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| Beetlejuice attempting to convince the Maitlands that he can successfully rid their home of the Deetz family. As much of a fascination Americans have with carnage and excessive gore, one would think that death could be openly discussed in this nation. However, as a general rule, most Americans will do anything to avoid the topic of death, especially when it involves coping with someone very close that has recently passed. Death is by no means a topic that should be handled lightly, but it's also important to face the tragedy when it does occur. Americans want to deny death for many reasons, depending on the individual-- usually, though, it's hardest for us to accept the realization that the person is actually gone... forever. The mother who raised us, your best friend around the corner, your hairdresser of 14 years; it's not easy to imagine these crucial parts of our lives suddenly disappearing. It's scary to think that death could hit someone at any moment as well. Perhaps denying death altogether makes it easier for humans to get through the day-to-day routine. Clearly, no one wants to be living in fear-- and if you abolish the thought of it altogether, what's there to actually be frightened of? Furthermore, if death hits you personally, what's the point of everything you've accomplished or are currently working toward? With a morbid perspective, suddenly all these expensive linens, fine-tuned technological gadgets, and $200 sunglasses seem worthless. Our life needs worth and these things provide us with fleeting satisfaction. Instead of accepting death, people find ways of denying or comforting the idea of it. In many cases, that's why people rely on a heaven or afterlife. In the film Beetlejuice, death is certainly denied, especially in that it is depicted as seemingly just another chapter of life. Immediately following the Maitlands demise, they return to their home with everything as it was before-- in fact, they don't even realize that they're actually dead. They continue to "live their lives," but now with some strange obstacles that most would not generally find themselves a part of. Also, though the Maitlands are technically invisible ghosts, Burton uses a clever plot tool to subtly deny death in the film: the Deetz parents and everyone else besides Lydia cannot actually see the death that surrounds them throughout the entire movie, the Maitlands. They are used to avoiding death even if it's staring them straight in the face, just as Americans do in this very country with whatever personal coping mechanism they are attuned to. |
Thursday, January 17, 2013
McCurdy Beetlejuice
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Your theory as to why Americans deny death is very witty and insightful. It is interesting to think that people choose to deny it because they don’t want to be living in fear. I also never thought about how death could make everything you do in life meaningless. Even though we are all going to bite the dust one day, people rely on materialism to give their lives worth and the idea of death totally nullifies this. I’m also glad you included the idea of people relying on the possibility of an afterlife because I believe that religion can be a form of death denial in itself. People feel more at ease believing in something that gives them hope about life after death. If everyone knew that nothing happened after you die than no one would take anything seriously and life would become pointless. I agree with you about how the Maitlands continue to “live their lives” even after death, I also mentioned this in my blog post. Death in the Beetlejuice world is just a more tedious continuation of life.
ReplyDelete-Yamato O’Connell
I really liked your first statement about how gore is all around us in video games and movies but outside of technology we disregard death in reality. Understandably people get scared when the topic of death hits home, but its very strange how society barely acknowledges it and people move on so quickly. I also thought it was a really interesting point you made about how when we acknowledge a loss of any sort it puts things into perspective. Once we feel a real loss, it makes us thing that all the little material things we stress about are really worthless. It really makes us wonder where we learned to cope with our problems by spending money. Even though not everyone copes like this, most people do. It makes me wonder that if the further we move into a technologically advanced world does that mean that we move farther into a desensitized state of being, and ignore the things that really make us feel.
ReplyDelete- Isabella Catanzariti
I really enjoyed your initial comment about Americans' excessive fascination with carnage and gore, which is so frequently displayed in our media and openly depicted in our culture. Yet, we somehow tend to ignore the reality of death. I think that this is a very important paradox in our culture that often slides under the radar unaddressed. Americans always want more -- more food, more sex, and more violence. However, due to the excess of all these areas in our media, we become a little numb to it as we accept it as the 'norm.' This standard in our society creates a platform for ultimate shock when someone close to us passes away. The strangers' faces we scan through the obituary and the nameless victims on the news does not depict the harsh reality coupled with a loved one's death. But suddenly, it will be reversed. You're mother or baby brother hits the obituary page and it is horrifying. I think that Americans excessive display of death and gore is a mechanism to continue denying death. By desperately trying to make it accepted in society and using it as a means to create bigger better headlines, we have somewhat stripped death of its reality. The Deetzes are an example of the typical American family who will openly joke about death but be shocked when the reality of it with the Maitlands in their wedding clothes appear. Not until American media slows down the excessive use of blood and gore will Americans truly leave their denial of death in the past.
ReplyDelete-Leanne Reisz