Is “Popular Culture” influencing death care choices

March 9, 2022/Business, Products/

We are in the final week of the award winning musical “Fun Home” playing at the Melbourne Theatre Company in Australia. The play, which you can see a 30-second trailer of here, collected five Tony awards seven years ago when is played on Broadway. This article in Australia’s Pursuit magazine is entitled “How popular culture helps with the business of death” and is an interesting read when you look at it as the profession evolves to move forward to a new generation of clientele.

The play itself is based on the book of the same title by Alison Bechdel who grew up in the family funeral home in Pennsylvania. The play script moves through her life at three distinct stages. . .as a child, at the age of a Freshman in college, and as a successful cartoonist in her 40’s. The script moves through a thought process of the watcher putting their mind into a thought process where “Death is a part of life”.

While the play has opened eyes to mortality in Melbourne of late, the Pursuit author also questions if popular culture and shows such as “6-Feet Under“, “Family Plots”, “Buried by the Bernards“, and “The Casketeers” have opened up discussions on death and dying which may be a good thing for the traditional staid funeral industry?

The author makes this comment in the article, “. . .funeral homes have become something of a TV trope with shows . . . . airing in recent years and have done a lot to expand the depiction of grief and end-of-life decisions to include communities of colour. They have also opened up avenues for families to discuss options for burial, cremation and end-of-life commemoration – difficult conversations to broach that can be helped along with levity and humour.”

Here’s more of what the article questions, “There’s some evidence that now, more than ever, discussions of mortality are coming to the fore. As we continue to experience the realness of COVID-related death in our midst, some families have broached tough conversations related to end-of-life planning, wills and interment. . . .Fun Home and other new death-focused programs remind us that, while questions of mortality might be difficult, there’s a long tradition of taking them on through culture. And by doing so perhaps we can all be better prepared for dealing with what is an indelible part of life.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: I lived my entire pre-college life next-door to our family funeral home. Seeing dad walking out the back door of the house for a removal, or an arrangement, or to show up at a visitation was just part of my life. I’ve had many a talk with pastors about being PK’s (Pastor’s Kids) and the similarity of being a FDK (Funeral Director’s Kid). There is a commonality of those of us who grow up as FDK’s.

Part of that growing up, in my opinion, was very healthy. We were taught that life was precious. . .death was hard, but it will be a reality for us all at some time. We were also taught about being kind to everyone. . . because everyone or every family is a potential customer. Those were great lessons, not only for a FDK, but for life in general.

We were also taught about service. . . .sometimes Dad taking you to the movies or to a high school basketball game had to wait. . . . Dad was called to “serve a family” instead.

I’m not fond of all of these funeral home “reality” shows as I think there is a little “Hollywood” in them to build ratings and be financially successful. But, I do agree with the author. . . as funeral service hits the popular culture there is a portion that gets through that does show the good works funeral homes do and may prompt healthy discussions by the consumer on the topics of dying, death, grief, and funerals. . . . and that is much better than brushing it aside until one finds themselves in that situation.

More news from the world of Death Care: