Vegetarian Protagonists in Horror Movies
After seeing a couple of horror movies that surprised me by featuring vegetarian protagonists, I was inspired to try to find more. Here is a brief list of what I came up with in my research. Feel free to add to the list in the comments section, as I’m sure I’ve missed some of them.
1. Halloween II (2009) Director Rob Zombie. When I saw this movie in the theater a couple of years back, I was pleasantly amused to see a scene where the main character, Laurie Strode (played by Scout Taylor-Compton) and her best friend, Annie (played by Danielle Harris), taunted Annie’s father (Brad Dourif) for eating meat. The girls even ordered a vegetarian pizza. There are other scenes in the movie as well that have a strong AR message. It should not be too much of a surprise though, considering that director Rob Zombie is an ethical vegetarian himself. Check out this article from ecorazzi about the vegetarian protagonists in H2.
2. Hostel (2005) Director Eli Roth. One of the most memorable scenes of this film for me were between the main character Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and the Dutch businessman (Jan Vlasák), as quoted from IMDB:
Paxton: …you need a fork there chief?
The Dutch Businessman: No. I prefer to use my hands. I believe people have lost their relationship with food. They do not think “this is something that died for me so that I would not go hungry.” I like that connection with something you die for. I appreciate it more.
Paxton: Well I’m a vegetarian.
The Dutch Businessman: I am a meat-eater. It is human nature.
Paxton: Well I’m human and it’s not my nature.
Again, it also should not be too shocking here that the hero of the movie is veg considering director Eli Roth is also not a vegetarian, but a supporter of PETA. Check out this PETA interview with Eli Roth. ::Swoons::
3. Grace (2009) Director Paul Solet. This is a movie that I personally have not seen yet, but was recommended to me by fellow vegan blogger and Halloween fan extraordinaire, The Spooky Vegan. According to Spooky Vegan, Grace features a vegan mom, Madeline Matheson (Jordan Ladd) whose baby has an insatiable hunger. She notes the movie is very well made, and just checking out the trailer alone gives me the goosebumps. I must add this to my Netflix queue!
4. The X-Files (TV show 1993-2002) Creator Chris Carter, The X-Files (Movie 1998) Director Rob Bowman, & The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Movie 2008) Director Chris Carter. Admittedly, I never really watched the show while it was in its prime on television. I think I may have turned on an episode once when I was living in an apartment by myself (for the first time) and got so spooked, I didn’t watch any more of The X Files for a long, long time. I saw the most recent movie in 2008 in the theater though and wished that I had watched the show on a more regular basis. According to poster Thirsty Johann in a veggieboards forum on 3/15/2005, “There’s one or two screwups by guest-writers, but Mulder & Scully from The X-Files are vegetarians. They don’t mention it specifically during the show, but in one of the novels Scully is vegan, and in one episode she eats vegan ice-cream.” Additionally, The Informed Vegan blogged about animal rights and key episodes of The X-Files that had AR messages on 2/18/11. Digging a little further into this story, I found that actress Gillian Anderson (who played the character of Dana Scully) is vegan, an active member of PETA, and an animal rights activist. Additionally, David Duchovny (who played the character of Fox Mulder) is a former vegetarian, now pescetarian (according to wikipedia).
I have been a long time fan of horror movies and for the past 10 years have been interested in vegetarianism and animal rights. It tickles my brain to see the merging of these two passions on the big screen!
So, grab a bowl of popcorn, sprinkle a little nooch (aka nutritional yeast) or some vegan chocolate chips on top, and settle in for a night of terror! Happy Halloween!
