lewis.

In literature, film and television

As a cultural norm

Main article: Cannibal film

Many works in popular culture depict groups of people for whom cannibalism is a cultural norm.

Film

Many horror films, known as cannibal films, have exploited the theme of cannibal tribes. This subgenre experienced a period of popularity through the work of Italian filmmakers in the 1970s and 1980s. These films commonly concern the discovery of cannibalistic tribes by documentary filmmakers or anthropologists. The first major film of this type was Umberto Lenzi's Il Paese del Sesso Selvaggio ("The Man from the Deep River", 1972). Later filmmakers followed, and the genre reached its peak in the cannibal boom of 1977 to 1981. The best known of these films was Ruggero Deodato's influential Cannibal Holocaust (1980). Considered one of history's most gruesome movies, Cannibal Holocaust was commonly believed to be a snuff film, and Deodato was brought to trial on suspicion of having killed his actors.[1] Other genre films include Ultimo mondo cannibale (1977)[2] and Cannibal Ferox (1981).

Later horror films to feature cannibal groups include The Hills Have Eyes series, with its clan of cannibalistic savages, and the cannibalistic mountain men of Wrong Turn and its sequels. The film Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês (How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman, 1971), by Nelson Pereira dos Santos, details the alleged cannibalistic practices of the indigenous Tupinamba warrior tribe against French and Portuguese colonizers in the 16th century.

Literature

Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth fantasy series features the Mud People, a wild tribe which consumes the dried meat of their enemies before important events and rituals, believing it a way of gaining the enemies' wisdom. The Mud People were known to sometimes receive visions about the intentions of the victims and their people, and Richard himself received such a vision during one of the times he had to eat human flesh in order to participate in such an event. Kahlan, aware of that custom, pretended to be a vegetarian whenever visiting the tribe.

In Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), some human culture is transformed as a result of the Martians' practice of eating one's dead friends as an act of great respect.

Herman Melville's Typee is a 19th-century literary example; Typee is a semi-factual account of Melville's voyage to the Pacific Island of Nuku Hiva, where he lived for several weeks among the island's cannibal inhabitants before fleeing.

Anne Rice's novel The Queen of the Damned references an ancient culture who practiced necro-cannibalism, as they believed that consumption of their loved ones' remains was a more fitting funeral rite than burial or cremation.

In Tennessee Williams' 1957 play and its subsequent film version, Suddenly, Last Summer, the fate of the deceased son of Mrs. Venable is revealed to have been death at the hands of natives who then ate his remains.

The Transmetropolitan comic book series includes cultural cannibalism in its setting, where many bizarre and outlandish lifestyles are now common. Most notable is the fast-food chain "Long Pig", which serves the meat of braindead clones who are grown without a brain and thus are never "alive" as such.

In The Cannibal Within, by Mark Mirabello, "Ingestion is the ultimate act of domination.... The victim is absorbed by the eater--body and soul are absorbed--and all that remains is excrement."

Video games

Aboleths in the Forgotten Realms setting of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game consume their parents on birth, and in so doing receive their parents' memories.

The Fallout series of video games, set in a post-apocalyptic America, has recurring themes of cannibalism. The most commonly seen ones are the Raiders, clans of savage killers living in the wasteland who habitually eat their victims flesh, which can be gained as an item called Strange Meat. Fallout 3 also has the community of Andale, a two-family clan emulating the faux-1950's culture of pre-war society, while simultaneously practicing both inbreeding and cannibalism, similar to the notorious Sawney Bean legend. Fallout: New Vegas has another notable example in the White Glove Society, an upper class aristocratic group based out of the luxurious Ultra-Luxe casino in Las Vegas, who are in reality the descendants of a cannibal tribe that once inhabited the ruins of Vegas before it was restored by Mr House. One of their chairmen is intending to return the group to its roots by serving the members human flesh without their knowledge, with the player having the choice of either helping or stopping him. In Fallout 4, players can choose the 'Cannibalism' perk that allows them to eat corpses in order to heal some health.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, features a quest in which the dragonborn (player) discovers a clan of worshipers of the daedric prince, Namira, who consume the flesh of corpses found in the catacombs underneath Markarth. Players can then choose to either partake in the cannibalism, or put an end to it. Partaking will involve the player unlocking a ring that allows them to consume any humanoid corpse they find in order to recover some health.

The Last of Us features a group of cannibalistic survivors who kidnap Ellie during a winter snowstorm.

As a means of survival

Cannibalism historically has been practiced as a last resort by famine sufferers, and popular culture has portrayed true stories of such acts of cannibalism. Examples include:

Similar stories that have provided inspiration for popular culture adaptations are the accounts of Alferd Packer and of the Donner Party, both of which involved people who ate human flesh in order to survive snowbound entrapment in the mountains.

The 1956 song 'Stranded In The Jungle' recorded by both The Cadets and The Jayhawks, is about a survivor of a plane crash in the jungle who wants desperately to find a way back to the states and his gal who 'no doubt' has been running around on him. After somehow climbing out of the wreckage of the plane, he awakes to 'smell something cooking' only to find that he was simmering in a gigantic pot. 'I awoke with cookin' gear only to find out that they was a-cookin' ME. Great agogogogoo, let me outa here!' Several works are based on the real-life cannibal convict Alexander Pearce:

Post-apocalyptic narratives have also featured cannibalism as a means of survival.

Unaware cannibals

Popular culture depictions of cannibalism sometimes involve people who are unaware of their act and have been served human flesh by a murderous host.

Cannibalism has also been shown as sensual

As an accompaniment to killing

Some artistic and entertainment works are influenced by the morbid fascination surrounding real-life cases of cannibal murderers.

The Armin Meiwes cannibalism case in Germany inspired many feature films. For example: *Rohtenburg (2007) tells of an American criminal psychology student who studies cannibal killer Oliver Hartwin for her thesis. Hartwin fulfills his dream of eating a willing victim found on the Internet, and is modelled on Meiwes, whose complaints that his personal rights were violated led to a ban on the film in Germany.[8]

Many heavy metal, death metal and grindcore bands and horrorcore rappers discuss cannibalism in their songs or depict it in the cover art of their albums, because of the act's taboo nature. A number of bands and works were inspired by the Meiwes case, such as:

A number of significant works were based on the activities of Ed Gein, who served as inspiration for the characters:

A notable cannibalistic serial killer from fiction is Hannibal Lecter, a character created by author Thomas Harris. Lecter appears in the novels: Red Dragon (1981), The Silence of the Lambs (1988), Hannibal (1999) and Hannibal Rising (2006). Lecter was a background character in Red Dragon, and his cannibalism was not a plot point. Public fascination with the character led Harris to feature him in the sequel The Silence of the Lambs, where his cannibalism became a central feature of his character. The film based on the novel won several major Academy Awards, which rarely are awarded to horror films.

In science fiction

Works of science fiction sometimes include elements of cannibalism that serve purposes different from those already discussed.

See also

References

  1. Steve Rose (15 September 2011). "Cannibal Holocaust: 'Keep filming! Kill more people!'" (Article). 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  2. Shipka, D (2011). Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960 – 1980. p.318
  3. Josh Clark. "Survival Cannibalism". How Cannibalism Works. HowStuffWorks, Inc. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  4. Meredith Woerner (2 December 2009). "Why The Road’s Baby Scene Was Cut, And Why Its First Trailer Sucked" (Interview). Interview with director John Hillcoat. http://io9.com. Retrieved 29 April 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  5. Delgado-Librero, Maria Celeste (2010). The mirror of Jaume Roig : an edition and an English translation of Ms. Vat. Lat. 4806. Tempe, Ariz.: ACMRS (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies). ISBN 978-0866983983.
  6. ANDREW O'HEHIR (7 March 2002). "Trouble Every Day". Salon. Salon Media Group, Inc. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  7. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4235494/
  8. Landler, Mark (2006-03-04). "Cannibal wins ban of film in Germany". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  9. Cannibalism in popular culture at the Internet Movie Database
  10. "Shock'n'roll circus". The Times. 2005-01-29. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  11. "German cannibal inspires hard rockers Rammstein to new hit". 2004-08-24. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  12. Alon Miasnikov (17 September 2004). "Interview with: Bloodbath's Jonas Renske.". alternative-zine.com. alternative-zine.com. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  13. Dan Epstein. Feeding Frenzy, Revolver, reported by The Heirophant May 2007. Last accessed March 23, 2007.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.