Is the popularity of Body Worlds and the massive fandom of Attack on Titan growing from a grotesque fascination with death?

I think the first time I saw a skinless representation of a human being, I was watching the film adaptation of Clive Barker's "The Hellbound Heart." The title of the movie was Hellraiser, and the guy that was skinless happened to be a demented rapist by the name of Frank, who in the pursuit of ever more adventurous sex, managed to breach a gulf between worlds using a magical puzzle box and summon terrible demons who then proceeded to rip and cut him to pieces. But a piece of Frank survived and basically "grew" in the attic with the assistance of a former lover named Julia, who lured men to their doom so that Frank could drink their blood and gestate a new "skinless" body. I remember being horrified by Frank's appearance because he was so visceral, raw, and red.

If you had told me that this kind of thing, seeing a skinless human being, would grow popular I would have said "no way." But in today's world, I guess the skinless anorexic human is the new grotesque. How would I define "grotesque?" Well, that's kind of hard. Maybe it's a state of being where I'm left with the conclusion that something is both beautiful and hideous simultaneously. Does that sound crazy? How can something be so hideous that it's beautiful? I fail to find the words to answer that question.

Clive Barker's popularity has waned over time, but I think he is still popular among those who love horror. And without having even met the man, I would bet that Clive Barker loves Body Worlds. If you haven't been to a Body Worlds exhibit (or its competitor Bodies...the Exhibition) in a museum in your area don't worry. I'll tell you all about it. Body Worlds is a gallery of real human beings who have undergone plastination, oftentimes skin removed. And everywhere this show goes, it sells out.

The official disclaimer for one exhibit is that all of the bodies were "donated" to science upon their deaths. But there's been questions regarding the dubious origins of some, perhaps adding to the horror and thereby the experience? I'll let you decide. Some cadavers were traced to a Russian medical examiner convicted of illegally selling the bodies of homeless people, prisoners, and indigent hospital patients. Some simply are "unclaimed" bodies from Chinese medical schools, meaning that they weren't donated willingly. Either way, my feelings toward the exhibits billed for their "scientific contribution" wasn't really so much that I learned anything spectacular (although anatomy is certainly on display). Rather, it's that I felt like a participant in a certain kind of capitalist excess. I mean...what kind of society plasticizes dubiously attained cadavers and then sells tickets hand over fist to gawking crowds? And why are there gawking crowds to begin with? Is it because we all desire to be horrified? Maybe it's that our society is so clean that seeing a dead body is a rarity. In a way, we've kind of sterilized the process of dying so that it takes place behind closed doors, sparing all of us the horrors of dealing with a corpse.

The writer in me can't help but create a scary fiction around these exhibits. A man who has grown rich and successful from his art gallery of plasticized cadavers is a serial killer by night. He stalks those that attract his attention while visiting his gallery. Later, he makes an excuse to meet them, slips them a drug in a drink, and they wake up just as he starts the process to turn them into one of his masterpieces. He does his work in a soundproof room somewhere under his gallery where he can take his time with his victims...it gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

These are a pair of huge statues that offer many photo ops for tourists visiting
Universal Studios Japan's new Attack on Titan theme park.

In some ways, Attack on Titan and specifically the titans themselves are the latest expression of the skinless human as spectacle. It's MASSIVE popularity both here and abroad is frightening. If you haven't heard about Attack on Titan, it's an anime series set in a world where gigantic humanoid monsters (some skinless) roam around eating humans. To survive, humans live in a walled city under constant fear that the Titans will smash their homes and eat their families. The monsters are terrifying and the action is intense.

This Attack on Titan Ride at Universal Studios Japan

But as far as monsters go, is there a psychology at play? Are skinless human beings the new "grotesque?" If so, why? Is it the viscera? Is it the appearance of all those raw tendons and muscles? There is a strange connection between the popularity of Body Worlds and the massive fandom of Attack on Titan that I think, grows from a grotesque fascination with death. What's your opinion?

Attack on Titan has got me hooked and I really do like to root for the little guy.

I started watching Attack on Titan because of a review I read on David Power's King's website. I have to say, I'm very impressed with this anime. As you may know, I love kaiju films and things that are in the kaiju genre. Well, Attack on Titan delivers all the fun, the horror, and the awe I get from these films in spades. I'm about halfway through the first season, and for those of you who have never heard of Attack on Titan, the premise is pretty simple: mankind is facing an apocalypse brought on by the appearance of gargantuan sexless humanoids with huge mouths that roam the planes in search of people to eat. It's all that chomping, chewing, and blood spitting that brings out the real horror of Attack on Titan. And the resourcefulness of the people who came together in a time of great need to build three huge walls is also pretty cool. And when I say huge...I mean walls that are hundreds of feet high and half again as thick.

Walls in fiction have always kind of fascinated me. The first wall that captured my imagination revealed itself in King Kong. Why did the natives of this island build such a huge wall? What was out there that they feared so much? The second wall that drew me in came from George R.R. Martin. Again...why the hell is there an 800-foot wall dividing the North? Theories abound but my bet is that the wall wasn't constructed by humans but by the White Walkers, who forged an uneasy truce with the Night's King to keep people from out of the North. But I digress. In short, walls are interesting.

Attack on Titan is a smart anime. Its characters are fully developed, and it doesn't hold back its punches. Furthermore (just like The Walking Dead) no character is safe and that just serves to heighten the tension. Additionally, it's got all the bravado of Pacific Rim. In Guillermo del Toro's robot vs. kaiju fantasy, men piloted huge robots to great effect vs. huge beasts from another world. In Attack on Titan, a boy finds a way to mind meld with a titan by pressing his body into its spine, and therefore control it so he can destroy other titans. That's clever, and I wonder if Guillermo should take a page from the manga of Attack on Titan and have people mind-melding with kaiju in the follow-up to Pacific Rim (which has been greenlit).

But my admiration for the show doesn't stop there. I also like the smart trappings of Attack on Titan. The warrior characters use gas-propelled jet packs to launch themselves into the air, and each has a pair of cables that can be slung into the sides of buildings like spider-man swinging his way between the skyscrapers of New York City. And the titans aren't just run of the mill giant people. There's one that is especially colossal and he doesn't have any skin. There are big ones and small ones and ones with terrifying overbites. All that chomping and chewing really does strip away the humanity from these monsters (and I say humanity because they look like giant humans). In some ways, it makes me ask this question: is this what we look like when we're eating? Good lord I hope not.

But ya know, it's kind of interesting that the actual humans in the show spend so little time eating. Maybe this is a subliminal message from the producers of the show: that all of us need to be mindful of gluttony because when we eat too much we end up as a horrifying caricature of our former selves. But even if I'm wrong about that, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that Attack on Titan has got me hooked, and it's apparent to me that I really do like to root for the little guy.

Are any of you watching Attack on Titan? If so, what did you (or do you) think of it?