Cannibalism in Yellowjackets. In 1993, Levi-Strauss wrote that “the concept of cannibalism and its direct or indirect applications belong to all societies,” and that, when examined in all its complexity, “we are all cannibals.” That might be one of the reasons that makes Yellowjackets so compelling. There is something abhorrent but also deeply human about the practice of cannibalism, either in its literal or symbolic form. When the Yellowjackets are eating Jackie in what is clearly presented as a ritual feast, we are horrified, but we cannot take our eyes off the screen.
Very interesting thread - and it makes me want to watch Yellowjackets! I watched The Last of Us this winter and one of many post-apocalyptic communities depicted was a charismatic leader cult that fed the community ‘venison’ that was actually human. The cannibalism seemed to be a comment on the leaders moral failing but I don’t know, it seems that the greater moral failing could be to let the community starve instead.
Another early cultural reference (to me anyway) is in Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. The Martian culture describes a ritual of the community sharing a meal of the deceased elder as a way of honoring him/her/it, which I think was defended to his human benefactor as being similar to the intent of the Eucharist.
My father died this winter and the Orthodox rabbi who led his funeral (we were not raised Orthodox) explained to my sibs and I how the Jewish rituals around death, preparing the body & burial, presuppose that a portion of the soul remains in the body. This matches up with your description of how historically cannibalism was intended to connect with & subsume qualities of the person being eaten.
I just have to say your field of speciality is really fascinating!
Very interesting thread - and it makes me want to watch Yellowjackets! I watched The Last of Us this winter and one of many post-apocalyptic communities depicted was a charismatic leader cult that fed the community ‘venison’ that was actually human. The cannibalism seemed to be a comment on the leaders moral failing but I don’t know, it seems that the greater moral failing could be to let the community starve instead.
Another early cultural reference (to me anyway) is in Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. The Martian culture describes a ritual of the community sharing a meal of the deceased elder as a way of honoring him/her/it, which I think was defended to his human benefactor as being similar to the intent of the Eucharist.
My father died this winter and the Orthodox rabbi who led his funeral (we were not raised Orthodox) explained to my sibs and I how the Jewish rituals around death, preparing the body & burial, presuppose that a portion of the soul remains in the body. This matches up with your description of how historically cannibalism was intended to connect with & subsume qualities of the person being eaten.
I just have to say your field of speciality is really fascinating!