If you asked me to describe a Hollywood death scene, I’m pretty sure I could do it perfectly. Just as the leads are about to reach their happy ending, one supporting character clutches their side and falls to the ground. A fake cough, a “tell (someone) I love them” and the character’s end is reached while their eyes remain wide open. Whether or not this is a well-written scene is subjective, but if you’re looking for a positive opinion, I wouldn’t ask South by Southwest 2024’s “Flipping the Script on End of Life” panelists.
This panel discussed the taboo topic of death and the dangers of its inaccurate portrayals on screen. Panel members included Zoanne Clack (“Grey’s Anatomy”), doctor-turned executive-producer, screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (“Contagion”) and Julie McFadden, hospice nurse and social media personality, as they discussed the taboo topic of death and the dangers of its inaccurate portrayals on screen. As technology develops and media becomes more and more integrated into our everyday lives, we begin to increasingly reflect the media we consume. While this constant media exposure can be a medium for education, it can also miseducate us and perpetuate stigmas.
In any dramatic onscreen situation, it’s obvious that writers and directors have what Burns calls an “obligation to the drama” — there’s simply no way to write certain stories without death. But these three speakers aren’t interested in expunging the theme of death from film and television; they’re interested in creating more realistic depictions of death onscreen. Burns explains that “life has a 100% mortality rate,” yet we continue to live our lives in fear, refusing to think about or plan for death in any way, shape or form. During the panel, he shared a story about a friend of his who planned for his last 30 days of life. I felt a shift in the audience’s mood — Burns was talking about something we weren’t supposed to talk about. We are supposed to fear and be ashamed to speak of death. The idea of embracing death and its inevitability came like a slap in the face to myself and my fellow audience members. And yet, when Burns’ friend goes out, they’re all the more likely to go out satisfied with a completely checked-off bucket list. Why should we be so afraid of that?
This wasn’t the only slap in the face I experienced during the panel. McFadden brought her medical experience and social media expertise to the table, discussing her previous video content aimed at de-stigmatizing death with the audience, even mentioning a video featuring real-life deaths of her fans’ friends and family members that had been sent in. I was taken aback and mildly offended, but I still can’t quite figure out why I felt that way. Is it because death is an intimate experience that I think should be private? Or because it’s scary and I want it out of my sight and mind? Either way, death is real. And by creating video content on the subject, McFadden is bringing awareness to the fear surrounding the idea of death with honesty and compassion.
My personal favorite story from the panel, however, belonged to Clack. Clack shared that her experiences with her mother’s health and her eventual passing during the peak of COVID acted as the inspiration for Dr. Miranda Bailey’s (Chandra Wilson, “Station 19”) mother’s death on “Grey’s Anatomy.” In a hospital room in Grey Sloan Memorial, Bailey sings and provides a loving, comforting environment for her mother during her final moments. Each panelist works to break down the stigma surrounding death in their own way, and this is how Clack does it. Death doesn’t have to be exploitative, intense, scary or gory. Despite the insistence of typical Hollywood death scenes, the end of life happens in a million different ways. Carefully curating these moments with empathy can help break down the long-standing stigma surrounding death.
Hollywood uses death more often than it features it. It’s too often a vehicle for story development or a building block to a tragic backstory rather than something that just … happens. But Hollywood’s refusal to feature death realistically or compassionately is a contributing factor to the stigma surrounding the very topic itself. Whether through film and television or social media content, these three SXSW panelists are breaking down the stigma against death one screen at a time.
TV Beat Editor Olivia Tarling can be reached at tarling@umich.edu.