Modern Romance is a British pop music band that found popularity in the ear… Read Full Bio ↴Modern Romance is a British pop music band that found popularity in the early 1980s. Formed in 1980 by previous members of an earlier band, the Leyton Buzzards, the band achieved a string of UK chart hits before the original band broke up in 1985. Andy Kyriacou reformed the band in 1999 who continue to perform the band's music.

Geoffrey Deane and David Jaymes formed Modern Romance in 1980, having previously been the mainstays of the punk parody band the Leyton Buzzards which they formed in 1977.

The band split up in 1980 though Deane and Jaymes continued working together, embracing the burgeoning electronic style of dance music that was becoming popular in London clubs at the time. They found a new manager and created a limited company called Business Art Productions, and signed to WEA. In 1980, their first release, eponymously titled "Modern Romance", was unsuccessful. After a second unsuccessful single, "Tonight", the band then opted to lessen the predominantly electronic sound in favour of a Latin-American dance style with emphasis on bass, percussion and brass. They recruited trumpet player John Du Prez into their new line-up. The band released a new single, "Everybody Salsa" in summer 1981, which reached the UK Top 20. However, prior to the release, they recruited a new drummer, Andy Kyriacou, who began promoting the single with the band, and set up their first personal appearance in a club.

They followed this later in the year with similarly themed "Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey", which reached the UK Top 10. Despite these two hits, the band's debut album, Adventures in Clubland, was not a success. However, in the US they scored a number 2 hit on the Billboard Dance chart with "Can You Move", a mostly rap variation of "Everybody Salsa". After further UK Top 40 hits with "Queen of the Rapping Scene" and a cover of the 1955 hit "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White", Deane departed the band in 1982 to pursue solo projects.

Michael J. Mullins took over the mantle of lead vocalist, and their next release saw the band reach their highest UK chart position with "Best Years of Our Lives" in late 1982. Further hits followed in 1983: "High Life" (UK No. 8), "Don't Stop That Crazy Rhythm" (UK No. 14), and the ballad "Walking in the Rain" (UK No. 7). Both "Best Years of Our Lives" and "Walking in the Rain" earned Silver discs. Despite being regularly featured in teen pin-up magazines, the band's commercial hot streak waned and further singles were less successful. The band released a compilation album for the Christmas 1983 market entitled Party Tonight. Though it only peaked at No. 45 in the UK, it became their most successful album and was certified gold for sales in excess of 100,000 copies within six weeks of release.

John Du Prez then left the band, and after disagreements with their record company, WEA, the band signed with RCA in 1984. This brought about a change of image – from bright coloured suits and wedge hairstyles to long hair and leather jackets. The band released a new single, a cover of The Temptations' 1971 hit "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)", but the single was not a success. Modern Romance released a final album, Burn It!, in 1985. The album was received poorly and the band called it quits after releasing the stand-alone single "Tarzan Boy" – a cover of the Baltimora hit from earlier that year – and an anthology mix of their biggest selling songs titled "Best Mix of Our Lives" (also 1985).

After leaving Modern Romance, former lead vocalist Geoff Deane reappeared in 1983 as 'Geoff Deane & The Valley Girls' to release the single "Navy Lark", then again for the solo "What About Romance", and he also wrote "You Think You're A Man" for Divine. Deane later became a scriptwriter and television producer, scripting for television programmes such as Birds of a Feather, Babes in the Wood, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Chef!, Last Man Standing, and A Many-Splintered Thing. In 2005, he wrote the film Kinky Boots starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, and a year later It's a Boy Girl Thing for Elton John's Rocket Pictures.

David Jaymes has since moved into the management and consultancy side of the music industry. He worked as the music supervisor on the film Fascination (2004) starring Jacqueline Bisset and James Naughton. He has also worked again with John Du Prez, composing music for commercials and feature films. Jaymes has managed artists such as Sinéad O'Connor, Justin Adams, Miles Hunt of The Wonder Stuff, Republica and Drum Club. He has also worked as consultant for Harry Nilsson, Jimmy Webb, George Fenton, and Chuck Mangione. In 2010, he worked with a host of musicians on the Haiti earthquake disaster single (a cover version of "I Put a Spell on You"), including Shane MacGowan, Nick Cave, Chrissie Hynde and Johnny Depp.

In 1999, Andy Kyriacou reformed Modern Romance with a new line-up, joining the burgeoning British 1980s revival scene. The new line-up features no original band members (Kyriacou himself had first appeared on the Modern Romance single, "Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey", although he had remained their drummer until the band split in 1985). In 2002, the new line-up released the album Back on Track, which consisted mostly of re-recorded Modern Romance hits. Back on Track was also released as Moves 2 Fast, with a slightly different track listing. Kyriacou's Modern Romance continues to play the 1980s festival circuit and appeared as the opening act at the 2010 Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames, which also included Boy George, Rick Astley, Level 42, T'Pau, Kajagoogoo and Heaven 17.

2012 saw the band play Let's Rock the Moor!, a boutique festival in Cookham, Berkshire, with other 1980s acts including Go West, Toyah, Nick Heyward and Billy Ocean. During their set they aired one of their new songs, "Rhythm Is My Lover", from the forthcoming album The 7th Day (penned by Kyriacou and guitarist Peter J Pinto).

Hunger Pains
Modern Romance Lyrics

We have lyrics for 'Hunger Pains' by these artists:

Confederate Railroad There's a wino in a garbage can Looking for a bite Ther…
David Ericson It’s a fresh cut; yeah, it’s cardiac and it’s too…
Hand Of Mercy Promises fallen on deaf ears Coinciding with other's misspen…
Kinck I set my intentions for the new year yeah I'll be…
meat computer I wanted to tell you But just not like this How much…
Muph & Plutonic Me and Raph Boogie came to take The jar with your…
Muph & Plutonic feat. Raph Boogie Me and Raph Boogie came to take The jar with your…
we are the dirt If my conscience was a drop of water I'd evaporate into…

We have lyrics for these tracks by Modern Romance:

Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey Verse 1 Now When I Hear Those Trumpets And Congas Start…
Band of Gold Now that you're gone All that's left is a band of…
BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVE Best years of our lives I ask you the questions but…
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White Verse 1 Oh cherry pink and apple blossom white Reminds me of…
Don't Stop That Crazy Rhythm The music's getting closer stay around, just wait and see Ge…
Everybody Salsa Verse 1 Now what's that crazy rhythm coming from the street …
Hi-Life Verse 1 Moonlight and roses I like it, sweet scented kisses…
Just My Imagination Each day through my window I watch her as she…
Mi Chica Latina Verse 1 There's a girl from San Antonio, queen of my…
Move On Verse 1 Look at her move (look at her move), She…
Nothing Ever Goes the Way U Planned Verse 1 I Never Thought That We Could Work It Out Not…
Tell me Now Verse 1 When I wrote this song, I thought of how…
That's Entertainment Verse 1 The curtain's up the lights are bright everybody's s…
The Best Years of Our Lives Best years of our lives I ask you the questions but…

Walking In The Rain Verse 1 Today I saw you walking in the rain, I…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@AlexJ1

31w↑14

Just finished watching.

Much to think about.

Mainly: How to not resent those who choose to follow the societal script.

I think it can only come from a place of forgiveness ... and the understanding that they are even more afraid than us.

Thank you for putting this together.

@qmonk5108

31w↑8

So crazy to see this as someone who has been obsessively interested in NBC Hannibal for the last 2-3 years (which surprisingly enough I initially couldn't stomach back in 2014 because I was so nauseated and off-put by the cannibalism). But since then I think being able to engage with the topic really interested me in engaging with other stories about cannibalism and horror that more viscerally confronts the idea of taboo...

I really appreciate this more in depth exploration at length of the film (Bones and All) which I found so beautiful. It was crazy watching it in theater and hearing a group of girls at the back laughing and saying how 'weird' it was when it feels like such a poignant and really lovely film.

Also, in your talking about these ideas around consumption, contamination and fear, (sry if u don't wanna read this, if you do at all) I think certain scenes from things that really are ingrained into my mind and I find quite horrifying are things like in Snowpiercer, the passengers at the back of the train living in poverty are given food that is essentially made from these horrible bugs... I don't know why it seems like a small silly things but I think at the time the idea that they don't even realise what they're being fed and it almost frames them as cattle being fed by this machinery what is essentially kind of... 'gross' waste/a pest. Without even knowing.

And kind of different but there's a scene from Cloud Atlas that stuck with me where there's a group of women in a ?? futuristic sci fi south korean fast food restaurant? Where these women are I think bred to be the smiley, obedient, passive workers there. But then, upon death. They are murdered and then made into food for the other women. Essentially being fed one another without knowing it. which does make me think of the mad cow disease capitalistic feeding for productivity/waste thing.

