Looking through the offerings at Reddit.com tonight, I noticed a headline suggesting that Dr. Kellogg developed corn flakes as a remedy for masturbation, which he considered to be a great threat to law and order. I hadn’t heard this claim before I viewed this documentary by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame), but it’s true. I’ll never think of corn flakes the same way again.
And I now have it on my list to watch the entire documentary by Terry Jones: “The Surprising History of Sex and Love” (2002). It looks like it was especially well written and produced.
It doesn’t work. Trust me on that.
Sterling: My understanding is that you can’t just eat one bowl and be cured. You’ll need to eat a bowl every day for at least a couple weeks before the evil urge subsides. And if you cut up a banana and throw it into your bowl of cornflakes, it is a cure for sloth.
Bah, humbug! As a young male, I ate corn flakes like they were candy. I can assure you that it would amaze me if Mr. Kellogg were correct, and sheesh, what if he were?
I’m going toss the flag on this one. Yes, Kellogg was a nut who advocated all sorts of methods to prevent “self-love”, but I understood from what I read years ago (and semi-confirmed by a wiki-look) that he also advocated a healthy diet as a means to reduce the urges. The cereal was a joint effort with his brother. I’ve not read anything about corn flakes in particular being a cure.
Apparently, Kellogg did like yogurt enemas, and I think I remember Matthew Broderick (playing his son in “The Road to Wellville”) saying something about shoving his oatmeal enema. Fictionalized, yes, but real life seems as wacky.
Here’s a video Catholic guy warning of the immense “evil” of masturbation. I kept thinking that it was a joke and that there was going to be a punch line, but it just go more and more serious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGaglQfjxBI&feature=share