The Disturbing World of Legalized Cannibalism | Tender is the Flesh Explained
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Agustina Bazterrica's 2020 novel "Tender is the Flesh" is a dystopian story about a world where the only meat that is legal to be eaten is human meat. Today I will be breaking down the entire story of the novel and giving some of my overall thoughts. If you are interested in this kind of stuff then please like the video and subscribe.
#endingexplained #disturbing #horrorstories
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Oh my god I thought it said cannabis and I was like wtf
Sorry if you were expecting a boomer take on the legalization of weed and accidentally stumbled onto a video about the systematic slaughtering and butchering of humans😂😂😂
@@davismorgan99 OH MY GOD THATS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED! I was so stoned and I clicked on it and was listening to the video and was like wait why are they eating people? I thought this was about weed? I look back down and I was like ohhhhh and stayed anyways so thank you! I am now subscribed!
I thought I hit the subscribe button last night and I didn’t I was too high I apologize good videos ignore my ignorance please
That “domesticated animal” line was like a punch to the gut lol. I agree with you that I was naive enough to think there was some micro-micro tiny amount of redemption possible, felt like the author was laughing at me in a way for even thinking that. The book also read to me as a really direct criticism of neoliberalism/capitalism.
Yeah I think there’s definitely a lot that the book is saying about how our society works. The idea that the virus is most likely made up and used as an excuse to “purge” the poor and needy is very grim given some of the rhetoric that is being used to describe some of the less fortunate in the US. It’s a great example of using something so disgusting in order to call attention to issues that are equally horrid.
The ending was gnarly. I was just so convinced that I knew where the story was going and to see it all ripped out from under me was amazing. A great commentary on people who think they are “above” system, but are really the primary benefactors of that system.
yup yup yup. One one hand I knew Marcos was a pig, but at the same time I wanted him to make it so badly.
The turning point for me was when he eats the finger at the hunter's table. The line about them being delectable and him being surprised about how good they taste genuinely turned my stomach, out of all the graphic descriptions and shock value in the whole book, that was the part that got me. After everything he's seen and done, knowing what he knows, he eats the meat and he likes it. I still didn't see the ending coming--probably because I'm a Westerner conditioned to expect a Happy Ending, but in hindsight, I think I should have.
At the end when he says "She had the human look of a domesticated animal," I just had this intense thought that she had infected him with the virus and that's why she had to die. Like the virus wasn't actually a physical illness that kills you, it's when you look at something that everyone says can't be reached and treat it like a human.
I have a really bad fear that ThatVeganTracher will find this😳😳😳😳
The book being Spanish certainly explains El Gringo’s name
It’s written in spanish but it’s from Argentina 👋🏻
Yes, spanish is the language of Argentina. There are a lot of countries in south America that speak spanish as it's main language.
As soon as he invited his wife to help deliver the baby, I knew what the ending would be... 😞😭
Marcos' constant derisive comments about the whole meat processing industry and the distant narration really do make you think, for just a moment, that he's not as bad as everyone else. But in the end that's just Marcos thinking he's somehow morally superior to everyone else, that he's smarter than his sister and everyone he works with, when he is just as bad.
He's maybe even worse, at least people like his sister keep their distance (like most people irl who eat meat and try not to ever think about livestock as living breathing beings), but he thinks he's above the law and breeds a female for his own pleasure and gain while keeping it from the authorities, but then goes to work and berates people who don't follow procedure lol
I think the author was probably going more for a critique on capitalism and the way we all jump through mental hoops to distance ourselves from the horrible things happening as a consequence of the system (the people, animals and resources that are exploited)
I think you’re totally right about the capitalism critique. It’s also just a look at consumerism in general and how we justify terrible deeds in order to have a bit more convenience in our lives. I can really only look at it through American eyes, but I would love to see how it connects to the history of South America and Argentina in particular given the book was written by a woman from Argentina.
Thank God someone reviewing this book actually acknowledged the fact that the book alludes to the virus being fake! Every review I watch is like “erm thats just unrealistic” YEAH THATS THE EPOINT!!!!!
Yeah people really miss that for some reason. It’s kind of hard to miss though. The main character mentions it a couple times and if you miss that then some of the themes are really muddled
YES OMG THIS IS THE ONLY REVIEW IVE SEEN OF THE BOOK BUT I LOVE IT SM AND FINALLY SOMEONE GETS THE POINT
This!!! First time I read that part were he talked about his dad (pretty sure that’s the relation) talking about it being a conspiracy etc. bc that’s what made the book really mess with me personally.
17:00 reminds me of 'tithes' from the unwind book series. They are volunteered by their often religious parents and raised to see being 'unwound' (being taken apart to donate every part of their body) as a great honour and service to god. 'Unwinds' (kids who lived normal lives before being given up by their guardians often for a paycheck) are treated much worse in the facility with very little freedom due to fear of them escaping.
There is also a strong theme of denial of the victims personhood and taboo around how unwinding is spoken about, for example, unwinding is not referred to as killing as legally the victim is still 'living' just in seperate parts.
I´m amazed at how people easily forget that WE are animals. The pedestal we stand on is not natural, but one we created ourselves
Still, canibalism isn't well seen even in other species. It's very uncomfortable to see 😅.
I feel bad having to eat cows and chickens, can't imagine eating people.
>consciousness
@@kirausamaria5409 Depends on the species you speak of. Crabs will eat their own young, some bird species eat other birds, etc. and it’s not seen as abnormal behavior for those species. But to us, as animals that don’t eat each other as part of our diet, it is not seen as a normal thing to do.
@@kirausamaria5409Hippos eat each other. Cannibalism is normal in many species.
Many fish will eat their children, many bugs will do the same. It is all cannibalism.
@@GrandRegentSScratchnot everyone experiences consciousness the same or even at the same level. We cannot claim consciousness is the hallmark of human supremacy as it too is derived from imagining differences in ethics and morals. These hallmarks are also beyond individual human control allowing conscious to be molded by the society it inhabits. Now tell me if we are more conscious simply because we can can realize this. No, because there’s no inherent stratification of human consciousness without it being inherently subjective so using it as a barometer for all animals including humans is just not possible or objective.
When I first read the book I was scared it was gonna be interpreted as a “gotcha” from vegans towards meat-eaters, but it wasn’t like that, at least not for me
Same. I definitely think there is a message about how the factory farming industry treats animals, but I think the bigger message is about pushing the limits of what society will conform to if it is normalized.
I'm so, intensely grossed out. In the words of Dorothy Zbornak: "why do I feel the need to bathe?"
I think its important to remember that not only is this book an accurate representation of the way animals are treated, but also an accurate representation of the cognitive dissonance people experience when the implications of their purchases and actions are brought to their attention.
At the end of the day, there are no evidentiary reasons or good lines of philosophical argumentation that demonstrate that the lives and preferences of humans are inherently more worthy of consideration than those of other conscious animals.
In fact, all vertebrate and many invertebrate animals have an overlap in cognition with small human children and mentally handicapped adults. Every severely mentally handicapped person you have ever met is roughly equal in intelligence and awareness of themselves and their surroundings to the animals we routinely consume.
The average person is no different from Marcos, or those who surround him.
Pray animals our naturally eaten in the wild. We are omnivores and it's only healthy to have a naturally balanced diet. We have earned our place above the rest of the animal Kingdom by being more intelligent and more capable. People used to butcher their own animals at home and it wasn't a big deal. The only reason why people pay for it now is because it's faster and cheaper to have someone else do it instead. You could make your own soap by hand or make your own clothing, but then you would be doing that instead of whatever other specialized job that you do. The vast majority of hunters have great respect for the animals that they hunt, process, and eat. Maybe people should see how animals are butchered just so that they have a little bit more respect for the animals and don't waste food is all. 🤷
@@jacobstaten2366 I agree. While I think seeing the butchering process might give some people less inclined to food waste, I don't think eating meat is inherently a bad thing. Humans are omnivores, so having meat in our diets is perfectly natural and can be a part of a healthy diet. Plus, even many "herbivores" occasionally eat meat in the wild, like in cases of deers snacking on snakes and other small critters to get more trace minerals they lack in their natural diets. Like you said, most hunters respect the animals they hunt. Many cultures like the Inuit need to eat meat in order to survive. I'm saying this as someone who is vegetarian irl.
@sorcerersapprentice "We must use every part of the deer, not let anything go to waste. This way, we respect her. Otherwise, it's just murder."