I also agree that it would be really interesting to see a story about cannibalism used as some kind of allegory for disordered eating in film/television. Not quite the same but in terms of body image and horror it does remind me a little of the film about a girl whose father is a plastic surgeon called Look Away...

Apologies for the length of this comment but I love these videos<3

@brigade7678

31w

Ranting as I watch :')

45 minutes in and I am just THRILLED with this video. Your channel is absolutely one of my all time favorites. Thank you so much for sharing your work & thoughts with us, truly. Exploration of dark themes has been under ever increasing scrutiny it feels like. I appreciate your defense, and side stepping the messy murky question of "who is allowed?" which even when handled with care still forces victimized people to parade their own trauma & personal information to earn the right to express themselves!

and it feels silly to follow up with buuuut to willingly state my own personal info- The point of debilitating codependency and blind loyalty was a lightning bolt to my brain. Gave me a lot to think about for my own curiosity with that media. Its something my own upbringing/family tree was steeped in.

While I can agree it was handled less than great, and her story end was extremely upsetting for me, Skins Cassey was what first ever actually made me realize what I had done all my life. It was the thing that made me tell someone and seek help in changing behaviors. It can be an instruction manual and also a mirror. I never really saw it in myself til I watched someone else. I think thats the strange thing with media covering ED. Both examples you chose actually meant a lot to me (though both endings I didn't care for) and helped me realize I needed help. I think it could be done a LOT better, but what did exist I'm thankful for teen-me seeing.

Gastro criticism - those with extreme allergies go through extreme isolation from community because eating IS social, it connects us. When you can't even risk cross contamination it cuts off a LOT of gatherings and celebrations and its tense just to share a meal even if the other people know. How do you trust that they really knew if what they were using was actually gluten free for instance? Some rootbeer have gluten, some don't- none are labelled. Its a roll of the dice to go to a family cookout... some barbeque sauce has gluten, not all mark it. etc etc isolation.

1:43:40 HELL YES. Cool to be Cruel" has made a huge resurgence especially online and it is DISTURBING to say the least! Moralizing the enjoyment of someone's suffering/downfall over any and all possible "wrongs" is so so so nasty. I'm horrified to see so many young people loving and lifting up sui-baiting, even doing it to "ex-friends" with some strange sense that it makes them powerful/cool/morally just!?

holy shit it ends with a warrior cats podcast!?? Incredible gift of a video!!

Beautiful work start to finish, the latter half's emotion shut me up to just take it all in! Thanks again for sharing

@remonssi6997

27w↑3

I haven't finished the video, but I'm just so excited about the topic that I just need to thought dump here lol

I just love it when writers use cannibalism and hunger as a metaphor for love and sexuality. Like, the desire to love so deep and desperate that it manifests as this need more than want, an instinct you have to fulfill in order to survive. And on the other end of the relationship, to know someone desires you so much they need to devour you, they want to eat you whole, fleshy imperfections and all. And to offer your flesh willingly, is to embrace and accept the other's love as dangerous or painful as it may seem (And if you want that religious subtext, this can be a really messed up version of eucharist, becoming one with your god and lover, through a sinful act that turns practically has every actual god forsake you, but you have the love you want even if you never get into heaven, and isn't that all you ever wanted?)

(And also like, you can make that connection with the fall of man, eating the fruit of knowledge and from that first bite, learning sin and shame... and lust) (cannibalism is just versatile, man)

And the fact that it has this implication that it's a doomed love in the first place; there is no way to love someone that carnally because the moment your expression of love (eating them) manifests, the love is over. Your lover is dead. A part of you, inside you, but dead nonetheless. I feel like that's why a lot of queer romances can find expression through cannibalism and hunger, because cannibalism as love can only work in the moment and can never envision a future. Furthermore, to have repressed your own sexuality to the point that it aches, like hunger pangs, and the more you hold back, the more it kills you. Cannibalistic love, as it is, is monstrous.
And a lot of queer spaces find delight and pride in reclaiming the monstrous for themselves as they have been labeled that for so long (see Stryker's "My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage"; it is a trans essay, but I think it conveys the same idea of reclamation of the monster)

But also if you do want to make it work, it requires restraining your hunger/desire to love and be loved, an innate instinct of life, to just be with the one you love. And isn't that the most beautiful and powerful expression of love? To have the self-control to love instead of devour? To actually savor and live with thought and consciousness instead of mindlessly fulfilling your base urges? Isn't that what romance is? An affection that goes beyond just having sex?

It's just so alksdjfaklsdjfklasdjflkasjdflk I love cannibalism in fiction.

Edit: cannibalism as an expression of hatred also works. Because it's not just the dehumanization of the enemy you're consuming, but it's also because in so many mythologies around the world, cannibalism is punished severely. Take greek mythology: tantalus is forced to never be able to eat or drink again for trying to feed the gods his son/make them partake in cannibalism, Cronos is dethroned and essentially killed, tydeus is denied immortality as he was dying because he became a cannibal, etc To then be driven to the point of eating your opponent without regard for cultural, social, or religious values just shows how deep the emotion runs. Moreover, how much of your own humanity you lose.

But moreover, the act of cannibalism was an act reserved for the gods. The greek pantheon could partake in cannibalism (and other vices like incest) without punishment or judgement. Even in other cultures, like the Maori with Whaitiri, there is no one above to judge the divine for cannibalistic transgressions. So to also eat your enemy is declare yourself above the rules, or a god.

All comments from YouTube:

@nylijahmyeesa9827

31w↑689

WE OUT HERE BABY!!!

@LolaSebastian

31w↑40

WE ARE!!!!!! ❤

@neekapatel906

30w↑2

@@LolaSebastiani love this video!

@claude4730

31w↑2.1K

I'm a disabled person with a special interest in cannibalism, and you touched on exactly why I often can't get into zombie movies. I've got a complex heart and lung condition. After what I went through in the South with COVID, a zombie movie feels like a vicious pantomime. A cartoonishly individualistic fantasy in which you're surviving a pandemic with NO moral obligation to care for the sick. Where in fact, feeling compassion for them is often foolish and swiftly punished by the narrative.

@abyssopelagic_6807

31w↑82

As a fellow disabled person, I definitely understand what you mean- like... zombie stuff could be so cool. And Yet,

@mosstrades

31w↑43

this is something touched on in the last season of the videogame series for The Walking Dead in a way I found cool. It's not perfect, but it was a theme that I found very surprising and touching.

@availanila

31w↑49

As a fellow sickler disabled person, I want a zombie movie where humanity bands together to survive but we still die coz that's exactly what would happen in an apocalypse if we exist just shy of death right now. I liked World War Z until they made us "heroic" again 🤮 with that you're so near death you're super powered BS they brought in.

@roseallan6027

31w↑34

I agree wholeheartedly growing up with a neuromuscular disease and family members who have the same zombie movies we're always truly terrifying because I knew that my family and me would be considered useless and therefore not seen as valuable enough to survive

@hinasakukimi

31w↑69

i remember a moment in a tv series where an able-bodied dude pushed a man in a wheelchair toward a zombie to save himself. it's only a small moment but never left my mind. i don't inherently have an issue with that particular instance bc the dude was meant to be awful, but still, it made me think about what a missed opportunity there was story-wise. it'd be so interesting to have a disabled protagonist struggle to survive against all odds (and ofc to see characters form a community of care even in dire circumstances). you could make an incredibly nailbaiting "escaping from the zombies" scene with a disabled protag. it'd certainly be a fresh take on the genre at the very least.

23 More Replies...

@Lucy-zr5qs

30w↑531

I’m Native American and one of my best friends is quileute. I really appreciate you mentioning the charity, as it not only affects the quileute but all indigenous americans.

@kayacogger3409

29w↑20

Truly, I cannot count the amount of native= werewolf medias there are. It’s so hard for our people to constantly be compared to animals or given animalistic characteristics. I’m so happy people are finally talking about it.

@pileofhagfish

30w↑388

the "Eat Your Young" inclusion from Hozier was just so good
Also "What is grief, if not a constant craving?" Is such a painfully poetic and heartfelt line

@Cernunnnos

30w↑330

I think Vampire media is probably so appealing to teens (especially girls) because even if the text is ostensibly sexless, the subtext is inescapably sexual.

Like, think of the core vampire lore, transferring of bodily fluids, thematically taboo, almost everything important happens at night when the prying eyes of authority figures are less of a worry. There's also this promise of eternal youth, the thing that defines your existence as a teen. Vigour, passion, driven by urges (hormones.)

Like I think most people here will be familiar with the reading of Dracula being an allegory for homosexuality. It's probably not something most people would associate with the character. But Vampires do seem to be representative of transgressive sexuality, because there's always the tone of them being maligned and outside of normal society. That's probably why they're especially appealing to teens. The feeling of otherness inherent to the genre is familiar to a lot of the young people reading it.

Zombies are almost definitionally sexless. In my opinion you're doing a lot of work to make zombies a sexual genre, It's definitely been done I just feel like they're an exception rather than the rule like with Vampire stories. They're more an allegory for the rampant greed and consumerism run amok, or simply a fear of human, animalistic nature than they are of sexual consumption like most cannibalism literature.

@kjarakravik4837

28w↑24

Even on a meta level, the two big vampire stories written before Dracula that popularized vampires in the west were Carmilla, a novel where the vampire is explicitly a predatory lesbian and Polidory's The Vampyre, who was at least partly making a dig at famously bisexual Lord Byron. These aren't exactly positive representations, but you can't argue that queerness hasn't been baked into the genre since it's inception

@SavvySavy2

25w↑4

Yes vampires have always been gay, this is known

@Karin-fj3eu

20w

At the end there I just thought it was gonna be every monster being one of the 7 sins

2 More Replies...

@paigemarysmith

31w↑561

As someone who was lucky enough to visit the Quileute tribe lands shown in this video and written about in the Twilight books -- please everyone donate to their cause. It is some of the most beautiful land and oceans I've ever visited, and it is insanely unjust that because of the climate crisis these folks are having to relocate. It is the least we can do as fans of the franchise.

@sweetcheeks5775

30w

donations won’t change the weather

@fruitygarlic3601

30w↑47

@@sweetcheeks5775 Funding gives people some ability to respond to factors outside of their control. Disinterest in other people's hardships and disinterest in solving one's own often sound the same.

@Skittenmeow

29w↑7

@@sweetcheeks5775weather =/= climate, and your comment is tacky

2 More Replies...

@gakailyn9249

30w↑53

I think it makes perfect sense that narratives of cannibalism often include sex and displays of sexuality. Not to ruin anyone's day, but sex as an act is mildly inherently cannibalistic. If you're kissing, licking, or sucking anything, you are consuming micro amounts of your partner's flesh via ingesting loose skin cells and whatever dna-stradent fluids you come in contact with. I think this is something everyone kind of gets and doesn't talk about. This knowledge appears in the colloquial language we use to describe sexual organs. Penises are "meat" or "sausages," vulvas are "peaches," asses are "cake." Whether on purpose or not, we associate having sex with the consumption of flesh. Another example I can think of is for those with a proclivity for aggressive dirty talk is, "I'll devour you." Likewise, we call performing female cunniligus "eating." I can see the argument that sex can be associated with consumption and topics of consumption make for an easy lead in for stories about cannibalism.

@oscar-cm4rc

22w

Literally eating babies

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@SoulDevoured

31w↑729

I've been pretty desensitized to survival cannibalism. Because I understand serious gnawing hunger when the body is running out of fat to metabolize. I understand that starvation is often far far more horrific of a death than is ever depicted.

We don't really grasp the full reality of what it is when the body is actually falling apart. We in wealthier nations come to underestimate hunger in many ways and I there's alot to explore there. What it means to be truly hungry. And therefore what survival even means.

@Skittenmeow

29w↑21

A few years ago my brother and I had a competition of eating insects and invertebrates for a year. We would send each other "edible bugs" avaible in websites along with bug recipes. Also took up breeding crickets, meal worms, and isopods preparing them to eat. We've also been preparing for food insecurity in novel ways, with the idea that under stress is easier to do something you're already familiar with rather than learn on the go.
We also did aquaponivs and cane up with a simple prototype setup for breeding fish and crustaceans along with growing veggies using fish waste as fertiliser

@oscar-cm4rc

22w

@nicheinterests

31w↑415

59:22 I feel like Hannibal's preference for eating the rude means he's a man in pursuit of improvement rather than fine things. He usually doesn't speak of his victims/ingredients in a positive way, but he does love to show off his ability to transform them.

@thatsdisco

31w↑91

yeah, he sees him cooking them in this decadent, downright ritualistic manner as "elevating" them.

@qmonk5108

31w↑66

sorry for being annoying and I absolutely see that idea in adaptions and works about Hannibal Lecter, but I do think at least from the media I've seen, that a great deal of his experience is about experiencing pleasure in a very hedonistic way... getting the best tasting cuts, expensive wine, high quality food, herbs, furnishings, art, opera, museums, enjoying the visceral pleasure of his kills (and encouraging the same for others, including the great red dragon), and part of his pleasure is also about killing people who bother and annoy him (so long as it doesn't conflict with his hedonistic lifestyle) as well as taking great pleasure in the taboo (feeding human meat to his wealthy, upper class guests who value appearance and presumption of quality and refinement).

I think he does seek to 'improve' the world around him but for the purpose of pleasure and enjoyment of the tasks... he enjoys murdering and cooking and artfully displaying those who annoy him. And he seeks to have others share his hedonistic and taboo pleasures (or wishes them to be props in his fun little games). Sorry for going on about this I love talking about Hannibal Lecter

@peachybun

30w↑11

@@qmonk5108thank you for this comment!! i agree with you and OP’s interpretations of Hannibal. he’s been one of my favorite fictional characters since i was 15 ( the first time i watched Silence of the Lambs and also around the age that i read Red Dragon ). he’s such a wonderfully unique anti-villain, i love him so much 😆😄

@WindupCrow

30w↑16

I took it as him inflicting poetic justice on his targets, picking the victim for the dish in a way that reflects the perceived insult.
Like the way he's both interested in and slyly mocking of the cello string guy in season 1, wants to know how he ticks, is willing to humour him but ultimately has no respect for his motives

@adoresessy101

31w↑237

This video made me think about my skin picking disorder a bit in connection to autocannibalism. I nibble on the insides of my mouth until it bleeds, I bite my nails and pick at my lips. I do it until I literally get wounds and they scar and I feel so ASHAMED and guilty afterwards, but it's compulsive and I can't stop usually when I do it. I KNOW I'm doing it, obviously, it hurts like hell, but I still do it. And the cycle repeats.

@Man-ej6uv

30w↑26

i feel you, i pick my skin (face, essentially whole body, also my hair, lips, just the whole package) and it's so embarrassing but you can't stop, it's out of your control.

@greeneyed5663

29w↑15

I also pick my skin, mostly my face and back. I've been trying to stop in recent years, but haven't managed to, and lately I've been thinking about the fact that I do it more in times such as academic terms, when I need to do a lot of mental tasks, as I become isolated from my body and essentially perceive myself as a brain floating around my surroundings, indifferent to the damage I'm inflicting on my skin, and that although the picking is mostly habitual, it becomes the only connection to my body that I experience for weeks or months. I listened to this video while working on other tasks, so I can't say I processed it very well yet, but the point about cannibalism as a connection to one's body in a world that deprives us of such connection felt very important and personal in a way I can't or don't yet want to put into words

@gracecadet3244

29w↑31

Hey y'all as a fellow sufferer, these are called BFRD's, or body-focused repetitive disorders. They are usually symptoms of a greater underlying disorder like extreme anxiety, OCD, PTSD, dissociative disorders,autism, etc. It's not just some annoying or gross habit that you can stop on your own, especially if you've already tried and failed to stop before. BUT they can respond very very well to targeted therapy by someone who specializes in them, so it's worth looking into if your behaviors are causing you distress (which from the tone of these comments, understandably, it is). There is hope! My symptoms have gotten much much better than they were when I was younger thanks to working with the right therapist about them. And I did it alllllllll, constant hair pulling and chewing (and sometimes actual eating), pimple/scab/dead skin/dandruff picking and eating, lip chewing inside and out, finger and toe nail and cuticle biting, I mean every frickin one you can think of. If I could get a handle on it anyone can. Best of luck dears. Remember, you are much more than the sum of your idiosyncrasies and the traumas that caused them. 💜

@ashannaredwolf8485

27w↑2

Just chiming in to say hi, fellow skin picker/biter here, I see you all. Keep doing your self-care and deep work, you are already perfect, beautiful, and loved. 💕

@mckennapipher

26w↑2

skin picker and hair puller here!! solidarity, this shit is hard. (also it's been exacerbated by my adhd meds :// and nobody warned me about that side effect so i'm stull struggling, years after starting them, with the cycle of skin problems causing picking causing skin problems)

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@lilhonor5425

31w↑459

This is such an incredible video, As someone whose studied food and colonial history I’m glad to see the discussion of how accusations of cannibalism have been used historically against minorities. Also really appreciate your thoughts on ED related media and sharing a little of your OCD experience. Great work as always

@idioteza

31w↑328

I'm from Uruguay, a small country where tragedies/interesting things don't happen often. In the 70s there was an plane accident that left an Uruguayan rugby team stranded in the Andes. Some died in the crash, one of the survivors was a med student that knew how to dissect bodies, eventually the search for them was stopped because they couldn't have possibly survived with the amount of food they had at their disposal, they did indeed survived. You get what happened.

