I've been studying TCM: The Next Generation for a long time now, trying to
figure out who Rothman is. Many TCM fans don't like that movie because of him. His identity is
never confirmed. He has an English accent. At the end of the movie, he's reading a
European newspaper. He's obviously a very rich man, having nothing to do with the family.
Why is Rothman in the movie?
After studying these unusual qualities, I've come up with an assumption of who Rothman really is!
In an older Fangoria issue Kim Henkel mentions that Rothman is part of a higher rank
of cannibals. After reading this, I noticed some tiny things about him. At the end
of the movie he mentioned "This was supposed to be a spiritual event," like
he failed something. Maybe he's the leader of the cannibals, and all the cannibal
families broke the rules. He got pissed at Vilmer for not showing them "the true
meaning of horror." Vilmer and his family were killing and tourchering victims,
when maybe...they were supposed to eat them? Rothman may of been disgusted
by that. And that is all. Rothman is the rich, strict, upper class
cannibal leader.