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July 10, 2005

Gavage Gavaged Gavaging

As I say, I'd never heard of the word "gavage" until the Bionic Octopus introduced me to it. For anyone still in the dark, it means "feeding that consists of the delivery of a nutrient solution (as through a nasal tube) to someone who cannot or will not eat."

However, despite not knowing the word, I was familiar with the actual gavage process. I first learned of it many years ago when I watched Titicut Follies, one of the most horrifying and upsetting movies ever made.

Titicut Follies is a 1967 documentary by Frederick Wiseman about the State Prison for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The name comes from the musical revue shown in the film that was put on by the inmates and staff each year. If you haven't seen Titicut Follies, you really should. Then, if you are like me, you will never ever watch it again.

I won't describe much about it, because I would rather die. But the reason I bring it up is because there's a scene in it in which an inmate who refuses to eat is gavaged. As you see, the Mengele-like doctor sticks a tube up through his nose and down his throat, and then uses it to drip some kind of liquid food into his stomach. Later on he dies anyway and we see him lying in the morgue.

All right; I think this is all the human degradation I can handle for today.

Posted at July 10, 2005 09:19 PM | TrackBack
Comments

This is most interesting. The only context from which I knew 'gavage' is the traditional force-feeding of foie gras birds geese in southwestern France. They just shove a big old tube down their long goose necks and stuff 'em full of grain so their livers fatten up.

I was unaware of the word's being used in a human context, let alone in the delightful entertainment gem you describe. Surely I can rent that at my local Blockbuster?

Posted by: BionOc at July 10, 2005 10:05 PM

That sounds like the Bush administration's approach to governing. Except they want a piece of your soul, too.

Posted by: Harry at July 11, 2005 04:56 AM

Oh lordy. Right, I'll be saving that one for a rainy day when I'm in the mood for self-torture.

Posted by: BionOc at July 11, 2005 08:15 AM

Part of the reason it seems like such a lovely word is that's it's so similar to other lovely words. I was ravaged by the savage gavage of my blendered meals, and fled to the garage.

Inspired my first vocabulary-themed nightmare in many years. Thanks, guys.

Aaron

Posted by: Aaron at July 12, 2005 05:28 AM

This lovely technique was also used among hunger strikers in British prisons, notably suffragettes at the turn of the twentieth century.

Posted by: Julie at July 12, 2005 11:04 AM

Finally! A flick for that all that blotter acid I've been saving for a dark and stormy night.

Posted by: Arvin Hill at July 12, 2005 04:50 PM

Aaron,

You're very welcome. We hope to induce further vocabulary-themed nightmares quite soon.

Julie,

I had no idea that was true. I was just wondering why England had never used it against IRA hunger strikers.

Arvin Hill,

I of course realize you were joking, but nevertheless:

DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT

Titcut Follies makes you realize that even if you weren't crazy before being committed there, you quickly would be driven insane. Just watching the movie made me feel I was losing my mind. Watching it on drugs would probably be one of the most unpleasant experiences imaginable.

Posted by: Jonathan Schwarz at July 12, 2005 05:26 PM

Well, darn.

I guess there's always Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... but I was hoping to avoid being seen in public in that frame of mind.

Posted by: Arvin Hill at July 12, 2005 05:32 PM

I don't know quite what this says about me, but when I first saw that picture, before even reading the text, I thought to myself, "Hey, that looks like a scene from Titicut Follies."

That I have seen this documentary enough times to recognize a screenshot . . . well, I don't quite know how to finish that thought. It's just not right.

Posted by: Axis of Evel Knievel at July 13, 2005 11:32 PM