Truly, is there any safer, more tranquil spot than the arms of a butcher? The loving embrace of the butcher can banish the cares of the world. Such comfort, such serenity. Who among us hasn't found an oasis within those burly, encircling arms?The antique signboard here depicts this same, universal experience.
Pay no mind to the twisted, infanticidal subtext. Give no thought to the fact that this butcher's last act—before clambering onto the slab himself—is to render his own grandson to The Machine. (Grandson? Of course! The family resemblance is uncanny!)
Of course, both pigs—victim and aggressor—are giggling. Who wouldn't make merry in the face of the destruction of his entire line? "It's the end of the world as we know it," Grandad sings, catching his breath, "and I feel fine."
We try not to repeat ourselves, to hold our tongues, to keep from asking: Why are images like this so widespread? How on earth could they possibly succeed in whetting the appetite?
(Thanks to Dr. Kiki Maraschino for the referral and the photo.)
Addendum (3/17/08): No matter the theme, the "visionaries" of suicidefoodism will repeat it. Grandfather offering up his grandchild as a sacrifice? Here we see it again! Yes, yes, the pedants will argue that the pig is not actually Granddaddy's grandchild. But who can argue with evidence so plain?
2 comments:
Hi!
First of all: Your blog is great.
"We try not to repeat ourselves, to hold our tongues, to keep from asking: Why are images like this so widespread? How on earth could they possibly succeed in whetting the appetite?"
How they can succeed in whetting the appetite remains a mystery to me, too.
But I think images like this can sometimes be beneficial for animals. Take me as an example: From the moment I could take solid food I loved to eat meat. Hold the taters and the veggies, give me another slice of meat instead, was my motto.
BUT: Every time I walked past a butcher's shop that had a smiling pig in the window to advertise his wares, another tiny seed of doubt was planted in my mind.
The result of this was that I'm now a vegetarian (must be almost ten years since I've last eaten meat). Think of all the animals that didn't get butchered so I could eat them during all that time.
So I think those images can be good for animals in some cases...
In a weird, twisted way...
Word Verification is weird, too, by the way.
"yqpztjr" resembles "appetizer" if looked at out of the corner of your eye.
Years ago, when I still ate critters, I stopped into a Kentucky Fried Chicken, the walls of which were adorned with capering baby chicks. There were chicks at the beach, chicks playing badminton, smiling and having the time of their brief lives. I pointed this out to the woman behind the counter. Wasn't it kind of wrong, I asked her, to sell us the image of animals seemingly thrilled to be slaughtered for our snacking pleasure? She replied that she'd never thought about it that way, but as I walked away, her eyes were kind of unfocussed, looking at the jolly chicken mural. She seemed to be thinking about it now...
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