You look so delicious, I could just gobble you up.
Perhaps I am beginning a descent down a rabbit hole. One that may take me a while to get out of, or perhaps I may decided to stay here for a while, it isn't too bad. Recently, I picked up the tv show Hannibal again, I had started it last year in June but exams and school work tore me away from my midnight indulges, the show being one of them. Unfortunately for my restless brain, I decided that it would be a good show to occupy myself with this autumn. I will say, I don't think anything will compare to watching Hannibal for the first time (technically) during autumn. While I'm sure many will have their opinions on the devilish act that occurs within this show, I wanted to share my thoughts on the matter. The matter of cannibalism, that is.
"A kiss is the beginning of cannibalism" - Georges Bataille
When you kiss someone you love and desire, implying they feel the same way, you are, by then, simply two hungry animals feeding on one another. Granted, this is a more darker approach to human intimacy, but I feel it isn't uncommon as wanting to absorb another human being is the current craze. For example regarding the male leads of romantic books, so I've heard. Many say it is attractive when one kisses another like they want to consume them, to kiss like they have been starved of you.
Cannibalism at it's core means to consume the flesh of ones species. It is often depicted as something savage and animalistic which I don't totally disagree with, however, I do think that it can be something more than just the savage starvation of a crazed animal. In fact, in religion you consume the divine which is not seen as savage on the surface by the human eye. I am talking about the eating of Christ's body and the drinking of his blood which is practiced in catholic mass. This idea of consuming god, metaphorically of course, is seen as love through the act of eating and drinking. In my mind, I see this as a form of cannibalism, the eating of the divine.
In more modern day, we tie the act of eating pomegranates to cannibalism. The pomegranate, a fruit with a hard leathery skin that you must rip open to get to the juicy inside that you may eat. It interest me that ripping open the human heart to get to the beating flesh is connected to this humble and simple fruit. Pomegranates, when you peel them open, the juice, the blood, runs down your hands creating a mess that looks like you have killed someone. Perhaps this is why we connect them to the heart because there is death imagery in holding one. It's is holding someones heart in your hands, peeling away their layers to get to their core, their flesh, all the while their blood runs down your arms and stains your hands. There was a sort of test online where you got your lover to open a pomegranate for you, if they did so it meant that they didn't mind the mess because it was for you. Pomegranates were this symbol of undying love and devotion to someone. It is poetic to be so devotional to someone, it is similar to cannibalism. Cannibalism, in a romantic sense, can be seen as the act of being so in love that you give a physical piece of yourself to your other, it is the need to consume another. You must peel open the flesh, strip it, pry it open. It is so carnal, it is a passionate aggressiveness, yet it is still tender, this form of love.
The act of cannibalism is not inherently viewed as an act of love, because at it's core it is not. In society, I should say in western, it is seen as dehumanising, an act without civility, it is demonic, satanic. If your partner or friend were to tell you that they indulge themselves in eating others you would not think of it as an act of love, rather a horrific evil that has consumed them, they have become something horrible and out of reach from humanity. I, in no way, am defending cannibalism, I am simply fascinated by it use as a metaphor for love and devotion. Nor am I trying to glorify this, even though we as a society have done so already. We do so with vampires and vampirism.
If I were to tell you I was a vampire would you be more accepting of me than if I were to tell you I was a cannibal?
While vampires do not eat the flesh the certainly drink the blood. However this opinion depends on whether are not you still see them as human, they once were. Regardless, vampirism, the practice of things associated with vampires, is a grey puddle. At least it is for me, in many depictions, vampires are seen as the undead, but with modern day vampires or vampirism they are human. Cannibalism, traditionally, involves the eating of flesh not just the drinking of blood, so many argue that vampirism is on the outside. So there is the question is it cannibalistic or a more erotic sexually consumption act?
Along the lines of eroticism, I would say the erotic cannibalism is becoming more popular as of late. The desire to be consumed is, with consent of course, been romanticised in everyday love. We see it in phrases, like wanting to crawl into ones skin or biting one another. Much of our figurative sexual acts and language revolve around cannibalism, wanting to taste with your mouth ones body part or particular orifice. There is a sexual and romantic desire to be totally fused with someone that many have, whether or not it is in a cannibalistic nature or not. You embrace them, you accept them, you love them, bones and all. Some may view it as an act of love that is all-consuming. A love that can be beautiful yet horrific, a love that is so inhumanely repulsive yet so very compelling. It is a wordless physical love that is such an intimate action it can't be described easily for the ear. Tell me what could be more intimate than consuming someone so that they will be with you forever?
xoxo, ladybug
girl i feel that
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