Black Hole, It Follows e lo Spirito Cannibale. Adolescenza e riti di passaggio: trauma, isolamento e trasformazione nel dialogo tra graphic novel, cinema e conoscenza etnografica

This essay analyzes the passage to adulthood in three different art and culture contexts. In the graphic novel Black Hole a sexually transmitted disease turns the characters into lonely mutants. In the movie It Follows some teenagers with ‘no-future’ lives are threatened by disturbing figures trying to kill them. Both these works show the lack of adults and youth isolation from the society. Among the Kwakiutl, the Cannibal Spirit kidnaps young boys and take them to the forest where they experience a liminal condition: the rite involves the whole society and the adults play a key role. These social dramas will be used to analyze the weakening of the ritualization related to the transition to adult age in the contemporary world.