A quote from the show Hannibal that fits well here
I think about how it's also a criticism about misogyny and how women are treated no better than animals by society. It really hit me how misogynistic the narrator was towards every woman in the book versus the men. Every woman was bitch, a whore, or a virgin. How young women are viewed as livestock to bred and discarded like how he did with the young girl. It makes me think of how poor young desperate women are promised money to be surrogates by rich couples then have their baby ripped away from them right after birth.
Do you think the girl he has as a gift was underage? In the book it mentions she’s old enough to “bare kids” or something like that and it gave me the impression she was underage like maybe 15/16 but my husband and sister think she’s an adult.
I pictured her being older but I could definitely see what you are saying. I’d have to reread it and see if they mention what age she is in particular.
She was 20, the protagonist said she had twenty FGP (first generation pure) initials on her skin "one for each of her years in the breeding centre"
People be like: I can't believe people be like that, when we had a holocaust not so long ago and multiple different ongoing genocides that have scenes in real life, as bad as in this book.
Ive been consuming disturbing media for a while now and love it. I also love listening to others talk about and you do this in such a perfect way!
Ive made and decorated a RUclips channel for posting but have yet to and I think watching how much you enjoy it has inspired me to start finally!
Thanks for all the support on this video everyone! It kind of jumped up out of nowhere and is now my third video to ever hit 1K views. I’m currently focusing on literary analysis of music, but I will certainly consider doing another synopsis of a disturbing novel!
5 or 6 decades ago there was a compilation of short stories titled Dangerous Visions-followed by Again Dangerous Visions. There you go...
I've read this book, but hearing this video shows me how much I've frogotten about it and I didn't appreciate this enough 😂 it's one of those books I'm glad I've read but I don't think I can ever read it again so thank you for your recap. I hope now that I can forget the details once more
I loved this book I literally read it in one day. The only part that really got me was with the puppies in the zoo 😭😭
That was sad 😭😭😭 I was hoping he'd take one, but knew he wouldn't.
Great video! This is one of my favorite books! It’s disturbing but the prose is so abrupt and emotionally removed. Reading this book literally sent chills down my spine. I totally agree with your initial reading of it. I was surprised he slaughters her in the end as well and it was a total gut punch! But now looking back at his reactions it doesn’t seem that surprising anymore
I've been dying to talk about this book with someone so I'm so happy to find someone on here who has read it! I really enjoyed this novel. I'm also glad that you had an understanding of this book beyond "meat is bad."
I viewed the book on an interpretation of how harmful capitalism is and how racism (also colorism and dare i say slavery because white people did this to enslaved ppl), misogyny, and classism are necessary components of capitalism. I think people who only take this book as a critique against the meat industry are only grasping this novel at a very surface level understanding.
For instance, one of the things I found intriguing was the passive mentioning of Black head and how Black head can be treated worse than "Pale head" (aka white skin) because the "Pale head" is more sensitive and valuable. Like someone previously said, the way "female head" are discarded and r*ped, used for breeding purposes, basically trafficked by men who own the head, and how they view impregnated women as the most feral when it came to hunting them was a direct commentary on how incredibly sinister misogyny and sexism are in society.
Loved how the author at first made the reader empathize with the MC, but as the book progresses you start to realize how self-righteous and narcissistic he is; such a cool way to get the reader to be like "oh shit." In my opinion, he was probably the most evil person in the entire novel. Like him and that butcher lady fucking in the back with blood everywhere and human parts??!?! Him saying how he NO LONGER eats the "special meat" whilst judging people (like his sister) for doing it - uhm like come on bro?? you were gobbling people up with no issue before your son died? why are you using the death of your son as an excuse for your superiority complex? and once he did the "unthinkable" and impregnated Jasmine - I INSTANTLY knew I was wrong about him and he is a POS because there is no way that woman could consent and he was manipulating her and abusing her and the way he justified what he did and almost thought he was a good person because of "how well he treated her" was diabolical. Shit was bonkers.
I also found it fascinating how he was so harped on people's words and how words felt and the way people used their words and almost like that mattered more to him than the actual disgusting shit that society was doing. I definitely feel like I want to read it a second time to wrap my head around that particular fixation the MC had.
Also, totally agree that the virus is, indeed, fake and just being used as an excuse for the government/higher ups to exploit people (especially the poor) and kill them.
the intro was so mood. I love this analysis.
Great vid! Would be interested in hearing more about what you are reading.
Thankful i found your channel because i love listening to weird books while at work🙏
The ex wife hates that he "bred with a captive" then gets mad he would not "use her" to give her more kids? Is everyone fucking bipolar?
