Many media today use unique ways of showing feelings and themes. One particular theme, however, is love. Love is described as “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties.” by Merriam-Webster. While many have their definitions of love, this is the one that seems most fitting for this topic. On top of this, one of these unique ways of showing love in media seems to be using cannibalism as a metaphor.
Cannibalism is what is known as eating human flesh as a human yourself. This metaphor for love gained its popularity back in 2013 when Hannibal came out. This show gained so much momentum due to how his character was portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen, which led to many shows being inspired by such a unique way of writing. This was one of the main works that got some directors into using this metaphor.
One piece of media that’s an example of using this metaphor would be Bones And All, released back in 2022 and directed by Luca Guadagnino. Bones And All follows the story of Maren, who is on a journey to uncover her past and find out why she’s the way she is. What makes Maren different from the rest of her society is her cannibalistic nature, which is shown in one of the first scenes when the movie opens. The film then jumps forward to when Maren is now 18, and her father abandons her on her 18th birthday, leaving a note saying he hopes she overcomes her hunger. The main scene I wanted to focus on, however, doesn’t take place until the very end of the movie. Maren had met this man named Sully, another fellow “eater” as the movie calls people like Maren. Sully develops an obsession with Maren, which leads to her fleeing away from him. She later meets Lee, who she joins up on her journey to uncover why she’s the way she is.
After she finds her mother and reads how her mother feels about their lives as “eaters “, she and Lee settle down somewhere, trying to live a normal life as a couple. Sully shows up and attacks them. This is the scene that truly sparked my interest in how media uses cannibalism as a metaphor for love. Lee and Maren defend themselves and end up killing Sully, while Lee ends up getting injured and wants Maren to eat him “bones and all”. This is almost like his final gift, giving his body to Maren. According to Lauren Deaton over at Pitt News, he’s “…offering all he is and all he has.”. Lee wants Maren to be able to carry a part of him with her, hence why he offered himself up. In the end, it shows Maren and Lee sitting in a field close together, showing that they’re forever intertwined together. Overall, this movie has a very heartfelt but heartbreaking way of using cannibalism as a metaphor for love but truly captures it in a unique way.
Another film that has used cannibalism is Yellowjackets. Released back in 2021, and directed by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, Yellowjackets follows the story of a high school’s talented girls’ soccer team, who end up in a plane crash in the wilderness. The show flips between past them in high school, and presents them, as adults with lives and families. Their past comes back to haunt them, causing the normal lives they formed to be disrupted. While the girls are out in the woods, two of them; Shauna and Jackie, end up in an argument. Jackie goes outside for the night, which in turn leads to her demise in which she froze to death. The girls have, however, run out of food and have to eat. This leads to them eating Jackie.
As I mentioned earlier in Bones And All, it’s as if they want to carry a piece of that person in them forever, hence why they eat Jackie in episode 2, season 2. While they don’t make it directly clear how they truly felt when they ate Jackie, Shauna had said before “She wants us to”, giving the group permission to eat. I think this is a metaphor for love due to how close Jackie and Shauna were before the plane crashed. Shauna and Jackie loved one another so much and spent so much time together. Jackie had, however, had some more “controlling” habits, trying to force some shadow of herself onto Shauna. Shauna however, yes loved Jackie, and also had some envy towards her due to her relationship with her boyfriend. Even though their last words to one another had been in an argument, Shauna takes Jackie’s ear that had fallen off, keeping it as a final part of her with her, as a piece of a friend she’l
l never see again. Overall, Yellowjackets shows a much more toxic form of love with cannibalism between them both, yet another unique way such a topic can be turned into art.
Why would media use such a topic though for a metaphor? Surely, they could find another way. Many media started using cannibalism due to the uprise in interest in Hannibal, released back in 2013. According to Chloe Hansen over at The Whitman Wire, the actions of Hannibal himself were seen as “…compelling attributes to his overall charm.” which led to many people likely being inspired by how they portrayed cannibalism. It’s also been seen as an “art” through a media lens, as an expression of people’s current need for “…silence, passion, and liberation”.
Overall, media have used cannibalism to express love in a unique way, in a way that is much more deep compared to how other films portray it. It allows the viewer to see how the characters want to carry a piece of their loved one with them, to be with them, entwined forever. These also provide more creative outlets for people who want to make shows or art that can have a deeper impact or meaning than just some of the more straightforward stuff.
Credits to Zhariya Aleice on Youtube for the featured image, please watch her video for a deeper dive on this topic.
