Death is Around the Corner
Based on observing pedestrians’ attitudes while walking around Houston, most people haven’t learned the importance of keeping their eyes open and ears alert.
From the ever-present city bus to cell phone-wielding car drivers to even out of control bicyclists, potential vehicular manslaughter is around every corner.
But what happens after that fateful encounter with everybody’s friendly neighborhood scythe-wielding robe wearer? Quite a few filmmakers have attempted to answer the mysteries of the afterlife.
Here are a few potential glimpses into what life has in store for you after you get splattered by that car because you were to busy texting your friend.
Defending Your Life (1991)
Who bites the dust?: Albert Brooks via bus accident
Defending Your Life (1991)
Where does he go?: Judgment City is a processing center for all recently deceased. During your stay in Judgment City, your life will be examined and your worthiness judged. Where on earth, many men suffered from penis envy, Brooks’ character, Daniel, finds himself experiencing brain envy in a system where the smarter you are the more chance you have to become a full-fledged member of the universe instead of being sent back to Earth to try again.
Is it pleasant?: If you like white middle-class suburbia. Brook’s vision of the afterlife is a biting satire of, amongst other things, America’s increasing proclivity towards standardization and groupthink. The recently deceased wear matching tunics and stay in relatively identical rooms while they await judgment. To pass the time you can visit mini-malls, comedy clubs and any number of ethnic restaurants. The opening credits are a beautifully shot collection of scenes featuring Daniel’s initiation into the bureaucracy that is Judgment City.
What Dreams May Come (1998)
Who bites the dust?: Robin Williams via car accident
What Dreams May Come (1998)
Where does he go?: After dying, Chris (Williams) awakens in his own personal heaven, a kaleidoscope of oil-based painting inspired landscapes and colors. Connected with his wife’s own paintings, Chris’ afterlife is a continuously changing thing of beauty where heaven can be anything or anyone you want it to be.
Is it pleasant?: “What Dreams May Come” gets the award for coolest idea for what heaven is like. The notion of a personal heaven where anyone can build what ever tickles their fancy will appeal to the auteur in us all. But for every cloud’s silver lining, there’s a bucket full of rain waiting to pour down on you. Director Vincent Ward also receives the award for most nightmare-inducing hell. His vision of a sea of faces made up of suicides crying out in pain and frustration will stick with audiences long after the movie has ended.
Fluke (1995)
Who bites the dust?: Matthew Modine via car accident
Fluke (1995)
Where does he go?: To the dog house. After dying in a violent accident, Modine’s character, Thomas, is reincarnated into the body of a newborn puppy, Fluke. Thomas begins to relearn all of life’s basic lessons, but this time through the eyes of a dog. But soon Fluke begins to have dreams of another life with a wife and children. Under the watchful eye of Rumbo (voiced by Samuel “Snakes on a Plane” Jackson), Fluke begins a quest to reclaim some aspect of his former life.
Is it pleasant?: While it may seem neat to be reincarnated into someone new and still retain all prior life knowledge and use your last life’s lessons to make a better future for yourself, “Fluke” proves that sometimes remembering isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. After living a full and somewhat rewarding life as a man, Thomas finds he can’t settle for his new life as Fluke. After finding his old family, he begins to insert himself into his old life in anyway he can – to disastrous results. There’s a reason ignorance is bliss.
Leave a Reply