Funerals in Movies
Why are moviemakers so fond of including funeral scenes in their films? Out of every two movies you see, one has a damn funeral scene. This obsession is rivalled only by the frequency of the making-out-in-bed scenes that became so rampant due to the Big Breakout in Outlook that occurred in many areas during the 1960's and carries through to today.
Well, I guess it's because the writers, actors, and directors were lucky enough not to experience the death of a really close loved one while they were young -- though I would never wish upon them or anyone else something like the passing of my father when I was only six, upon which ever afterward I have avoided funerals as much as I possibly could.
That great majority of more fortunate people will just sneer and say that that and only that explains my attitude. But they should check out that movie thing some time.
I wonder if it's taught in film school, that if all else fails, pop in a funeral scene.
Possibly those scenes are regarded as being extra dramatic, though that point escapes me entirely. Or maybe they're a sign of film-making laziness. They must be easy to do. You don't have to worry about the costumes or about clearing the locations for the shots, since they're already cleared and quiet, except for the tombstones, and there's no directing involved, because the actors already know that all they have to do is to look solemn. Sometimes the actresses do have to pretend that they're crying, but even then veils can relieve them of the task of coming up with real tears.
Like the thousands of other aggravations in which moviemakers indulge themselves, the love of funerals, as popular as it is, isn't likely ever to fall out of fashion, so I am doomed to keep cringing. Unfortunately movies, as endlessly interesting as they can be, never lack in the number of things to bring about cringing and something close to gastric upheaving. In fact their makers often seem to work hard for just those effects. I'm sure they call it being creative.
Well, I guess it's because the writers, actors, and directors were lucky enough not to experience the death of a really close loved one while they were young -- though I would never wish upon them or anyone else something like the passing of my father when I was only six, upon which ever afterward I have avoided funerals as much as I possibly could.
That great majority of more fortunate people will just sneer and say that that and only that explains my attitude. But they should check out that movie thing some time.
I wonder if it's taught in film school, that if all else fails, pop in a funeral scene.
Possibly those scenes are regarded as being extra dramatic, though that point escapes me entirely. Or maybe they're a sign of film-making laziness. They must be easy to do. You don't have to worry about the costumes or about clearing the locations for the shots, since they're already cleared and quiet, except for the tombstones, and there's no directing involved, because the actors already know that all they have to do is to look solemn. Sometimes the actresses do have to pretend that they're crying, but even then veils can relieve them of the task of coming up with real tears.
Like the thousands of other aggravations in which moviemakers indulge themselves, the love of funerals, as popular as it is, isn't likely ever to fall out of fashion, so I am doomed to keep cringing. Unfortunately movies, as endlessly interesting as they can be, never lack in the number of things to bring about cringing and something close to gastric upheaving. In fact their makers often seem to work hard for just those effects. I'm sure they call it being creative.
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 6:21 PM
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