As a result, being born decades after the resulting debate happened, I had the experience of growing up in a place that had the silent understanding that cannibalism is okay under the right circumstances. My dad's coworkers used to joke that if they were to be stranded in the Andes, the first thing to do is kill and eat my dad "before he gets hungry". They even had the survivors do an spot on TV during COVID about coming together during tragedies (as I mentioned, nothing interesting happens here). Haven't finished the video yet but it seems like an interesting watch,.,

Edit: omg you mentioned them, I'm not used to anyone mentioning my country that it genuinely surprised. Anyway the video was great. I remember being obsessed with vampires when I was young but being frustrated at how Twilight's vampires didn't need to consume blood— that's the whole thing about vampires, though I didn't connect that to the racism thing of "they are ~civilized~ but that was probably because I never actually was part of that fandom. Vampires are supposed to be human yet innately uncivilized idk. You ABSOLUTELY hit the nail with the zombie stuff, and I'll be definitely checking out the movie you talked about. Great video as always!

@sunnydong9069

30w↑14

I learned of this story of the rugby team stranded in the Andes thro Ask a Mortician's video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syJyPq7lRGc . For a story prominently about cannibalism, it was deeply moving and heartfelt, and the inspiring in its showcase of a community of people's stubborn willingness to survive extreme struggle. The host of the video is very empathetic and respectful in her retelling, as well as engaging and funny at times, so I think this might be something you would appreciate.

@CanelaAguila

30w↑7

I was given a (fictional?) book to read about them, or possibly inspired by them, in Spain when I was quite young. I think the story captured a lot of the spanish-speaking world

@valenfr01

29w↑2

hola otra uruguaya en los comentarios de lola :)
i grew up around those same kind of jokes, it's definitely still alive in our collective cultural imaginary

@idioteza

29w

@@valenfr01 no me esperaba que hubiese alguien más omg :0 El otro día vi lo del tiktok que sacó la hija de uno de los sobrevivientes y me acordé de este comentario pero n sabría ni como empezar a explicar el chiste

@StarberryGAME

28w

I think in the United States that story is actually fairly well known; at least when I was in high school ten years ago Alive! was assigned reading. It's an incredible book, I'm really glad it was part of my class

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@misacruzader

31w↑495

I started this video not realizing it was 2 hours long, but by the end I wished it was another hour longer. Consumption is the ultimate act of love. You barely touched on the kink factor, but I guess in the spirit of Twilight, you were trying to keep things chaste and not get demonetized. But you could have done an entire chapter on pornography and how much of it is focused on both the sensuality and the taboo of bodily fluids, both their release and consumption of them.

@misacruzader

31w↑75

Most of my stims involve nail biting, picking my lips, and nibbling on the inside of my mouth. Another aspect of autocannibalism that could have been explored.

@emschlef

31w↑24

@@misacruzaderthe new One Piece live action has an autocannibalism scene that hit me way harder than expected. I wasn't familiar with the story prior to seeing it, but seeing someone do what they do for Sanji was heart wrenching. (edit: trying my best to avoid spoilers).

@cactus2260

31w↑44

i think there also are some connections between cannibalism and christianity, the idea of eating the flesh and blood of christ as his sacrifice is pretty cool if only alegorical

@misacruzader

31w↑30

@@cactus2260 I'm Catholic and for us eating the body of Christ is literal.

@misacruzader

31w↑1

@@emschlef Haven't finished it yet!

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@soulsmindpalace6464

31w↑106

ContraPoints reading twilight quotes is something I didn’t know I needed but I am obsessed

@spirithawk6580

31w↑10

I mean Natalie did end her last video by saying she's a twilight stan now

@CheziahKatt

31w↑356

Also the bit about you discussing real life cannibalism re: Irish famine reminds me of Hansel and Gretel and hearing that apparently sometimes children were traded so that families didn't have to eat their own =\ =\

@connorscorner443

31w↑22

Oh gosh 😭

@brigade7678

31w↑42

that makes so much heart-breaking sense.

@availanila

31w↑73

My country had a horrific famine in 2007-2012. Affected communities formed co-ops of sorts but they prettyuch just pooled together and each family would kill one of theirs to feed the whole. There was a huge debate of whether to charge these people when it came to light but ultimately our government decided not to. It came to loght when one family refused to gove up their kid and couldn't nake excuses anymore. 😭☹️ Blockades and embargoes are an act of violence.

@meganloop3407

30w↑14

That’s not what Hansel and Gretel is about though. That MIGHT have happened when that story was told, but it’s really about not being gullible. If it seems too good to be true- it is. You’re lost and hungry in the woods and someone suddenly offers all the candy you can eat? Don’t trust them! This was well before modern transportation. Any old woman that lives alone FAR away from civilization wouldn’t carry an endless supply of sweets back home.
Also- don’t abandon your kids in the woods or else a witch will eat them. It’s better to suffer being poor as a family, than assume your kids will make it on their own. I can’t comprehend why any parent would abandon their children, but I know it happens. Even today at Disneyland, “the happiest place on Earth” so back then it happened a lot.

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@Romanticoutlaw

31w↑169

ngl hearing that meyer was inspired by wuthering heights makes a lot of sense if you look at wuthering heights through the lense of someone who was rooting for all the wrong people in that story

@emmackenzie9897

31w↑113

watching lee ask from numb-shocked lips, ❛am i bad ?❜ breaks my heart the same way ethel cain does in the final song of preachers daughter.
❛i tried to be good, am i no good ? am i no good ?❜ there’s a vulnerability that i’ve only ever found in art where one lover consumes the other. for lee, he is eaten in love, but for ethel she is devoured by someone undeserving of being asked something so vulnerable.
i guess i can’t think of a better way to visualise asking for love— will you chew me up and spit me out again ? am i not good enough to be consumed ? is my flesh too sour to be eaten, to be loved ? am i good ? please tell me i am good enough for you.
lola, this video was so beautiful and i’m gonna be thinking about it forever.

@emmackenzie9897

31w↑11

also it’s comforting to know that i was not the only middle schooler traumatised by vampire knight lmao

@StackerRox

26w↑4

Ethel cain parallels >>>>>>>>> always, wow

@stardust1815

30w↑89

I love the concept album Preacher's Daughter by Ethel Cain about a girl (named Ethel Cain, Ethel is not the singer's real name but the name of a character she portrays) who runs away from her small religious town after living a very difficult life and ends up the victim of a cannibal. The songs are so beautiful and it uses a theme of cannibalism as a form of control and not love.

Edit: The story is way more complicated than just that, but that's like the bare-bones (ha) summary of the story.

@bananapuding866

31w↑129

thank you for this!!! as an autistic person of colour as controversial as it might seem, i always enjoyed media centered around cannibalism. i recognised and related to the hunger the characters seem to feel and the cravings they had. partially because i recognised that hunger for love, companionship and acceptance in my own life and the shame and isolation i felt and experienced because of the way that my environment at the time treated me.

@calliea3336

31w↑226

I just signed up for Nebula because I want more of this kind of weird content that YouTube likes to demonetize. I wouldn’t mind YouTube’s increase in ads if the creators I’m watching benefitted from it, but instead they’re bending over backwards to avoid demonetization while family vloggers exploiting their kids rake in the ad money (which is way grosser than the topic of this video).

@BryceZed

31w↑467

What did the cannibal get after showing up to the party late?

The cold shoulder

@IsaacMayerCreativeWorks

31w↑68

but the cannibal who got there early was having a ball

@nibbles336

31w↑19

@@IsaacMayerCreativeWorks OH MY GOD

@berpfulu

30w↑3

@@IsaacMayerCreativeWorksNAH

@MySerpentine

30w↑1

Well there's an old chestnut.

@sammygirl6910

30w↑6

A cold shoulder is better than a stiff arm, I always say.

@bdink2605

30w↑21

I just want to add to your point. In the books Jaime and Cersei’s incest also hugely based in Cersei’s narcissism. She’s only capable of “loving” people that are like her. The books also emphasize how her and Jaime were identical until puberty, at that point her internalized misogyny, due to the world they live in and her father treatment, made her think as man she’d be respected and powerful and she feels that Jaime l, as the male version of her, is a disappointment. But she also wants to be him. So sex is the closest she can get to actually having that. Anyway I just wanted to feel smart for moment 😂

@Monocultured01

31w↑206

Oh my god, Lola got our dark mother to do the Twilight voice overs!!!

@bouncingbuttons7441

31w↑90

i really can't add anything of worth and value to a video essay that discusses one of my favorite literary devices with such passion and empathy.
i just wanted to say that as a transsexual man, i really see myself as through a mirror in modern cannibalism narratives. something about them both transcends and grounds the body in a way that really speaks to my transgender experience. i am constantly more aware of my body than the average cisgender person and i seek modification of the body to make it closer to my idealized form, modification that brings to mind the visceral experience of voluntary surgery. i was raised evangelical christian, so when i was outed i was told that to seek this modification will destroy not only my body, but my identity, a sort of auto-cannibalism of god's creation. i've found a lot of catharsis in art that seeks to examine the relationship to the body in a more visceral sense as a result. i especially love the music of ethel cain, a trans woman and artist from northern florida, who deals with a lot of heavy themes in her work, including cannibalism. she even has a song inspired by bones and all. my otherness always felt like something to be ashamed and afraid of, inherently isolating, so there is comfort in aligning myself with media that contains a darkness that i was supposed to fear as a child. to even conceive of the taboo in my household was considered sinful, but as an adult, i find that when i confront taboo topics it better adapts me to understand what in this world is truly horrific, rather than just ignoring anything defined as "evil" altogether.
your channel is brilliant and i admire all you do.

@sabretoo

31w↑7

Well said. I can relate to this.🫂

@Monocultured01

31w↑119

Some assorted thoughts on my sitting of this:
1. Food as euphemism spans across a lot of cultures and times. In Korea, "pepper" can be said in place of the actual name of male genitalia. Blasting to the past in medieval Europe, fruits and berries were often portrayed in art as euphemisms for genitals.
2. If anyone wants to get a more in depth, less sensationalized look into the Donner Party, The Indifferent Stars Above is a really great, existential crisis inducing book about their entire journey and how it was doomed from the start.

@misacruzader

31w↑11

Caitlyn Doughty also has an excellent video about the Donner Party that is both informative and respectful.

@Monocultured01

31w↑7

@@misacruzader classic video of hers

@LoveLoveLoveTropical

31w↑128

lol I’m like phobic of cannibalism (to the point where if I’m exposed to it unexpectedly it will haunt me and prevent me from eating or put me off from some foods for life) but somehow this is something I’m able to engage with. I’m uncomfortable and verging on dissociative nausea but my gut is telling me to keep listening to this essay

@lL338

31w↑14

That's normal. Don't worry.

@ilse5220

31w↑3

im like that too but i can't help it, i love writing and reading about, i cant eat for days but i can't stop

@ChristopherSadlowski

31w↑21

Would it help to know that cannibalism is EXTREMELY rare in real life? Plus, yes, someone also said your reaction is pretty normal. We get grossed out thinking about eating our own to prevent us from doing it. In fiction it's all fake and no one gets hurt. You'll go your entire life with a better chance of getting struck by lightning than running into a cannibal.

@CompanionBeans

31w↑2

ough same I haven't been able to eat meat since watching a documentary on the donner party a few years ago

@code8825

30w↑5

Half an hour in, tapping out for my mental health right now, might watch more another time, might not, it is a really disturbing sort of topic, especially when talked about in certain ways

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@viceroymarx406

31w↑93

So glad you mentioned the Andes plane crash, it's one of my favorite events not in a sensational "oh how lurid" way but it genuinely inspired me. The strength those people had in that situation is hard to even imagine. Like that guy said in the interview included in this video, hunger is one of the most visceral feelings that is so hard to resist; your body seems to take over with base instincts when faced with enough hunger. And most people in developed countries (controversial term but ykwim) will never experience strong extended hunger that's out of their control the way they did in the Uruguayan plane crash. In one of the survivor's books I remember a part where it described someone saying "I have great news: they called off the search for us. It's great news because it means we are going to save ourselves." I also think about the strength of those few individuals who took on the burden of preparing and distributing the meat, when they all held strong religious beliefs and felt strong guilt over what they had to do to survive. It just goes to show that while there's an overbearing concept that when things go wrong society descends into anarchy with everyone turning on each other, that's often not the case. People stuck in horrible situations want to save each other and can find unfathomable strength to help each other. Also the epitaph for that plane crash is forever imprinted in my memory. "El mundo a sus hermanos uruguayos: cerca, oh Díos, a tí."

@4nn4h

31w↑22

What I also find hopeful about the story is that none of the family of the people who were eaten were upset about it. They supported the survivors, and were helpful their loved ones had helped in some way. Macabre, I suppose, but still.

@skvllbone1594

30w

A cannibal is still a cannibal.

@4nn4h

30w↑5

@@skvllbone1594 no, there's definitely levels to it. Ritual (and funerary) cannibalism, survival cannibalism, and... whatever people like Dahmer do ("recreational" cannibalism?) are all different things that have different implications.

@mxgicdave5497

31w↑97

i cannot begin to describe how happy i am to see a video like this about bones and all. i absolutely adored the film, and was so sad to see so many shallow readings of it. cannibalism is continually one of my favorite fictional motifs, and to hear you so eloquently break down its use in examining relationship to the body, to love and desire, to queerness was just...SOMETHING I NEEDED SO BADLY...thanks for this video sooo much i hope everyone who hasnt seen bones and all goes and gives it a chance

@Romanticoutlaw

31w↑37

this comment section is making me realize that a lot more people are squeamish of cannibalism and gore than I thought. I know my fascination and fixation isn't exactly.. "vanilla" but I was under the impression that casual discussion of it without going into graphic description wasn't quite so visceral for this many people

@hughcaldwell1034

31w↑3

Funnily enough, I had a parallel experience yesterday. I's telling my partner about Hufu, the human flavoured tofu "for the ethical cannibal" and she said it was probably discontinued because it was hard to market, whereas I thought it would market itself. Turns out not everyone feels as I do, go figure... and then this video dropped. Perfect timing.

@gwencere9383

31w↑1

yeah people saying they feel nauseous at the mere mention of it, I don't get it at all... but at the same time its a very core taboo of colonial society so I guess its deeply ingrained

@lovestings

30w

Along with teaching me that folks are more squeamish about cannibalism than I thought, this comment section has taught me that folks are more obsessed with cannibalism than I thought too!

@koboldcatgirl

31w↑180

Genuinely, I think Lola might be the only creator who could get me to try to watch a video about zombies and cannibalism, two subjects that are basically hard lines for me. Honestly, I love the idea of acknowledging the hunger element of vampires and comparing it to those other two subjects.

Anyways, let's see if I can get through this. Probably gonna be a "listen-only" one for me. X3

EDIT: For now, I am concluding that I cannot. This video is so good, though. I made it to the Forks talk and decided to dock while the waters were calm. I'll try to continue it another time.

@Owesomasaurus

31w↑10

Its OK not to finish a video if the content isn't going to be easy for you. Its fine. Nobody will think less of you, you are not failing the creator, there is no moral obligation to watch video essays if the content is Not For You for any reason.

@koboldcatgirl

31w↑1

@@Owesomasaurus Mm-hm! I want to, because I love Lola's content. Just gotta take it in pieces.

@princessmanitari4993

30w↑1

I'm in a similair situation; i really wanna watch this, but cannibalism is one of my biggest triggers. I am trying to grasp it, but my brain can't so i will not be watching this video for awhile until i've made more steps in my process.

@kialyreaulo3448

30w↑1

You're not alone! I'm taking it in a little bit and a time and I'm treating myself to cocoa for my trouble!)

@MythrilShotgun

31w↑98

I'm a guy who graduated High School in 2007, and I too had given Twilight a predictable amount of undeserved vitriol and scoffed at my little sister who was about 13 at the time. However, I did actually read the books when the power went out one day, and I did feel bad for the commentary I had made previously. It wasn't great, but as a kid who devoured Animorphs, I had no leg to stand on what my tween sister consumed. I may have teased her about it, still, but ultimately, it was nice to just be able to engage with my little sister about a silly vampire series.

@Maya-hw2ny

31w↑50

I read Bones and All as a book about self acceptance and not a romance. She eats Lee BECAUSE she loves him. The book shows that she is a person who can not love anybody without harming them, and she has accepted it at the end.

At least in the book, it is*
After relistening to the review, it sounds kind of like they changed the death of lee completely.

Spoilers for the book:

Lee doesnt die to Sully. He survives and then him and marin have sex. she eats him DURING this. She also seems to know that this will happen and goes through with it anyways. This is completely different from the movie and I feel like it changes the tone, considering how important his character and his death are to Marin's development

@Maya-hw2ny

31w↑6

I think im going to reread it now, but the original version read as self acceptance, while the movie does sound more like a love story

@bunny-mi2yw

30w↑1

would you recommend the book?

