The Hollywood Museum of Death

This chapter centres on the representation of the corpse within the Hollywood Museum of Death and the subsequent commodification of the criminal, the corpse and socially bad death (Walter, 1994). This work posits that thanatourism and the drive to consume death in this space is impelled by “Wound Theory/Culture” (Seltzer, 1998), and encouraged by Western Secular society's consumerism. The chapter moves on to suggest that how we view these differing, organic and synthetic representations is softened by popular culture and forensic science television shows (Penfold-Mounce, 2015). The theme of Death and the Maiden is explored and attributed through three case studies. Charles Manson is elucidated as a brand and symbol of death whilst Sharon Tate is configured as the Archetypal Maiden in memorial as victim. The display of a mannequin, a fetish object and figure of consumerism, is signified as the symbol of life. The Black Dahlia murder exhibit through which Elizabeth Short represents a brutalised, sexualised symbol of death. This examination also looks to the commodification of the items, the victims, and the criminal. Through this commodification, and the methods employed by the museum, there is a de-stabilising of the authentic, seeming to create fiction from genuine tragedy. The paper concludes that educational value is undermined through the commercialisation of the corpse and questions the means through which Western secular society derives meaning whilst drawn to “The Wound” and the socially bad death.