Extra Credit for COTD

#5 Watch 3 Episodes of Six Feet Under:


Episode 1: "Pilot." Six Feet Undeer. HBO: 03 006 2001. Television. 17 May 2011.
The pilot episode of Six Feet Under, takes the audience through a journey of what it might feel like to lose a loved one from the perspectives of people who are no stranger to death. Undertakers who deal with death on a daily basis are still saddened by losing someone close to them.

Nate and David are undertakers for their family funeral home and the pilot episode depicts the events after their father, Nathaniel, dies in a car accident. Nate and David's whole family see Nathaniel's specter (or spectre) which forces them to face life and death from a very personal perspective.

As undertakers, Nate and David are used to dealing with death and dealing with funerals. However, when their father's funeral was the one that they had to arrange, they were just as unprepared as any of their clients which proves the point that death is a grievous process which no one can be truly be prepared for.

Episode 2: "The Will." Six Feet Undeer. HBO: 10 006 2001. Television. 17 May 2011.
In episode 2 of Six Feet Under, the journey that started in the pilot is continued and we see the preeminent family go through more turmoil and grief as they deal with the after math of the death of the father. The family is struck with grief, but they are slowly realizing that death is something they are familiar with and so the family is progressively forgetting about their loss.

Nathaniel's will is read and all of his family members get a generous amount of money. Nate starts to help out
with the funeral business and learns a few new things.

In the second episode the writers chose to make the characters a lot more carefree than they were in the previous episode. This is primarily because they wanted to reinstate the fact that Fisher family is used to death so treat the death of their father and husband in the same fashion as any other death they have to deal with.

Episode 3: "The Foot." Six Feet Undeer. HBO: 17 006 2001. Television. 17 May 2011.
In the third episode of Six Feet Under, the responsibilities that need to be distributed after someone dies come into the focus of the family. The grieving period is extended when the family goes through all the responsibilities of their loved one.

The Fisher family debates on whether to sell their funeral business to a bigger company that threatens to bankrupt them. The Fisher family decided not to sell their business and upon hearing the family's decision, the competitor company tries to out sell them but their efforts are mysteriously thwarted.

Just like everything in the modern world, taking care of the dead is also a business, one that is just as competitive as any other. The writer's depiction of the care of the dead industry illustrates the fact that people have a tendency to turn everything into a race for who can make the higher profit.

       The first three episodes of Six Feet Under is an arrant depiction of what the normal funeral industry is and how it operates. After reading Grave Matters by Mark Harris and watching The Undertakers (full movie), I have come to the conclusion that a standard funeral firm's duties include: Dressing up in black suits and to offer solace to a family that is going through possibly the worst moment in their lives. Six Feet Under strengthened my belief in the fact that people take advantage of others when the later group is distressed. So these so called "experts" everyone runs to in their time of need, might not be looking out for what is best for you. Funeral directors and undertakers are supposed to be experts when it comes to taking care of the dead yet in each medium I listed above, they are doing the same thing anyone with common sense would do; console and help the person that just lost a loved one.

       In the second episode of Six Feet Under, a widow visits the Fisher's funeral home to arrange a funeral for her husband. Prior to learning the fact that the widow was broke, David offered her a $9,000 casket. When asked why the price tag was so steep, David replied with, "It's more than just a casket. It's a tribute." Using mollifying words such as "tribute" would make a client lenient towards whatever the undertakers suggest. I think Six Feet Under indicatively delineates how a funeral industry is run.

       Another example of a mollifying sentence is when the undertakers find out about the financial situation of the widow; "I think cremation is much more dignified." The undertakers' opinion switches to the next most profitable procedure that the widow can afford. Like I said before, people are more likely to do something if they emotionally weak at the time of making a decision and when a person (that is considered to be an expert by many) is whispering ideas in his or her ear about how they should take care of his or her loved one's remains.

Other Quotes from Episode 1-3:
"You can’t give a coffin back, by law you have to burn it."
"In the death care industry, it’s either consolidate or die."
"This is some fucked up way of making a living, man."
"It's like a mad scientist lab in here" (about embalming room)

MLA Citations: