Comments on: Ban lifted on gay cannibal film

By: Kurt

Kurt — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:30:00 +0000

sounds tasty!

By: Jessi

Jessi — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:08:23 +0000

Neil,
or the one about the temperature in John Wayne Gacy’s house being 32 below

By: Morgan

Morgan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:01:37 +0000

I’ve waiting all my life for my very own German cannibal, ha!

By: RJ

RJ — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:53:48 +0000

I hate to say this buuut: only the Germans! Sheeesh!

By: Nigel

Nigel — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:45:15 +0000

I actually downloaded the American version, Grimm Love, yesterday and was a bit surprised because it plays out like a dissonant romantic film. Not a bad film at all, but then again I’ve always been quirky.

By: drewski

drewski — Sun, 31 May 2009 04:35:59 +0000

First, recall that the reason Meiwes wasn’t initially tried for murder was that there was ample documentation of the “victim’s” consent, both in writing and on video. The victim was a software engineer or something, worked for Siemens (I think) in Berlin. He entered into the sequence of actions of his own will. Also, Germany didn’t have a law against cannibalism at the time of the first trial.

Cannibalism occupies a strange little corner of German culture. During the economic turmoil during and after WW1, there were numerous cases of cannibalism. One involved a neighborhood where–during chronic food shortages–there was someone selling potted meat. It wasn’t from your standard livestock. This was before TV, before internet, before most people had radios.

Strange to consider, but imagine that this case was in the US? I can think of at least a few states where the only way to prosecute might be with assisting a suicide, followed up with abuse of a corpse.

Anybody know if Germany has a Federal law similar to the “Son of Sam” law here (where criminals can’t profit from media depictions of their actions)? Did Meiwes see any revenue from this movie? Would he have standing to sue over it?

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:12:02 +0000

I agree that the film should not be banned. It is very disturbing but there are many stories that are disturbing. How many childrens stories involve cannibalism, (Hansel and Gretel for example, not to mention others)? It’s a primal fear that all animals have, and it taps into that, forcing us to confront that fear. That’s one function that art plays in society, and it’s an important one.

By: The Menstruator

The Menstruator — Sat, 30 May 2009 11:25:04 +0000

This film was at the G&L film festival under the title Grimm Love. Kerri Russell is in it and frankly it’s creepily romantic.
We find people we have things in common with all the time. Imagine feeling so alone in your adult urges and meeting that perfect someone that has the same urge. You want to eat a human and they want to be eaten. It’s very intimate and very… sort of dreamily romantic in a very disturbing way. It took something of gore and grossness and sort of made it lovey and filled with depth.
It’s not nearly as gory as one would think. The best scenes are when they first meet and neither of them is sure the other is for real. Their wanting and the comfort which they reach once they realize how lucky they are to have met each other… it’s really breath taking.
Two consenting adults can’t be wrong… imagine someone loving you so much they want to digest you?? I dunno. Seems like gay marriage would just be easier though.

By: Morgan

Morgan — Sat, 30 May 2009 10:41:35 +0000

Somehow, I don’t know, maybe I am old-fashioned, but I prefer romance and love, the triumph of good over evil, where love wins out and people kept apart somehow find each other again against incredible odds, uplifting sort of things.
I got through a film like about Nazi camp Sobibor in Poland where half of the 600 camp inmates eventually managed to escape into the nearby woods while the other half were gunned down as they ran against incredible odds of plans going wrong, …even though the Nazis were brutal and horrid gassing people, doing ugly and worthless medical experiments on them and cremating them in ovens, sending human hair to be woven into car seat fabric by a German automaker at that time, I don’t recall stories of them eating human flesh for dinner, really loving it and getting sexually turned by it all. Meiwes takes horror to a new level. It was enough for me to see scenes of a gay man being slowly strangled by the Nazis with a piano wire around his neck to force him to divulge names and addresses of other gay men around he knew. I have gotten through plenty of killing, savagery, blood in various films. a film about the massacre of Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, and a hotel owner and his family’s efforts to survive plus have his hotel turn into a refuge and a haven for terrified people at risk of him and his family and everyone being killed, and in the end countless refugees including the hotel owner waiting for countries to take them without this Meiwes.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Mrs. Doubtfire, In and Out, Trick, The Birdcage, Brokeback Mountain, The Wedding Banquet (another Ang Lee film), Under One Roof, Seven Years In Tibet, The Zohan, Big Daddy starring Adam Sandler, much more my speed.

By: Neil

Neil — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:08:18 +0000

Jessi! Thank you. It took me just a moment, but I haven’t laughed that hard for some time.

The story was disgusting. The movie would be, at best, disturbing. But your comment was exactly what I needed right now. Thank you.

It reminds me of the add I heard about for Jeffrey Dahlmer’s (sp?) old apartment which read:

Apartment for rent. Roommates included*.

*Some assembly required

Neil