?The Hunger? is the story of J?rgen, a teen whose idea of human perfection is a nearly mute drug-dealer named Peggy who wears a crude ?Lucifer? tattoo on his chest and sticks steroid needles in his butt to feed his bulging muscles. J?rgen?s thirst for acceptance is at times hilariously misguided and endearing, while at others embarrassingly familiar. Director Kenneth Karlstad pumped up this coming-of-age story with elements of magical realism and visual steroids that provide a bold juxtaposition to the dreary boredom of his protagonist?s ?normal? life with a sweet single dad who folds his laundry for him. Using deafening techno beats, blinding bright lights bursting out of Peggy?s windows and rivers of sweat dripping from his posse?s cartoonishly toned bodies, ?The Hunger? is as much a story about the desire to achieve and maintain society?s absurd masculine ideal as it is about a vulnerable kid simply trying to belong somewhere.
For Kenneth, J?rgen?s story relates to his own in more ways than one:
?The Hunger? is a glamorization of some very bad but very fun things that happened during my teenage years. I had a lot of questions about why many of my friends and I started to seek out trouble and danger in my hometown.The town where I grew up is a typical industrial and workers town where sports are the main cultural focus and general identity. It?s a masculine and competitive environment.he worst thing you can be as a boy is gay or sensitive.If you are, then you?ve lost. I had homoerotic dream when I was seventeen and it sent me into two months of depression and identity hell. Speaking to someone about it didn?t even cross my mind. It was a male taboo to talk about that stuff and still is to some degree.?