Alright, technically it was my roommate’s idea, but I am going to steal it for my own use.
Back to cannibalism. Is it hot or not? No one can deny that cannibals, be they desperate, last-resort survivors, as in the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”, satirized, over-the-top zombies as in the hugely-popular “Zombieland” or oddly sympathy-eliciting walking social commentary as in AMC’s “The Walking Dead”, cannibals are virtually invading the mainstream of media.
Why this sudden popularity of those with a wicked case of the man-munchies, you ask?
Could it be that the cannibal/zombie craze is perhaps a counteractive assault on the meteoric popularity of Twilight and sexy vampires? I’m thinking the pupil-dilated, blood and froth dribbling countenances of zombies serve as an oddly charming and realistic contrary to the sparkling, nauseating perfection of Stephenie Meyer’s blood-suckers.
Or maybe cannibals and zombies force us into a deeper contemplation of exactly what separates humans from those crazed by hunger into feeding off of their fellow humans. Is there sympathy to be found in the mindless zombie, compelled to harm even the ones they love because of a complete lack of choice, a main component in the distinction between human and animal?
But back to my original question: is cannibalism hot or not? Judging by its epidemic spread over the magic waves of television, movies and the written word, I am not ashamed to quote the great expert on hotness, Paris Hilton, in declaring, “That’s hot.”
