Todd Browning’s Bagel Heads

Last night I caught a program produced by National Geographic, an episode in their series Taboo. This particular program looked at various aspects of body modification. One expression comes in the form of a new fad introduced in Japan, the “Bagel Head.” In this procedure individuals have saline injected into their foreheads until swelling develops, and then at the end of this two-hour procedure pressure is placed in the middle of the bubble to produce something that looks like a bagel. The effect lasts about twenty-four hours.

The Huffington Post recently ran an article on this procedure:

For those of us who don’t see the appeal in any sort of forehead needles, you can’t help but wonder: why in the world would you want a bagel on in your head? A Japanese artist named Keroppy who pioneered the “modcon” body art explained to Vice back in 2009 that it’s about innovation: “People who like extreme body modification want to find their own way of doing things, and they’re always looking for new ways to do that. The more progressive the scene gets, the more these people have to experiment and go their own way.”

Indeed, why would one want to go through such a procedure and look so outside the standards of physical normality? One explanation was provided at the end of the program where a scholar opined that the temporary nature of the procedure allows individuals to be different and somewhat groteseque, but without the social stigma attached to those who have permanent physical abnormalities. Horror historian David J. Skal recent called attention to the Bagel Head body modification process on Facebook with a link to the essay above, and the words “Ready for my closeup, Mr. Browning.” This phrase connects the current body modification fad to Browning’s horror film Freaks, and also situates it culturally and historically in our continued love-hate relationship with “freak shows,” the monstrous, and horror. Monsters have always been able to transgress our accepted boundaries, but it seems that with the continued interest in various forms of body modification that try to push the envelope to greater forms of uniqueness and grotesquery, that many are literally attempting to get their personal freak on and embodying a form of the monstrous that continually pushes the boundaries further.