CONTENT WARNING: Cannibalism, murder, death, sexual violence, sexual deviancy.

"You boys remind me of that German cannibal who advertised for a friend and then ate him and his penis before he died. Tragedy being the penis was overcooked. Go to all that trouble to eat a friend and you overcook his penis! They ate it anyway. They had to. They committed. But they didn't enjoy it."
-Mason Verger, Hannibal (2013-2015)

I was watching a video on disturbing lost media, and the case of Armin Meiwes and Bernd-Jurgen Armando Brandes came up, which I decided to briefly look into. I was more curious on the legal aspect, Brandes entirely consented to having himself killed and his body eaten, not a single action committed by Meiwes was without consent. He, however, is living out the rest of his life imprisoned in Wustefeld, Germany: murder is still murder, even if consensual. However, my curiosity was piqued by the massive "Cultural Impact" section on the Wikipedia page of Armin Meiwes; a section double the size of the rest of the page. Four films about or inspired by the case, at least ten songs that referance or are even wholly about the two men, at least eleven TV referances, two plays, and even a musical. And this is just those listed on the Wikipedia, I think there are likely more.
I mean, how many of you have heard referance along the lines of "cannibal who ate man's penis?" That's Armin Meiwes, whether you knew it or not. Strangely enough, I have been to Rotenberg ob der Tauber, the city in which this event took place. I didn't know it at the time, and I do not know if I ever crossed paths with Meiwes's home in the city, a home which, in April of this year, was destroyed in a fire. The cause of the fire has not been determined, however I'm sure local police are not very interested in whether an arsonist or a reasonable god was involved.

All that aside, I am... well, fascinated with the fascination with this case. It seems to have very much captured the minds of the public internationally; one of the aforementioned plays originated in Denmark. That's a German crime, with a cultural impact ranging throughout Europe and North America. I would go so far as to say, behind Jeffrey Dahmer, this may be one of the most referanced cannibal cases in the United States. And these two cases themselves beg the question- is cannibalism a more prevalent form of taboo sexual gratification for those with queer identities? Or does the intersection of cannibalism and queerness capture attention moreso than the heterosexual cannibal? It's an interesting question I have no reason to investigate further; I've got too many projects on my plate. But I think it's an interesting intersection, queerness and cannibalism. I do think that when one has a deviant sexual identity, they are probably more likely to engage in other sexually deviant behavior- not just that which is illegal, but even just engaging in fetish communities. Deviancy is a spectrum which includes crime, but not all deviancy is criminal and not all which is illegal is deviant!

I don't know, I don't have much of a point with this, it just surprised me the massive impact this case has had, the recent update with the fire, and the realization of a personal connection with the case. I think, maybe, with my fears of never being loved unconditionally, that in another life I could have been a cannibal. Armin Meiwes said that starting at age 12 he had fantasies of killing and eating his friends, so that they could never leave him.

"If you love me, Henry, you don't love me in a way I understand."
-Richard Siken, Crush (2005)