For context, the meme Slaanesh is one of the four Chaos Gods in Warhammer Forty Thousand, known as the Prince of Pleasure. Born from the decadence and excesses of the Aeldari, it embodies pleasures, perfection, and extreme sensations. In the Imperium, this figure symbolizes the bourgeoisie, social classes living in luxury and laziness. They are seduced by Slaanesh’s temptations, which ultimately lead to a dramatic fall: moral corruption, loss of power, possession, and destruction. Thus, the bourgeois end up as victims of their own decay.
#La Grande Bouffe, a mirror of decadence :
In 1973, La Grande Bouffe was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, and it was provocative. It tells the story of four bourgeois friends who indulge in a gastronomic orgy until death. This feast is a radical metaphor for Western bourgeois society, trapped in the pursuit of material and sensory pleasures at the expense of human values. The film illustrates abundance and the quest for pleasure leading to destruction.
#Controversy at Cannes :
At its Cannes premiere, the film sparked strong controversy, shocking audiences and critics with its blunt portrayal of debauchery and overconsumption. Many saw it as an immoral film, while a minority recognized it as satire of an era’s excesses. The fundamental message of the film — “the excess of pleasures, symbolized by an orgy to death” — mirrors nobles attracted by Slaanesh’s excesses. Around the same time, two years later, Pier Paolo Pasolini also shocked with his film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, both films leading to stricter film censorship in some countries.
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#Slaanesh and the bourgeoisie of the Imperium :
For context, the meme Slaanesh is one of the four Chaos Gods in Warhammer Forty Thousand, known as the Prince of Pleasure. Born from the decadence and excesses of the Aeldari, it embodies pleasures, perfection, and extreme sensations. In the Imperium, this figure symbolizes the bourgeoisie, social classes living in luxury and laziness. They are seduced by Slaanesh’s temptations, which ultimately lead to a dramatic fall: moral corruption, loss of power, possession, and destruction. Thus, the bourgeois end up as victims of their own decay.
#La Grande Bouffe, a mirror of decadence :
In 1973, La Grande Bouffe was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, and it was provocative. It tells the story of four bourgeois friends who indulge in a gastronomic orgy until death. This feast is a radical metaphor for Western bourgeois society, trapped in the pursuit of material and sensory pleasures at the expense of human values. The film illustrates abundance and the quest for pleasure leading to destruction.
#Controversy at Cannes :
At its Cannes premiere, the film sparked strong controversy, shocking audiences and critics with its blunt portrayal of debauchery and overconsumption. Many saw it as an immoral film, while a minority recognized it as satire of an era’s excesses. The fundamental message of the film — “the excess of pleasures, symbolized by an orgy to death” — mirrors nobles attracted by Slaanesh’s excesses. Around the same time, two years later, Pier Paolo Pasolini also shocked with his film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, both films leading to stricter film censorship in some countries.
Source :
[French podcast : affaires sensibles “La Grande Bouffe,” a cinematic orgy.](https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/affaires-sensibles/la-grande-bouffe-orgie-cinematographique-3545860)