Perkal- Sweeney Todd

Tim Burton addresses the issues of cannibalism, as well as, urbanization in Sweeney Todd.  We see  through Mrs. Lovett's meat pies the idea of cannibalism. As for the moral standards of murdering innocent people we see when Sweeney Todd becomes outraged in his inability to kill the judge the first chance that he receives.  Sweeney Todd puts aside his moral view of revulsion toward murder and focuses on killing people until he can finally kill the judge, which has been his plan of revenge throughout the movie.  The idea of cannibalism and Sweeney Todd relates to how there is the theme of gothic fantasy and darkness in Tim Burton’s movies.  In the article, “It’s Man Devouring Man, My Dear”: Adapting Sweeney Todd for the Screen, it talks about how cannibalism goes back as least as far as the seventeenth century in London.  The article also states the dangers of cannibalism in living in an urban environment.  An urban environment is not focused on the well being of others, as it holds many dangers and not as much emphasis on safety.  As we see in Sweeney Todd, Sweeney’s mind was immediately turned to killing everyone in the town for no reason and with no regrets for his actions.  The power of cannibalism is extremely scary and the article from London addresses how real that issue can become.  An interesting point in the article is how it states that Sweeney Todd is a perfect example of an “honest version of merchants and retailers.”  It is also interesting to look at this plot in the view of relating it to merchants and retailers because Mrs. Lovett sells people meat pies, which are actually humans.  This line in the article especially stood out to me because it relatable to many people.  Merchants and Retailers are focused on one thing and that is to sell their items to people, no matter what the consequences may be.  The article talks about the different themes that are seen in Sweeney Todd, which include, ambition, love, desire, appetite, vanity, atonement, retribution, justice, and cannibalism.  Many of these themes are seen in fairy tales, but also a lot of them include what Tim Burton regularly adds to his films.