There are no such things as spoilers for a story that’s been told since the 8th century BC, so please allow me to speak freely about the Odyssey and The Odyssey. Like many, I have absorbed the major plot points of the Odyssey by cultural osmosis, and also by watching O Brother, Where Art Thou?. You could perhaps argue that, by not ever reading the Odyssey, I am just adhering to the grand oral tradition in which the epic poem was originally told. Let’s go with that!
Anyway, after watching Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, I can’t stop thinking about the sound the men make as they’re about to be turned into pigs.
On their journey home, in search of food, Odysseus’ men happen upon Circe, who asks them to leave their armor outside and come in for a warm meal. There, she feeds them a stew that looks like it's made of innards and scraps, and as they scarf it down, she hums to herself and transforms them into pigs (it’s an astounding visual, and one done without CGI). But watching it, the men’s final transformation comes almost as a relief, because oh my god the sounds they were making.
As strips of intestinal meat hang from their greasy lips, these men sound like they are choking, like they are drowning. They gurgle in surround sound. It’s awful, and the men know it. There’s a pained look in their eyes as they realize they’re powerless to stop shoveling the witch’s brew into their mouths, as Circe circles the table, changing them one by one.
When they’re eating it sounds like leftovers being thrown in the toilet, the slop and slush echoing across porcelain. It sounds like Joey Chestnut mid-competition. It sounds like what I imagine Steve-O heard when he was spiraling through the air in a Porta Potty. And it’s so LOUD. They need to start labeling movies Not Safe For Misophonia if there’s going to be this much chewing and slurping and sucking.
Circe is presented as acting in self defense for the bodily violence she is sure these men were about to visit upon her. She will change their bodies, just as they may have changed hers. The visceral sounds are a reminder that under all the armor and intelligence and bravado we are all meat. There is no line between what we are and what we consume.
As The Odyssey gets analyzed to death, there is surely plenty about the role of food in storytelling, whether that’s the Cyclops’ homemade cheese (I can’t get over Matt Damon’s Odysseus digging his fingers into a hanging sack of feta and remarking “Pretty good!”), or the horrible feast Penelope is forced to host every night for her potential suitors. If you’re reading this, you’re aware food is more than just food. But what a lurid reminder that it can be downright horrifying.
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- Amy was on the Moms of Flavortown podcast, talking about the chaotic decline of food media, and whether or not the food in New York City is “terrible,” as one influencer claimed.
- Food researchers are turning to alternative treatments to try to keep our chickens from becoming loaded with antibiotics.
- New Orleans hosted the Bocuse d’Or and the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie qualifying rounds, with the USA teams in both advancing to the finals in Lyon, France in January. Team USA includes Vincenzo Loseto, who previously worked at the NoMad and Eleven Madison Park, and was a contestant on season 22 of Top Chef.
- Given the jostling and whiplash one might experience in the 4DX showings of The Odyssey, maybe it makes sense that the popcorn in the Trojan Horse popcorn bucket is so hard to access.