I dont know why im listening to this when im about tto fall asleep
Explained = “I’m going to just summarize the plot.”
Ok, serious questions I would have if I lived in this society. 1- What do they feed the "cattle"? and 2- Why don't we just eat that?
I'm also curious about this lol
If this book was in The Magnus Archives universe, it would be a Leitner created by The Flesh. Reading it would probably like "stun" you or something idk
All meat lovers should read this book.
Davis: Mom, Siblings, please don't listen to this, its kinda odd...
Also Davis: WOW DO I LOVE DISTURBING MEDIA
My mom is the my biggest supporter who hasn’t watched my videos haha
@ lol, I mean this was a pretty crazy book so probably for the best overall
You are what you eat. You are what you read. You are what you believe.
No.
No
I am definitely not what I read.
Read this book last year. I like your album wall, good taste all around.
1:15 We'll be those distant friends you don't speak to often, but to whom you can share these messed up books with
I picked up Tender is the Flesh because I had heard it was disturbing and about cannibalism, two of my favorite topics! This book annoys the CRAP outa me, because of the whole meat-processing line. I took a meat class for Cattle, Pigs, and Sheep. I learned how they're processed into meat, and the care that especially goes into cattle slaughter (don't talk to me about chickens). Marcos' job was a cattle slaughtering line. The had stun guns (basically a gun with a piston powered metal bolt to kill the brain of the cattle), and mechanical rigs strong enough to hold some very heavy, very strong animals. But they use giant clubs (inaccurate compared to a point and click stun gun) and the mechanics were so weak a disoriented, concussed, domestic (aka, next to no actual strength) was able to get out. That alone has irritated me enough that I can't pick up this book again.
I think what you are referring to is called a bolt gun. A stun gun is basically a self contained and prong-less taser, and even those are not used on cattle they use cattle prods which are just much milder versions of stun guns. Although this may just be the Tism talking but, they should have called tasers stun guns and stun guns tasers because of the mechanics involved. A bolt gun is what is used to actually dispatch the livestock, so long as it is a penetrating bolt gun, however a non penetrating bolt gun causes an animal to be temporarily stunned by a concussion so that it may be unconscious while you exsanguinate it. Having seen both used in slaughterhouses the penetrating bolt gun is the preferred method because it leaves the least room for error, and therefore suffering.
@VixenVolva oh yes, that's exactly what I meant!
I love horror fiction in all mediums so I was very excited to read this book as I have a special adoration in canibalism. Honestly, this disturbing part of this book for me was not about the slaughter or consumption of the human meat. The most disturbing part of this book was Marcos self-justified abuse and the sexual connection to the canibalism within the book. Amazing. Wasn't a huge fan of the pacing of the book to be totally honest tho.
I read this book last year and it did make me squeamish at times but the "she had the human look of a domesticated animal" line has stuck with me
I completely agree with the ending coming out of nowhere. I don’t know what I thought was gonna happen, but I didn’t think that Marcos would just hit Jasmine over the head as soon as the baby was born. I thought he’d be kinder. I thought he would’ve learned something but no, he didn’t. I really enjoyed this book though I did find myself cringing and having to stop reading at certain points. It was shockingly interesting and definitely worth the cringe and disgust I felt while reading.
Read the book both in Spanish and English, didn't Marcos father own the processing plant before the transition?
The father owned a processing plant and Marcos makes a point to mention that it “doesn’t exist anymore” but I forget whether they repurposed the old one into the one that he works at now. I have it in spanish as well but I’m currently making my way through “Cien Años de Soledad” right now as my Spanish read.
@davismorgan99 ah a classic read. I think they repurposed it from what I remember. Another interesting thing which is vague in the world building, tender is the flesh takes place in Argentina and I think it's only there where if you call the "heads," human it can land you in a lot of trouble and potentially get you slaughtered at the metropolitan slaughter house.
Omnivores an Italian movie is a good watch in the same vein.
This is my most recent read I loved it 😅
I really enjoyed it too. Gross but in a really good way that I felt wasn’t too extreme for the sake of being extreme
liked for the book review. subscribed for the Modern Baseball posters!
Man.. I wasn’t expecting that either until you said he phoned his wife. Damn..
I’m about to mess my book club up with this pick next month. I returned this book. I never return books. When asked why, I said I had to have a crisis appointment because of it and it isn’t welcome in my home.
