I don’t get open casket funerals. Am I the only one?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
100%. I’m executor of my parents wills, and that will NOT be happening. Thankfully, neither of them want that, anyway. It’s morbid and grotesque. (I say that as someone who usually enjoys the morbid and grotesque—just not for my loved ones.) [NP] |
Anonymous
|
Viewing the dead body is ever evolving. The tradition of a viewing seems to be fading. The worst was a time in the late 19th century, with the advent of photography, the dead were propped up in life-like poses and photographed. And if it could get even worse, dead babies and toddlers were cradled in their mother's arms and photographed. The expressions on the mothers' faces is heart wrenching.
https://www.burnsarchive.com/historical-death-memorial |
Anonymous
I think this was done because personal cameras weren’t a thing yet so the only memory would be the death photo. From that perspective, you can kind of understand it. I think it’s much creepier when modern day couples post photos of stillborn babies on social media. That stuff should be private and not turned into grief porn. |
Anonymous
It’s not “grief porn” if it was your child. People grieve differently, pp. |
Anonymous
How is it disrespectful to the dead if they requested it? |
Anonymous
Doubt most of these posters are present at the dying. Too traumatic! |
Anonymous
| It is the norm in my culture, but it is very disturbing for me |
Anonymous
These posters are showing their provincialism. You know there are other countries and other cultures in the world, right? |
Anonymous
Birth is pretty grotesque too. People think if you don't see these things and confront them it is somehow better. Death is a part of life. Denying it doesn't keep it any further from you. Some people need the closure of seeing the person dead. To see that they are truly gone. To see that who they are is no longer there. Some do not. Some people like to see the body because it makes them feel a certain way about their own passing. It is a complicated issue. I am generally of the opinion that keeping the death and dying separate from our lives, outsourcing the care of their bodies and the loss of traditions like mourning clothing have made us more anxious about death and more disconnected from the richness of living. |
Anonymous
Because weird for me to go to a wake with a closed casket. What is point. Just go straight to funeral. I go to wakes to see my loved ones one last time. A closed casket ⚰️ takes that away. I traced six hours to my Godmothers wake and to go look at a 📦 box. Why? |
Anonymous
Other counties are barbarians |
Anonymous
| For me one of the worst parts about watching someone die is watching them go from a person to an object. So I absolutely hate open casket funerals because it's just this horrible elongation of that feeling. |
Anonymous
Well, you can skip a lot of stuff, but if you skip embalming you’re going to pay for refrigeration unless they go from place of death directly to the crematory; when I was in the market refrigeration per day was quoted at about what embalming costs. While they cannot require embalming, US funeral directors view it (and not without reason) as making the remains easier and safer to handle. It also typically is one of the least expensive things on the funeral menu. What runs up the price is the typically very high charge for “basic services,” which essentially includes being in business and answering the phone. |
Anonymous
But that is part of the whole human experience. It is no different than birth. |
Anonymous
Agreed. I feel that thinking the body is “disgusting” or “morbid” is an attempt to ignore the reality of the death. |