@Maya-hw2ny

30w

@@bunny-mi2yw yesssss
its one of my favorite books!!

@BeauKearns-ev2vj

20w↑1

i like how in the book Lee isn’t forcing Marin into eating him as a result of tragedy.

SPOILER!! marin & lee are drinking alcohol(marin for the first time perhaps) and due to her lack of cognition, she really gives in into the desire to eat Lee. in the book at also seems like they both know that it’s going to happen.

i feel like the movie removes a lot of marin’s agency when it comes to the travel and the eating decisions. i also think the relationship between sully and marin in the book makes his attempt at eating her so much more impactful.

@nikoteardrop4904

31w↑65

Queer grunge kid approaching middle age, with with diagnosed OCD here:
DeAngelis' line "What thoughts are you afraid to think" triggered a eureka moment. Like, holy shit, cannibalism can read as an analogy for OCD. It's like the whole thing, fundamentally. We have terrible, intrusive, often violent or taboo thoughts, and we do something to interrupt them, but they always come back. So we do the thing again, and we get some relief, but the thoughts always come back. So we have to do the thing again...

The parallel is so clear once you see it. Also, intermittent vegetarian and current pescatarian also kind of obsessed with cannibalism narratives.

@canonicallytrans

31w↑55

Its been so long since you uploaded a video that I went from a fail son to a success daughter.

@LolaSebastian

31w↑23

congratulations & trans rights ❤️

@viceroymarx406

31w↑34

I'm so glad I went to see Bones And All in theatres. It was such a beautiful movie. Admittedly a big motivator was Timothee Chalamet but, well, that's not a crime. Luca Guadagnino makes such visually compelling movies that definitely somehow look like a dream.

@solvjans5988

30w↑1

May I ask, how gory is it? This video made the film look very intriguing and I'm thinking about watching it, but I'm a little sensitive to gory stuff. I think organs and blood are not that bad, but if faces get disfigured (especially eyes, then I will get nightmares) I can't stand it. Can I still watch this film?

@ismolatham4393

31w↑147

as someone who is currently writing an aro-ace-cannibalism-not-love-story-love-story i am here for this video!

@zealouslyCantankerous

31w↑11

please drop link once you publish; that sounds sick !!!

@abnormalusername

31w↑9

I'm not sure what you mean by that but I'd love to read it.

@kymeruh

31w↑5

i want to read this so fucking BAD

@dean1111

31w↑3

god i wanna read that

@Kilroyan

31w↑2

consider this my vote of confidence and support for this rad idea

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@emily-crawford-soprano9181

31w↑48

Um excuse me Mother Natalie reading the excerpts? Amazing. All silliness aside this is also so well made, thanks for making a video essay I didn’t even know I needed.

@maxiargos1971

31w↑16

A vegan writing about cannibalisms is like a ace person writing about smut. It's more likely then you think.

Also for another criminal who ate people was the, 'gray man' Who ate children. Which oddly enough did remind me of Sully from this movie. I could be looking too deeply into this, but when we see Sully's hair collection he keeps we don't know if he started by eating people at death's door (I didn't read the book so sorry if I missed some context). With hair it ages and losses color. So there is no way to know a child's hair was uses at the start of the man's collection. Once this went into my headspace I took it as a sign of him eating those his age/those at death's door and hiding his true hunger for younger people. Which is why he target's Maren even if 18 still a young one at that, and at the end he ate Kayla. And in a odd way with this weird headcanon I have with who he might have first ate to his last. A child compared to him.

Also did you see Raw? (If you showed it in some parts of the video sorry I must have missed it.) It's another cannibal movie with the MC being a vegan. I have to look more into that but I thought I should share it none the less.

@laindarko3591

29w↑6

Bones & All is one of my favorite movies of all time, thank you so much for giving it its due, I feel like it hasn't been talked about much and when it is, people are mostly just talking about how "fucked up" and gory it is, when there's so much more to this film. It has such a big heart and it's so thematically complicated and resonant... But yeah basically thank you for talking about it in a way that is actually meaningful and thoughtful ❤️

@PITAchic84

31w↑39

As someone whose closest kayak destination is Donner Lake i think of cannibalism way more than the average person and am also queer. This video essay is soooo much of a crossroads of my interests and holy crap i am so happy and cant 3ven parse my feelings. Thank you for this. I need to think and come back

@micol7490

31w

Can i suggest you to watch the Ask a Mortician video about the Donner party too... It's an interesting one and it analyze cannibalism well imho :)

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@JetPropulsion13

31w↑14

Lola is one of the few creators that I'll drop everything and watch whatever they put out right away. And now she's putting out a 2-hour essay on a morbid special interest of mine? I feel so spoiled here!

@ranniazorya

31w↑53

The clips you use of Twilight in the beginning have the same feel to the camera work that mockumentary shows like The Office and Arrested Development have. You isolating them from their context allowed me to notice the shakiness and strange zooms.

@prismaticviewcosplay858

30w↑9

This was such an amazing breakdown. I was half expecting Tokyo Ghoul to be included due to its exceptionally similar themes and the fact that you enjoy Manga. I would love to hear your take on it if you have read/do read it.

Youve got me interested in so much other canniblism media, since tokyo ghoul was my first forray into it so thank you, and thanks for this honest and detailed breakdown.

@aarons.6309

30w↑9

This is, bar none, both my new favorite video essay from you, and my favorite piece of media to discuss cannibalism of all time. You brought up such incredible points of analysis and really made me think deeply about why cannibalism media resonates with people (esp as a queer metaphor). Fantastic job!!!!!!!!!!

@handsoap3346

31w↑19

This is true of every video of yours but I love so much the way you incorporate music into your videos. These essays are ART

@colonelweird

31w↑38

The topic is so viscerally repulsive to me that I don't watch these movies, but this is Lola, after all. I must watch. Besides, Vivian Strange did a video on Marquis de Sade that makes me want to push the limits of what I can tolerate. So here I am, watching in wonderment to see Lola's skill in making videos improve more and more, while consciously choosing to bracket my impulse to turn away, and instead to keep on watching.

@Eyecyou64

30w

Yes! Push urself until you can't or don't want to!!

@muddlewait8844

30w

I’m not there yet, and not sure I want to get there. I love Lola’s content, but I’ve tried, and I can’t watch this.

@tani7895

31w↑13

Seeing this video mysteriously appear in my recommended as I sit here at nearly 2:30 am working on some classwork has also reminded me of one my favorite bloodlines from Vampire the Masquerade.
They are known as the Nagaraja, a type of flesh-eating vampire. They cannot sustain on blood but require the flesh of others to consume.
They’re a very interesting and difficult to play character due to the heavy masquerade breaching caused by their presence but they also beautifully tie into both concepts of cannibalism and vampiric nature mentioned prior. (I was very lost by the Twilight stuff for a bit but without it, my cannibalistic kindred wouldn’t have come to mind.)

To add onto all of the personal horrors, they are also Necromancers with their specific ability of necromancy revolving around the devouring of spirits and ghosts instead of mortal flesh, which adds a further layer of macabre to their existence.

@AlexJ1

31w↑14

@emclaire7027

31w↑11

I’d highly recommend the French film, Dans ma peau (In My Skin) for a really fascinating and moving piece about compulsive self-harm and autocannibalism. Obvious warning that it’s quite graphic, but I think extremely worth a watch if you’re up to it

@meeree9523

31w↑19

I'm only a few minutes in but I gotta say, even 10+ years later the Twilight soundtrack still slaps

@iamsocoolz

31w↑11

Okay, in your mentioning of Jaime and Circe in early GOT, the reason the themes hit so deep in the first vs the last seasons is because the books were doing an incredibly good job of portraying that toxic codependency between the two, but the later seasons of GOT lost the plot cause they were writing the show faster than the author was finishing the books and thus had not real "source material" to go on (cause in their rush for the viewership moneys, they also changed several features of the story which ultimately alters the whole course of the narrative meaning the later seasons were the show writers pulling stuff outta their ass for Martin to give the thumbs up/down on, and not following the source material to its natural conclusion)

@Eyecyou64

30w↑2

Even then after a while they just stopped asking him

@DebbieGarciaa

31w↑19

It's getting increasingly harder to see video essays about fiction that deals with taboo topics that talks about said works of fiction from a non-judgmental/holier than thou perspective. That's why you remain one of my favorite video essayists on this site, Lola (together with Hazel and Amelie Doree).

