I enjoy movies and television. I love stories of all kinds. What I do not like is the way much of pop culture treats death. In Star Wars Obi Wan and Yoda become all spirit in death in much the same way Master Oogway does in Kung Fu Panda. I suppose with Master Oogway, a case might be made that it’s a children’s movie and maybe full on death is not what you might want to convey to small children. On the other hand it’s strange that he becomes a puff of smoke and flower blossoms. In the episode of Bones: Lance to the Heart, the cremains of the character Dr. Sweets becomes this lilting small cloud of ash as it dances on the wind. I have issues with some of this scene. Any one who has handled cremains knows that they are heavy. We do not become ash like a tree might in fire. We are heavy. It takes time for our bodies to either decompose of become cremains. We are of consequence. We are of substance. Our death has weight in people’s lives. We do not just blow away in the wind, no matter how much we would like to not look at or deal with the body. When we die a body remains. It is the body we with which have loved, laughed, and cried. It is the same body our loved ones recognize as ours. Our bodies matter.
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