I loved this book, I spent a week geeking out about it to my coworkers, but oh that ending! As someone who deals with fertility issues too- oof.
More disturbing book content HERE:
ruclips.net/video/ldy6I-sJyfg/видео.html
You know stuff like this actually happened last century during the Holodomor and Bolshevik Revolution
but unfortunately nobody will talk about it. :(
My problem with stories like this where people are treated as livestock is that most people dont treat animals like humans are treated in these types of stories.
Large scale slaughterhouses and farms can have popr conditions but the idea someone would raise a cow and then butcher it in a way that keeps it alive the entire time is just comically evil and always takes me out of it.
that's untrue, you should do some research into how veal is made.
@psychobf no where near the same thing lmao
I read this book as a teen and it messed me UP. Like I had to put it down a few times and just stare at the wall as my mind processed what the heck I just read.
This book made me so angry i threw it across the room at the end. I will never read it again. I gave it to goodwill i think 😅 that being said, it was an excellent read and i loved it
Are my eyes broken or is there like almost no color in this video
For some reason, when exporting a video in Davinci Resolve, it mutes the colors super bad. I didn’t know that way back when I made this but all my most recent videos have the saturation turned up to counteract it. I think you’re the first person to notice that though haha
This book is the best example of pro veganism considering how horrible animals are treated in factory farms
I need a beer
you should read Jantar Secreto (Secret Dinner) by the Brazilian author Raphael Montes!!
You should read Starving Anonymous if you enjoy climates like this!
❤ There Was an Arby's Commercial Before the Video ❤
Love the sock
It’s funny how people want to be sad about this, but don’t care about the actual animals that are killed in the meat industry every damn day.
Creepy people always mentioned how great this book was to me but I never once took their suggestions 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂Thank God for drunk me
modern baseball
Saving this video for later after I finish the book. Got it for myself for Christmas and I'm really excited to read it
i love the mobo and transatlanticism vinyls !!!!!
No telling what we all have eaten before .U know they say if we was to eat human it can make u sick so I Wonder is THAT WHY WE HAVE SO MANY SICKNESSES HMMM.
The only example of getting sick off of human meat that I've been able to find is a specific tribe in an isolated population that would eat the brains and there was a specific kind of protein. Apparently, it's very uncommon in normal populations and was only so common there because of the small breeding pool. The condition they would develop is called kuru. So even then, they could have kept eating the meat as long as they didn't eat the brain. Among the rest of the world, you probably could get away with even eating the brain and still be safe. There aren't many dishes that involve the brain in Western cuisine anyway. Chances are that would end up being thrown in a compost pile or something since they don't have pets to put it in dog food.
@jacobstaten2366 hmm strange
I feel like I’m the only person on the internet that absolutely hated this book😂 I have a video on my channel going into why I disliked it so much
was this book written by vegans
😟
Davis is cute AF!
This book is gross though
the whole book sounds terrible... just awful, lol.
Hahaha well of course we are
He literally just told the whole story
That is the meaning of analysis :)
This is the world vegans want
Tis would be good books to recommend to meat-eaters after Animal Farm > like to grose them to veganism 😅
Animal farm was supposed to be an anti-communist think piece. It didn't really have anything to do with eating meat. Even then, anthropomorphizing other animals isn't healthy behavior because they don't act or think the way we do. Nature can be very cruel. We think of dolphins as being cute and cuddly when they do some really horrific things in real life. You can eat meat without being unnecessarily cruel to animals. Even still, humans are far above animals in the hierarchy. I think the point of the book was to show the cognitive dissonance in treating other humans as less than in a way that we are familiar with rather than trying to lower all of humanity to the level of animals.
@jacobstaten2366 true
Clickbait
I mean it’s a book about legalized cannibalism so I don’t know what you want…
@@davismorgan99😂
I am laughing so hard because it is not click bait in any way. Maybe they thought it would not be real life cannibalism but not a book?
I completely agree with the ending coming out of nowhere. I don’t know what I thought was gonna happen, but I didn’t think that Marcos would just hit Jasmine over the head as soon as the baby was born. I thought he’d be kinder. I thought he would’ve learned something but no, he didn’t. I really enjoyed this book though I did find myself cringing and having to stop reading at certain points. It was shockingly interesting and definitely worth the cringe and disgust I felt while reading.