@Eyecyou64

30w↑2

So glad someone said it! It's clear enough what Lola wants to say but she actually engages with the material to capture the whole of it and not just her thoughts and emotions about it.

@adeadrat5584

30w↑10

Another fantastic video! Hannibal was one of the seminal pieces of media I devoured in middle school and I'm a life long horror fan. What struck me about Bones and All was how comforting it felt. Not only did I love the film I left the theater (both times) smiling overcome with a sense of deep catharsis. It still feels a little weird to explain but I feel like this video captures extremely well what art about otherness can be at its best and most sincere (and its most gruesome).

@madisonsveen9396

31w↑24

I got the notification for this while adding Tender is the Flesh to my read section on StoryGraph. I finished it minutes ago 💀 I guess this video is very relevant to me at this very moment. Thanks as always Lola!

@xxcxreyxx

31w

god tender is the flesh is so good

@thegeekclub8810

31w↑7

This video has been super interesting and helpful for a werewolf film I’m writing. I’ve only just started working on it, but cannibalism is such a big part of the werewolf mythos that I knew as soon as I saw the title for this video that it would be relevant. And yeah, I might have to go back and watch it a second time (for research)! I love the idea of cannibalism being both about love, but also about domination, definitely going to use that in my film. Also the idea of embodiment is so important for this film, as it is about a trans werewolf. Thank you so much for making this video! Can’t wait to make my trans werewolf film.

@leap-of-faith

31w↑8

all i’m gonna say is i have to watch bones and all because just listening to the beginning description and learning how it ends made me cry. the idea of consuming someone you love, of giving yourself up for consumption hurt my heart in a bittersweet way.

on a side not - i’ve never been someone with a morbid fascination of cannibalism but i do have a morbid fascination with body horror. how the body can take different shape in horrific ways, to the point of questioning what is human? how does suffering change us? to be afraid of our bodies and the things that can happen to flesh. it’s weird to think about maybe but as the video discusses, exploring taboo ideas in fiction allow us to express this fear in relation to our environments, to who we are. really beautiful video 💛

@tscolicious

31w↑5

You genuinely tackle such interesting topics in the most humane, empathetic ways in the whole video essay space. this is genuinely one of my favorite videos EVER.
btw i did NOT expect an hrh collect insert ahh

@eleanorf.2508

31w↑30

The section about vegetarianism/flesh diseases/etc. reminded me of this play by Wallace Shawn ("Inconceivable!" guy from the Princess Bride!!) called Grasses of A Thousand Colors, where a scientist creates a genetic modification that allows animals to be raised solely on the meat of their own species. Then the scientiest has sex with a cat? Like a lot? It's one of the most explicit explorations of taboo-as-metaphor I personally have ever encountered, and the podcast version is incredibly eerie.

@spirithawk6580

31w

Like,, a house cat? Or like an anthro furry type cat?

@jadeceridwen93

31w↑9

Surprisingly, one of the best inversions of the zombie as plagued people that can be disregarded trope was in the Adventure Time Fionna and Cake episode "The Winter King"

@lottieminney5354

31w↑9

That was absolutely fantastic. I'm in the middle of writing my thesis (it's about incest as a fantasy construction of fraternity and purity in antebellum America so only, like, tangentially related) and I've been having a completely uninspired week. Some of the things you said have truly rekindled my interest. I especially like what you said about construction and deconstruction at the end there. Passion is the best trait someone can have, so thank you for sharing yours. PS: If you want a beautiful retelling of the Andes story I really reccomend the episode of 'You're Wrong About' about it. It's so refreshing to hear people just react and listen to the story and find empathy for their survival without sensationalising it.

@eridonstewart9973

28w↑3

I wonder if you’ve ever seen My Mad Fat Diary. It generally a great show and it also discusses eating disorders and mental health issues. I don’t personally have an eating disorder so I don’t know how accurately it portrays them but the show felt very authentic and earnest to me. It tackled everything with a lot of sympathy.

@littlewyzard

31w↑5

i haven’t finished the video yet but i really hope you talk about hannibal! it’s my all time favorite show and honestly a cinematic masterpiece. the symbolism in the show is extremely deep and layered and you pick up on different aspects of it with each viewing

@halfpintrr

31w↑10

Cannibalism is something of a theme in my works. As I use it, I see it as a form of ultimate subjugation and love at different times. My villain who isn’t wrong (a vampire cannibal) blasphemed by committing willing cannibalism on a dying god. It is very interesting to see this theme popping up now. Also, Vegans writing cannibalism? If I had a nickel for every piece of mainstream cannibalism media that was written by a vegan/vegetarian I’d have 2 nickels. Which is not a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. (Ravenous and Bones and All)

But I kind of like the cannibalism after death that was a funary practice (endocannibalism) in some indigenous cultures. It was a way to keep the person with you. Also reminds me in a way of Bones and All, but in a completely different context. I’m glad you mentioned it.

@mtfoxx3

29w↑4

suddenly feeling a lot less weird about being into vore

In all seriousness though I so admire how you so thoughtfully and thoroughly deconstruct taboo topics like this. The first video I watched of yours was "We Need to Talk About Lolita" a few years ago, and from the title alone I was... afraid... going into it. But, I was just as impressed then as I am now with, not just your analysis, but your social and emotional intelligence, and ability to articulate your points so clearly. It's sincerely refreshing, and always gives me a lot to think about.

@jsam-bv6jb

30w↑3

I loved this so much. You hit not only pop culture issues but also true life issues, and you did it in a way that was not only entertaining but also educational.

@freedom_mayor

31w↑4

i loved this! it went by so fast because it was structured/written so well. i LOVE all your videos, though this feels different usually i have to focus on your 2hr videos and process it like a text but this one was very deep yet so accessible. idk i hope thats an ok thing to say and doesnt feel like a dig or something

@Flibbityflob

31w↑13

Finished watching this one on Nebula the other day, and lamented the lack of comments feature because! You mentioned Yellowjackets at the start, and the big driving question of that show isn't if they'll cannibalize their teammates, we know from the first moment of the first episode. The question is /why/ cannibalism, why they commit this taboo, what causes them to depart from conventional society. And, spoilers, it's an act of love. It's a desperate act of one girl holding a part of a girl she loves/hates/despises/adores inside her body forever, it's a method of preservation and of devotion. She wants this, one of the girls says, the implication that this is her gift to those she loved and hated in equal measure. Cannibalism is love in that you love someone so much you want them within your body forever. You know not what to do with yourself aside from consuming, or devoting yourself to someone so fully that you allow the consumption.

Also, Ethel Cain's Preacher's Daughter is such a good album that deals with that same theme, of cannibalism and love. I'll just quote her here; "I think cannibalism itself is crazy and it’s not anything new, but I think there’s a similarity between cannibalism and not being able to get someone that you love close enough to you so you have to literally devour them, and that’s still not close enough. I just love the romantic implications of the desperation of getting someone so close to you that you have to devour them. I think this new rise of cannibalism in media – Satanic panic aside – is such an act of devotion, metaphorically. Which is so beautiful!", from the article "I Went Rollerskating With Ethel Cain."

@gwencere9383

31w↑3

Yeah Yellowjackets is not about the morality of cannibalism but more the emotional crisis that comes with eating a face and body belonging to a person you know, and its steeped so heavily in suppressed lesbianism whether the showrunners are willing to admit it or not

@qmonk5108

31w↑8

@briocheequinox1346

31w↑4

another absolute BANGER of an essay, you're amazing at what you do, you're absolutely one of the best in the game. And I can't help but feel catered to both as someone who was similarly vampire knight obsessed from age eleven and who has 'thinks cannibalism is romantic' as the red flag in my dating profile bio. the progression from vampire to cannibal as an icon is such an interesting concept, to have gone from a being constituting the fear of being drained of an essence, of resources, to the fear of being the consumer and of the act of consumption itself. and I think you can draw that line in the story of vampire knight itself which goes from a human - vampire dichotomy to being about the vampires destroying each other and themselves.

also it's genuinely impressive to produce a two hour video essay about cannibalism and barely touch on hannibal and I mean that in the best way

@zrasabba

31w↑3

Fun fact: I read quite a few of the Vampire Kisses books before I saw the graphic novels. Part of a trend where some American books got turned into comics to capitalize on the popularity of manga. The other one I remember seeing was Maximum Ride.
I hadn't thought of vampire shoujo as a trend, but once you started listing them...

@arcanatheimaginarians8477

29w↑6

As a disabled, neurodivergent, mixed two spirit native, thank you so much for mentioning indigenous peoples! Please donate to the Quileute Nation as well as indigenous communities and individuals, it's the least settler fans can do to support us!

