Corner View: Hunger
I made the {slight, sort of} mistake of showing August the movie Cabaret. As a result I have this toddler running around singing "Mmmmoneymoneymoney...mmmmmoneymoneymoney" or "Deedletedee two ladies..." She would tries to dance around her little chair and knows too many words to all the songs. I introduced her to Godspell and Annie to undo Cabaret but it will take time before she forgets all that Fosse, Liza and those lyrics.
In the song Money there is a part where there is a knock on the door and it's Hunger. The way Joel Grey says "Hunnnnngehhhr" has always disturbed me. I have been hungry with little to choose from but have never met Hunger. Not the way it is stressed by the actor in that musical with so much desperation. Oh sure, I have been in situations where the pantry is getting weak, down to some rice, beans, canned tuna, and the fridge weak with a few eggs, condiments and three day old left over chicken soup without a paycheck for another five days... But that isn't Hunger.
Those who have known Hunger will tell you about it at some point because it is never forgotten. It scars. A friend of mine told me that after what she went through in WWII, food is everything. A friend of hers who had been in a concentration camp kept a large bag of rice in a safe place because of her experience. My own grandparents always tell me never to spend money on anything except food, food is worth it, nothing else is.
So many are at this moment with Hunger, meeting Hunger, being killed by Hunger...and it's disturbing. No one in this world should be hungry, there really is food for all. When I see all the food served at restaurants and left behind untouched... Just this last weekend the table of two left enough food to feed a table of three. Wars keep people in the arms of Hunger, governments, dictators, politicians, voters, a road or bridge not built, people keep other people hungry. It's a despicable crime.
And that is really what has crossed my mind for years while watching that scene in Cabaret.
In the song Money there is a part where there is a knock on the door and it's Hunger. The way Joel Grey says "Hunnnnngehhhr" has always disturbed me. I have been hungry with little to choose from but have never met Hunger. Not the way it is stressed by the actor in that musical with so much desperation. Oh sure, I have been in situations where the pantry is getting weak, down to some rice, beans, canned tuna, and the fridge weak with a few eggs, condiments and three day old left over chicken soup without a paycheck for another five days... But that isn't Hunger.
Those who have known Hunger will tell you about it at some point because it is never forgotten. It scars. A friend of mine told me that after what she went through in WWII, food is everything. A friend of hers who had been in a concentration camp kept a large bag of rice in a safe place because of her experience. My own grandparents always tell me never to spend money on anything except food, food is worth it, nothing else is.
So many are at this moment with Hunger, meeting Hunger, being killed by Hunger...and it's disturbing. No one in this world should be hungry, there really is food for all. When I see all the food served at restaurants and left behind untouched... Just this last weekend the table of two left enough food to feed a table of three. Wars keep people in the arms of Hunger, governments, dictators, politicians, voters, a road or bridge not built, people keep other people hungry. It's a despicable crime.
And that is really what has crossed my mind for years while watching that scene in Cabaret.
4 Comments:
Yes, there is definitely a big imbalance in the world. With so much technology and so many clever people, you'd have thought we'd have it sorted by now, wouldn't you?
I am sure that if you have experienced hunger, you will never forget. Very nice post :)
food waste (all along the food production chain) should be a crime and heavily fined.
i suspect cabaret is the perfect background for ponderations of this kind, sometimes the mind needs flickering action to spring into action. not always convenient, embarassing at best. my son is annoyed by plates of food hardly touched, returning to the ikea kitchen, him washing the dishes there. what disturbs him most is the carelessness. we humans? we will never learn. it is a depressing thought, we can only do good, as best we can, and hope it spreads. n♥
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