Imani McCulloh
Late November of 2022, the movie Bones and All came to theaters. It is based upon the book, written by Camille DeAngellis. The movie takes place in the 1980s, in the midwest, following Maren Yearly on a journey to find her mother. Maren isn’t an average girl, she doesn’t often eat fast food, nor frequently enjoy a cold drink in the summer, instead she follows the healthy diet of human flesh. Maren is a cannibal and has been for as long as could remember. Obviously, this was something she had to keep hidden from the public. Maren, feeling alone and estranged, sought out to find her mother (in hopes of finding answers), where she finds herself on a journey of love, famine, and affray. The movie, Bones and All, produces an interesting environment, in which they excelled and greatly failed at displaying various aspects of the movie.
As previously mentioned, Maren began teething and instead of using ice or rubber toys to aid the pain, Maren took note of human flesh. Most cannibals have their first taste of cannibalism during psychosexual development. Oral psychosexual development can begin from birth or one year into the baby’s life. There are three types of cannibalism; ritualistic cannibalism, sacrificial cannibalism, and survival cannibalism. For Maren, cannibalism was instinctual. The movie associated all cannibalists into a group of seemingly “average” people, only able to identify themselves amongst one another by a “smell.” They did this not to survive, not for a ritual, and not for a sacrifice. Unless confronted with morals, it is debated, but often decided that cannibalism is not instinctual.
Early into the movie, Maren has her first encounter with another cannibal. This is an older man named Sully, he educates her on the other cannibals in the world, informs her of his history with cannibalism, and invites her to reside with him. Maren accepts his offer, but leaves Sully while he is showering. It is later revealed that Sully tracked Maren and her lover, Lee, and was frantic and upset that Maren did not reciprocate his (then revealed) romantic feelings. In the book, it is uncovered that Sully is the father of Maren’s mother, who also is a cannibal. Cannibalism was never taught to Maren, so the theory that it is genetically linked is untrue.
Bones and All does continue to be inaccurate within a racial setting. Maren, who’s mother is white and father is black, is the product of an interracial coupling. Albeit, interracial marriage did not become legal until the year 1967, Maren was born before then. Same-sex male couples were heavily taboo in the 80s as well, so when Lee openly had a sexual/romantic relationship with another male, I was surprised. I pondered why the movie chose to not delineate on these topics, but instead the psychology of cannibalism and familial relationships. Bones and All was a scenic movie, but touched on darker topics. Movies such as this only have you wonder how it genuinely compares to real life.
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