American Society cannot come to
accept death. Other cultures such as the
Mexicans or the Japanese celebrate death and think of it as a happy passage
into the next life. We Americans have the mindset that we are going to live
forever and that we are invincible.
In the movie Beetlejuice death is rejected in a way because yes the Maitlands do
physically die in when the car falls in the water but through the film they
remain in the film unlike in most movies when someone dies they are done. They still are interacting with others and
living in their home unlike your typical corpse. One instance when this is shown is the part
when the people come over to meet the ghosts so the business deal could be
made, in this part the ghosts are treated as people. Another way death is
rejected in this movie is that there is an entire “network” of dead people
working together to get into the next life (by sitting in a waiting room). There
is also Beetlejuice a “people exorcist” for removing the living from the
deceased’s house.
Death is an
anathema in our culture because we are so focused on our lives. Children are
taught to grow up and get a good job and have a big happy family with a bunch
of possesions. So that’s what we focus on we spend our entire life trying to
become educated so we can get a high paying job. We also spend a lot of time
and money trying to find that person with whom you are supposed to have that
picturesque “American Dream family” but then we tell that person “til death do
us part”. So finally for some people they get these nice things and a happy
family but then the next day they could die and all they left behind was
unnecessary possessions and a family who at some point will cope with them
being lost.
Death
should be looked at as a happy thing where we celebrate the person’s life and
all that they did even long after they are gone. If more Americans saw death
that way loosing someone would not be nearly as depressing and hard to go
through. We should not be boring suburban “yuppies” like the one in the movie
and live our life to the fullest because we never know when ours will come to a
close.
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ReplyDeleteI really like how you reference Mexican and Japanese culture. This really strengthens your opinion about how America is one of the only countries whose culture has a fear of death. I have a similar opinion about how as Americans, we are raised our whole lives to believe that we need education to get higher paying jobs so we can have excellent lives. Also, really nice example with the whole "till death do us part" thing, really supports your stance on the anathema against death in America.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your stance on how death should be viewed in America. I also believe that if we celebrated a persons life as opposed to mourning their passing, as a culture we could definitely ease the depression and horrible sadness associated with death. I recently lost my uncle, and while there was no funeral, there was a memorial service, which really helped everyone who came. It made me feel better because it was a discussion of all of the great things he did, as opposed to how dark our lives will be without him. We need to start celebrating peoples lives as opposed to mourning their deaths. Noah Feltes