DIY embalming

Charles 4 Comments
Charles

A touching and moving little film here which will appeal to home funeralists and those who want to reduce funeral costs. NOTE: It carries a four-star Squeam Warning. Don’t watch if you think it may upset you.

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Jonathan
Jonathan
13 years ago

I can’t watch this with the sound up because Ashley is listening to Wild Birds and Peace Drums at the moment; but if you want a charicature of an embalmer, could you do better than Father Formaldehyde here? Gorgeous!

Perpetua's Garden
13 years ago

Charles, you have no shame! And yet I approve! On the one hand hand, I agree with making fun of this materialistic American obsession with preserving the physical aspect of the dead – which is in fact preserving the illusion of life and refusing the fact of death. On the other hand, I suppose that everyone’s funeral rituals deserve respect, however ridiculous they appear to us. What tips the scale in my case is also the satire this makes on the American obsession on spending as little as possible on funerals. This is not to deny the existence of all… Read more »

Charles Cowling
13 years ago

I am never quite sure which illusion embalming is intended to procure: half dead, or half alive? Which is merely another cheap way of tweaking the embalmers’ tails, for they do take themselves terrifically seriously. The awareness of this makes this naughty film even more delicious. I like your definition of funeral expenses as ‘unavoidable costs’. Very nicely put. It’s the same over here: the only good’un is a cheap one. Because people have no expectations of a funeral: they don’t think it will do them any good (and I guess it most often doesn’t). As to funerary practices the… Read more »

andrew plume
andrew plume
13 years ago

Hi Charles

An interesting little piece – but I see that the purported ‘body’ shares the same name as the Graphic Designer for the shoot…………..

Best regards

Andrew