HW 56 - Culminating Project Comments

For Abdul:

Abdul,
I thought that the fact that you interviewed your mother was a very courageous move on your part. I can understand how difficult and uncomfortable it must have been to sit there and talk about what she would like to be done with her body when she dies, since the death of a parent is an agonizing experience. I think it is interesting to compare and contrast two different thoughts on taking care of the dead from two different people who come from different educational backgrounds. I think your choice of donating your organs is a noble one and you should stick to that choice.
Good post.

Abdullah

For Amanda,

Dear Amanda,
Your post was very dynamic. Your decisions on how you want to be taken care of when you die reflect who you are as a person now; outgoing, food-loving, and most importantly, happy. I really hope that you get the sending off party that you described in your blog. And I also hope that it won't be family only. I would be really upset if I wasn't invited. :)
If you've ever been to Roosevelt Island, by the lighthouse, I think you'll find that scenery a much more soothing place for your party then your current plans. Go to Roosevelt Island one day and you'll be thanking me for suggesting that idea to you.
Another aspect of your future plans that I liked was that you really care about how comfortable your guests will be in your party. It seems like you will be extremely cross with your guests if they do not have a good time and mope about your poor health. I think that desire for making sure others have a good time is very selfless and really reflects a positive image on you as a person.
Again, I hope all your hopes and plans become a reality one day. Good post buddy.


Abdullah


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From AbdulM

For Abdullah,

Your blog seemed to be about, you wanting to really make a change for care of the dead thus, resulting in an activist project. Read Grave Matters inspired you with the ideas and information it presented however, you felt as though you could take the information and make it more accessible and easier to understand. I think you succeeded.

One aspect of your post that I particularly valued was that you decided to use the resources available to you ( Brooklyn College) to spread the word for your activist project. This is something I truly admire since it does take a lot of courage to go to a college and stand there in hand out fliers. This is truly an activist project, getting out there in the real world and making change.

Your project matters to me because in a way you did three activist projects. You interviewed a High School Student who lives on the other side of America and enlightened him on the death care industry. During this interview I'm sure you fixed many of his misconceptions. The second thing you did was find a Brooklyn College undergrad and interview. What a bold move, whether that person realize it or not you genuinely tried to help them with their life and make the death experience a bit easier for them. The third thing you did was you went out to Brooklyn College. Even though it wasn't necessarily out of your reach you still did it. How many people can actually say they did all of that just for a history project. Well done Abdullah I'm impressed.

From Amanda

Dear Abdullah, I liked the way you organized your flyer in terms of the black was what you presumed the viewer to know and the red was what they probably didn't know. you approached it from a non-threatening perspective, and were therefore were able to convey as much information as possible. and you have very high hopes for the futures of your flyers i'm sure a few were framed and placed over the fire place as well, i do know that they must have caught a lot of peoples attention you may have even changed a few career paths. good work with your flyers!

From Dev (Protoge)

I agree that your flyer was engaging. You were very concise, which was one of the reasons I believe was you did not find any of your flyers on your way home. I think that the point you are trying to make is that a topic as morbid as death can be engaging to people if presented in the proper way. The fact that you actually stopped to get a quick question or comment was good as well, it gave you a chance to explain yourself while getting some feed back.

From Mentor,

When we used to go to the Brooklyn College Gym together I never thought you will use this known campus for your research purpose. However, it is indeed excellent idea to collect info from primary source like diverse and knowledgeable sample group of Brooklyn College. It is also good achievement that you convinced college students to go through your flyers. Definitely the flyer was developed with good thoughts and setting of photos and texts were commendable. I realized you have given more emphasis to your 11 grader friend over the students of the college. This might be a bias decision which should be avoided in all circumstances. It is better to have diverse opinion about dead rather than focusing on one individual's thoughts and ideas.

We know after death it does not matter how our body will be treated but we will never think of disregard to our dead bodies. The religious and social rituals play significant roles on caring of dead bodies.

I think your have tried to gather more info on the caring of deaths and I hope you will also be able to respect the dead bodies.   

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: