Polls continually show the public no longer has trust in the mainstream media. Could it be stories like these that nauseate us? “Cannibalism has a time and a place,” the New York Times wrote on Saturday. “Some recent books, films and shows suggest that the time is now. Can you stomach it?”
I mean, seriously? This is the dreck published by one of the most historically important newspapers in the country? Granted, that train left the station a long time ago, but still. It gets even more disturbing after that. “A spate of recent stomach-churning books, TV shows and films suggests we’ve never looked so delicious — to one another,” they report breathlessly.
What absolute trash.
Cannibalism has a time and a place. Some recent books, films and shows suggest that the time is now. Can you stomach it? https://t.co/JzU1QRPYxV
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 23, 2022
Here’s one example of the fine prose in the article:
Still to come is “Bones and All,” starring Timothée Chalamet. The movie, about a young love that becomes a lust for human consumption, is expected to be released later this year or early next. Its director, Luca Guadagnino, has called the story “extremely romantic.”
Sounds right up there with Romeo and Juliet. Stephen King had fun with the creepy article, tweeting, “I’m thinking of a cannibalism rom-com called WHEN HARRY ATE SALLY.”
Good one, but could there be something more sinister going on here? What on earth would make you write a line like, “turns out, cannibalism has a time and a place?” Writer Summers is the author of “A Certain Hunger,” a book about a “restaurant critic with a taste for flesh.” The Times piece included the strange tidbit that her dog was vomiting in the background during their interview with her. What did she feed it, I wonder? She thinks it’s all about capitalism:
More generally, Ms. Summers thinks that the recent spate of cannibalistic plots could also be commentaries on capitalism. “Cannibalism is about consumption and it’s about burning up from the inside in order to exist,” she said. “Burnout is essentially over-consuming yourself, your own energy, your own will to survive, your sleep schedule, your eating schedule, your body.”
The Times isn’t the only newspaper printing strange and macabre stories this summer—when they’d be perhaps better suited for Halloween. And it’s not just figurative cannibalism that’s being pitched:
A vegan burger made to taste like HUMAN MEAT received an AWARD in Cannes.
This is not a joke.
The fake meat industry is now normalising the taste of human flesh, while telling you to stop eating beef.
See how these parasites mock you. pic.twitter.com/VNyAZMo5f7
— Maajid أبو عمّار (@MaajidNawaz) June 30, 2022
Not to be outdone in the gross-out stakes, the Wall Street Journal weighed in with its own piece last week about the fun you can have building your very own coffin:
Looking for a DIY project? Try making your own coffin. “We just had so much fun.” https://t.co/HUO65M0RAI
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 25, 2022
Think I’m going to paint the door instead.
I’m not such a prude that I haven’t sat through the occasional horror movie where some creeps in the woods eat lost backpackers. There are also some very good books that explore the dark side of survival, most notably the 1975 book “Alive” and the 1993 movie of the same name that followed the struggles of an Uruguayan rugby team that crashed into the snow-covered Andes. It’s a gripping, though troubling, read.
What bothers me about the NY Times cannibalism piece is more the unbridled joy they take in the subject and the unspoken but apparent way they actually promote the practice. With lines like “we’ve never looked so delicious—to one another,” it seems like the author is gleefully awaiting the opportunity to give it a try. The writer seems like just the customer for the vegan burger that tastes like flesh.
As for the Wall Street Journal article on coffins? I will use it to train my next puppy.