In response to Chapter 3: Nice to Eat with You; Acts of Communion
For some reason unbeknownst to me,
eating is very intimate. One of our most
essential, basic needs is so secretive.
In fact when you think of it, it is our most basic acts that we keep
most to ourselves. There are several
reasons for this.
For one, referring back to these
essential parts of life remind us that we are human, we are mortal. Ultimately, having needs reminds us of our
weaker points. Things we must do for
survival remain intimate because the simple reminder that we are not invincible. It's a humbling experience, that one would
think would become habit, yet they retain that "wannabe" mysterious
quality.
Also, kind of going down the same
path. People don't want to be reminded of the commonalities between their
enemies. Similar to the statement about
the opposing team putting on one pant leg at a time. Does anyone want to be reminded that under
all the superficial, built up facades of who we want to be or how we want to
appear, we are all humans fighting for survival?
This is why it is so uncomfortable
to eat with someone you don't like or someone you are currently fighting
with. Because it feels as if with every
bite that enters your mouth you are admitting your vulnerability. I don't believe there is anything more
uncomfortable than eating with someone you are fighting with.
Now in regards to sexualized meals,
I watched the scene they referred to, the Tom Jones one. It was extremely
primitive, which makes perfect sense considering the primitive nature of
sex. Sex joins eating in the category of
intimate basic needs (not so much a personal need as a societal one). In this scene, the man comes off as very
aggressive and much more animalistic than the woman. She seems much more seductive and
luring. It goes back to the
stereotypical roles of a man and woman is a sexual relationship. He disregards how "sexy" he is, and
is much more just going after it.
Whereas the woman is very conscious of how attractive she is as to
interest the man, yet she also shares those moments of aggression which
together make it realistic. This is also
keeping with the times regarding gender roles and all.
In every special event, people
eat. At this point it's beyond the
expectation of there being food. It is
expected for the food to be good. Eating
together is such an essential part of celebrations. Also, the food sets the tone for the
event. Pizza at a birthday party offers
a whole different atmosphere than finger sandwiches and pasta salad. People acquaint, more so marry, the mood of
the meal and the feel of the food. I
mean there's even Thanksgiving... an entire holiday based around a famous
meal.
In many scenarios, dinner provides
a situation where a character is unable to escape. Therefore they must deal with whatever
obstacles is in their way, find a clever way to beat around the bush, or take
it upon themselves to consider the stakes so high as to walk out on the meal,
escalating it all the further.
I'm trying to think of an instance
regarding meals. One that comes to mind is in the Tony Winning, Gentleman'
Guide to Love and Murder, there is a big dinner scene towards the end of the
musical. Throughout the entirety of the
show, Monty Navaro is murdering all the heirs that stand in his way to an
earldom (lordship?).
In this dinner scene he must find a
way to dispose of the final heir. And it
is approximately in this scene (definitely as a result of this scene) that he
is caught for the murders. This is a very climactic scene, as most of the cast
is present.
