ABSTRACT
How society handles death says something about its character and nature. As briefly mentioned in Chapter 1, 3PCFSU ,BTUFOCBVN B QJPOFFS PG DPOUFNQPSBSZ thanatology, coined the term death system to denote the complex system society uses to deal with death (1998, 2001). He suggests that many aspects of dealing with death, such as medical care for people with terminal illness, doing business with a funeral home, or recovering from a loss, do not exist as isolated, separate, realities but as a network of connections that more or less function as an integrated death TZTUFN ,BTUFOCBVN *OBOFTTBZXSJUUFO GPSBDPMMFDUJPOPG SFBEJOHT ,BTUFOCBVN PGGFSTUIFGPMMPXJOHQJUIZEFGJOJUJPOPGBEFBUITZTUFNi4PDJFUZT multifaceted, multilevel attempt to mediate our relationship with mortality” (p. 9). ,BTUFOCBVN TFFTUIFEFBUITZTUFNBTJOUFSUXJOFEOFUXPSLT CVUIF PVUMJOFTTFWFSBMJEFOUJGJBCMFDPNQPOFOUTBOEGVODUJPOT4FF5BCMFGPSBTVNNBSZ
The HBO television series, Six Feet Under, is a show that ran for five seasons, VOUJM/PXBWBJMBCMFPO%7% JUDPOUJOVFTUPFOKPZBiDVMUuGPMMPXJOH5IFTFSJFT depicts the life and times of the Fishers, an all-American family who, like many others, JTEFTDSJCFEBTiEZTGVODUJPOBMu8IBUTEJGGFSFOUJTUIFOBUVSFPGUIFGBNJMZCVTJOFTTBOE XIFSFUIFZMJWF'PSUIPTFPGZPVXIPBSFOUGBNJMJBSXJUIUIFTFSJFT UIF'JTIFSTSBOB funeral home, a veritable symbol of our modern death system. Much of the action took QMBDFVQTUBJST iBCPWFUIFTIPQu*OUIFQSFNJFSFQJTPEF UIFGBNJMZQBUSJBSDIEJFTJOB RVJSLZBVUPNPCJMFBDDJEFOU*OUIFFOTVJOHFQJTPEFTUIFTUPSZVOGPMETBTUIFQBUSJBSDIT widow, two adult sons, and one teen-aged daughter are left to deal with the “ ordinary” and not-so-ordinary aspects of life in the “deathcare” business. What emerges is an eccentric, sometimes disturbing, but often touching story of a resilient American family. (Home Box Office, 2003).
