: Tina Weber
: Drop Dead Gorgeous Representations of Corpses in American TV Shows
: Campus Verlag
: 9783593412153
: Todesbilder. Studien zum gesellschaftlichen Umgang mit dem Tod
: 1
: CHF 29.00
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: Medienwissenschaft
: English
: 267
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In amerikanischen Fernsehserien wie »CSI« oder »Six Feet Under« sind Tote nicht mehr nur Ausgangspunkt für Ermittlungen - der Tote selbst wird zum Untersuchungsobjekt, Fokussierungen auf tote Körper, etwa bei rechtsmedizinischen Untersuchungen, bestimmen die Szenerie. Tina Weber setzt sich mit diesen neuen filmischen Inszenierungsformen auseinander und fragt, welche gesellschaftlichen Symptomatiken im Umgang mit dem Tod sich darin zeigen.

Tina Weber, Dr. phil., ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Soziologie der Technischen Universität Berlin.
5 New representations and new taboos (S. 143-144)

In the previous chapter I closely examined the different aesthetic techniques used by the media for the representation of corpses in a documentary TV show and in a fictional TV show. The most striking difference in the documentary was a representation consisting of (1) examiners moving (2) an old decedent (3) on an untidy table.

In contrast, hardly any elderly decedents, untidy tables, or bodies in motion were observed in the fictional genre. In this chapter I will extend the examination and concentrate on these three particular findings. I will show that these specific constraints regarding the body’s corporality, including its condition and position, are actual manifestations of taboos, and contrast them with general representation restrictions such as race and gender. These taboos serve to protect the classical Western image of the silent sleeping beauty from any harm.

To scrutinise this hypothesis, I will again compare a nonfictional TV show with a fictional TV show. I therefore selected the black comedy/ drama Six Feet Under and the documentary soap Family Plots. As in the previous chapter the authentic documentary TV show serves as a contrast for the fictional TV show. I selected these TV shows because of their thematic similarities; both are about a funeral parlour. Yet, the docu-soap Family Plots seeks to reflect the daily routine of Poway Bernardo Mortuary in San Diego while Six Feet Under presents a fictional funeral parlour in Los Angeles.

To validate my findings, I will provide statistical research results about the TV shows. These results will provide all the necessary information about the distribution of those representation restrictions. The selection of the pictures shown in this chapter serves, however, only to exemplify the results. Before I will present these results I want to introduce the research background regarding death and taboo. Afterwards I will disclose first general representation restrictions in these TV shows and then the specific representation taboos regarding the dead body as mentioned above. I will finish the chapter with an excursus on hospital autopsies and the conclusion drawn from the results.

5.1. Taboo and death

In 1955, Geoffrey Gorer published the article“Pornography of Death” in which he argued that contemporary society was suppressing death as a topic in the manner of the Victorians and sexuality. According to Gorer the topic of death has been tabooed and,“[…] can be vented only in fantasy‘charged with pleasurable guilt or guilty pleasure’–the distinctive mark of pornography. If we make death unmentionable in polite society–‘not before the children’–we almost ensure the continuation of the‘horror comics’” (Gorer, 1955, p. 175).

Gorer, not without criticism, referred to publications such as horror comics in order to display that a taboo topic does not simply disappear. According to him, the taboo subject re-appears again as pornography charged with that pleasurable guilt. Since the beginning of the 21st century, representations of dead bodies in the pathology department have found their way into the media and, therefore, into the public discourse. During prime time, these representations became ordinary media elements, along with others. Is death still a taboo then?
Content6
Part I—Introduction10
Preface12
Acknowledgements14
Introduction16
1. Theory21
1.1. Image, death and discourse21
1.2. Historical survey of depictions of corpses29
1.3. The representation of corpses in TV shows from 1950 to 200036
1.4. New representations of corpses in TV shows from 2000 to 201040
1.5. New sophisticated death representations45
2 Methodology51
2.1. Analysis of TV shows53
2.2. Pictorial Analysis54
2.3. Film Analysis62
2.4. Interviews65
2.5. Statistic Research66
2.6. “Genre”67
Part 2—Analysis—What is shown and how?72
3 Pictorial Analysis: Pretty corpses in pathology74
3.1. Introduction74
3.2. New TV shows with new representations of death76
3.2.1. Documentary77
3.2.2. Black comedy and drama82
3.2.3. Crime88
3.2.4. Fantasy comedy100
3.2.5. Fantasy drama103
3.3. Summary111
4 Film Analysis: Disgusting autopsies in pathology114
4.1. Media Aesthetics116
4.2. Film Analysis: Autopsy (Documentary)120
4.3. Film Analysis CSI (Crime)129
4.4. Comparison and Evaluation of the Representation Codes135
4.5. Summary139
Part 3—Field Research—What is not shown and why?142
5 New representations and new taboos144
5.1. Taboo and death145
5.2. General representation restrictions151
Summary160
5.3. Specific representation taboos regarding death161
5.4. Excursus on hospital autopsies169
5.5. Conclusion on new representations and new taboos172
6 Field research: The Representation of Corpses under Constraints174
6.1. Officials: The LA County Coroner TV show North Mission Road175
6.1.1. Pictorial analysis of the representation of an autopsy176
6.1.2. Interview with the medical examiner participant180
6.2. Producers: Interviews with the filmmaker185
6.2.1. Money, time, and censorship188
6.2.2. Race, Age, Gender203
6.2.3. Working on realism205
6.3. Recipients: The public response to the new TV shows211
6.3.1. The “CSI Effect” in the juristic discourse211
6.3.2. The “CSI Effect” in the humanistic discourse213
6.4. Summary223
Part 4—Conclusion224
7 Conclusion226
7.1. Visual knowledge and communicative genre230
7.1.1. Changing Genres232
7.1.2. Changing body images235
7.2. New Representations of Death in other Audio-Visual Media244
Works Cited248
Index264