@julianil2590

31w↑5

My contribution to this really interesting topic: in the manga chainsaw man (spoilers) Denji, the main charcter, is groomed by Makima, the villain. Long story short, he finally realizes that she needs to be defeated, the problem is that she has the ability to redirect the damage she takes onto random japanese citizens. The way he bypasses this is by eating her, because he does it out of love so it doesn't count as an attack.
Also, the whole eating the flesh and blood of Jesus thing lol.

@luxill0s

30w↑4

And what I think is interesting is that the Chainsaw devil destroys things by eating them — Makima wasn’t just eaten, she was ruined and destroyed at a fundamental level, what she represents and what she IS was destroyed through the act of consumption.

The very first devil that we see Denji kill is the tomato devil, an embodiment of food, and yet all he can afford to eat is a single slice of bread. At the beginning of part one he is killing food and yet cannot eat and by the end he is eating a devil to destroy what she embodies. He conquered the embodiment of conquest by eating someone he had hungered for, though all she wanted was his literal, visceral heart… there’s a weirdly beautiful, almost poetic quality to that

@erinrosen9952

28w↑4

the bbc show "in the flesh" is a BEAUTIFUL take on zombies and the ethical dilemmas involved in both killing them and curing them. i can't speak highly enough abt this show it is one of my all-time favorites.

@Takumi_Did_Nothing_Wrong

31w↑7

I literally just got done rewatching Twilight with my mom, and here you are uploading a video with Twilight in it!

@erinm8085

30w↑1

Wow, this is so beautifully written. I’m so excited for this video to become my whole personality for the next month straight!!!

@sc6658

31w↑5

I make the same recommendation every time I see a video essay about cannibalism in media: watch Ravenous (1999). It was kind of ahead of its time with regard to playing with cannibalism in this particular symbolic and philosophical way that’s more common now and, while it’s a pretty strange film, I found it really enjoyable (though honestly I’m a horrorhead so). There’s so much you can get out of it if you like this stuff.

@syv2319

30w↑1

Came here for this comment. Ravenous is such a great and underrated movie

@Hxneyette

28w↑2

Lola, you have quickly grown to be one of my favorite creators. Bless you for all of this amazing content.

@TheAngryMarshmallow

31w↑2

This was a FANTASTIC video. Incredible work. I love the way you explain things with such empathy and curiosity. Your essays are wonderful.

@Ancusohm

31w↑4

This is the first video of yours that I've seen, and you've made an excellent first impression! Incredible work. Great video. Thank you so much for making it!

@finlockhart4572

31w↑1

Thank you. Even if this doesn't stay up for very long, it's important to talk openly about taboo subjects like this in an honest way in mainstream spaces as much as one can, and I'm really grateful that you did.

@lucydecker6276

31w↑5

The only zombie story I've enjoyed recently is the novella "And Then I Woke Up" by Malcolm Devlin which upends the zombie narrative so hard that it still haunts my nightmares. It completely flips the idea of zombies and infection.

@elleofmusic

30w↑1

Omgggg I love you for that entire section on Twilight. Perfection. I'm surprised Tokyo Ghoul didn't get a mention, but honestly it probably would've required a whole 'nother hour, and it covers most of what this video already has that it might've proven redundant anyway. When I first heard the synopsis for Bones and All, I rolled my eyes because it sounded like a typical western riff on Tokyo Ghoul. Refreshingly, it not only was not that, but managed to be really thoughtful and beautiful in many of the same ways that drew me in to Tokyo Ghoul in the first place, those being the deeper themes associated with cannibalism that you lay out here so eloquently. If by chance you haven't read it, I really can't recommend it highly enough. It's right up your alley.

@slackslumber8523

30w↑3

I’m a nonbinary teen who has struggled with an ED for years. I’ve had a bad relationship with food and my body for as long as I can remember and this video really hit close to home for me. I’ve had a really hard time trying to articulate and understand my feelings about food before now and I feel like your video finally gave me a different perspective to think about it. Thanks for giving me the words I never had before 💗

@un_comfortable

30w↑1

Your ability to articulate nuance is unmatched. Your astute observations have actively sat with me and stirred an interesting dialogue with myself for the last 3 days -- Thank you for making this, Lola!

@R0SE727

31w↑1

So exciting to see your work again! Watched this on nebula already so I just wanna comment saying how much I enjoyed this one & hopefully give the algorithm a nudge. I always appreciate your thoughts. I tend to be very punitive of works that have incoherent theming but tbh I think sometimes that skews toward being preferential towards works that I would otherwise consider didactic. Thank you for reminding me of the importance of ambiguity in art

@JoseMariaLuna

31w↑5

Absolutely incredibly and moving and empathetic as always! Even in spite of getting jump-scared with my own voice!

@LolaSebastian

31w↑2

i adore you ❤️

@Triple-A-Artist

26w↑1

I was watching the opening and you really got a star studded cast every feature in this video is someone I greatly enjoy watching and this video as well has gained my great appreciation for this genre of film and your content thank you for this video!

@alma_sven

22w

this is briliant and I loove how you research context of everything 💜

@chunmee8734

29w↑4

you should read the manga called "dog eats dog", its about a cannibal and a boy who seeks him out because he wishes to be eaten.

@zinkheroofyoutube8004

27w↑3

I wished you had covered Hannibal more
Especially because a big focus of the entire the series is empathizing with those who can’t
To see the monsters as human
Other than that, this is an amazing video

@brigade7678

31w↑4

I adore your content, the power in your openers is incredible and often I panic like "oh no how is it over already!?" because they feel so tightly constructed the opening itself feels like a whole video on its own! And as another western Washington (at the time teen) person that was obsessed with twilight, and specifically rewatched the 1st movie over and over for comfort, I really appreciate you highlighting our backyard and the Tribe's need. I'll be donating and sending news to other friends that had their own twilight obsession phase.
also I have to say that feeling that you're intruding on a totally normal town as some weirdo fanatic...has been there for at least a decade. It was never really the tourist spot people went there in search of ^^; I remember feeling similar way back when the movies still hadn't finished coming out- we just spent the say enjoying the coast instead when we realized)

I'm THRILLED to see how this connects into cannibalism now, as ANOTHER interest I've always had, yet not truly understood about myself!

@brigade7678

31w

@emptysoul8462

19w

I’m so glad you mentioned Trent Reznor! Him and Atticus Ross have been composing some of my favourite movie soundtracks lately. Not to mention that all the movies they’ve composed for turned out to be pretty great and interesting!

@queerlybeloved257

31w↑2

this is such a good work!!!! i think the main fictional piece i've engaged w/ focusing on cannibalism is "yellowjackets," but now after watching this i really want to read and/or watch "bones and all" -- it sounds wonderful! (i don't mind knowing the plot going in, i think it's sort of like knowing the route of a road trip -- you know the towns u'll pass, but not what they look like or any of the details). and it's neat to rethink on "yellowjackets" with the ideas u bring up in this vid. thanks for making it, to you and the whole crew!!!

(also -- just donated to Move to Higher Ground! i had no idea about it before watching this vid, so thank you to you and the crew for sharing this information.)

@drnickfury

31w↑2

Thank you so much for talking about Bones and All. I literally wept after I saw it the first time but 9 out of 10 people I show it to want nothing to do with it.

@summerchild_

31w↑9

The Twilight soundtrack is SO GOOD. From time to time I play the album for someone without telling them that's the Twilight soundtrack and I've get a lot of ppl to like ir

@victoriansquirrel

31w↑11

LOLA YOU DROPPED THIS IN THE MIDDLE OF A CANNIBALISM HYPERFIXATION, THANK YOU MOTHER

@JordanSullivanadventures

31w

Great video! It disturbs me to talk openly about the topic, but leaning into uncomfortable feelings is often how we learn and grow! Another banger, Lola!

@rowanjoy419

30w↑4

I someone I heard said - My favorite fiction monsters are vampires because there are not other monster as close and human as vampires" I always like vampires too, but people usually think we are sort of superficial people for liking them, but what this person said, make me understood why a love them, they are complex individuals who have many advantages but also many flaws also, especially those related to sins, like lust, hunger, envy and also other things that human have tried so many times to repressed, like inner torment that lead you to madness and violence.
I try to watch movies like Jonh's carpenter vampires or underworld, but I felt like this movies make vampires seem as just cold blooded monsters, I don't want to be cliche but felt so hard in love with Interview with the vampire because Louis is sad by the death of his family and also torment bu the idea that he will never go to heaven with them, Claudia is envious that would never grow up and is eternally dependent and Lestat is so detached from humanity but at the same time cannot live without a companion.

@originalityiskey6977

31w↑3

this is a very high quality thought provoking video that has things to say that will be in my head for a good while. thank you for putting it together.