Introduction

Abstract

As Willy Wonka, played by Johnny Depp, welcomes the children into the wonderful world of his chocolate factory in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he offers some witty advice to the goggleeyed young hopefuls: `Everything in this room is eatable. Even I am eatable, but that my dear children is called cannibalism, and is frowned upon in most societies’ (Burton Charlie 2005). His comment goes some way to highlighting how cannibalism manages to worm its way into all kinds of places, expected and unexpected. The popular culture of Europe and America in the last 30 years in music, film, literature, and television has made numerous references to cannibalism. Just a few examples will have to suffice to demonstrate this. In 1983 The Rolling Stones released ‘Too Much Blood’ which focused on the story of real-life Japanese cannibal Issei Sagawa who killed and ate his classmate. The Stones used the case to comment on violence in culture, claiming there is too much blood and that truth is stranger than fiction. The lyrics describe how the killer cut off his victim’s head, put her body in the freezer and after eating her, took her bones to the Bois de Boulogne. The Simpsons (Groening) never misses out on sending up popular opinion and ‘Treehouse of Horror V: Nightmare Cafeteria’ (1994) sees school Principal Skinner and Lunchlady Doris solve the problem of an overcrowded detention hall by putting the children in a blender and eating them.