It’s not even a rant. It’s just a simple irritated publicly expressed bitch, and imparts information to those who are not aware of the facts.
If a person dies with their eyes open, you cannot gently close them. Oh, wait… yes you can. And the minute you remove your fingers, they will open again. Even if you hold them for a second. Or two. Or five. Or press hard. It doesn’t work. That’s why they used to put coins on people’s eyes. Every time an otherwise well-done entertainment has someone do this, I’m instantly yanked out of the show and find my brain screaming: LIES! STOP THAT!!!
I’m not here to discover or explain the physical reason this is true, I’m just telling you it is. I know it and always knew it, but then I had the direct experience when my sister died. She died after spending a day or two in a coma, and when she passed her eyelids were at half-mast. My other sister tried to close them and was startled when repeated attempts didn’t work. My mother and I enlightened her that this was not possible. And also explains why we traditionally cover the faces of the dead. When a person is dead with closed eyes, their dead face isn’t nearly as disturbing. But most people’s eyes are at least a little bit open after they die and it’s kinda creepy. (And if you disagree with my speculation…explain why we’re ok with looking right at them after the undertaker has made them look like they’re asleep? Dead and asleep look different, and it’s all in the eyes.)
So Directors of The World: Please stop doing this. It completely screws with my suspension of disbelief and enjoyment of your film/tv show. Thank you.
And here’s a question: WHY do they do this? We know it just messes with me and my enjoyment of the show, so I’m completely missing whatever it is I’m supposed to be feeling when they do this. What is the point? What’s the message?
When my Mother in Law passed away in my home, with her eyes open, we closed them, gently and without difficulty. They did not reopen and she remained here for another 8 hrs.
We were not in the room when she passed it was probably 30+ mins after her death that we shut her eyes.
So, understandably, I’m a tad suspect of what you are saying here.
I’m sorry - I did not know that. I have been guilty of perpetuating this shorthand gesture, which up until know, I had no reason to believe wasn’t true.
A simple explanation for it - it’s really hard to keep your eyes open on stage or on camera while pretending to be dead. Open, expressionless, dead looking eyes convey the moment of death remarkably well, but if the corpse is going to be onstage or in shot for very long, it’s a good idea to have someone close their eyes for them. Blinking tends to ruin the illusion…
They do it on TV because it shows compassion for the dead.
On Big Love …
Bill closes Roman’s dead eyes so you know that, even though they were adversaries, Bill still had some measure of respect for Roman. Not that it didn’t take me right out of the scene, Roman had been dead and frozen for days before Bill closed his eyes. I called BS out loud.
That’s exactly what triggered this thread as the most insanely egregious example I think I’ve ever seen. In fact, I didn’t buy that they were that wide open to begin with!
Obviously, people aren’t literally worshipping Charon. But the rite has held on across many cultures and, as far as I know, always for the same purpose: to honor the dead and ease the passage.
Shooting a gun at / holding a lighter to / shooting fire out of your hands at one building sprinkler does not activate every sprinkler in the building. It doesn’t even activate the one sitting next to it unless the glass element breaks on that one too.
So several people are saying the OP is wrong and they have been able to do this in RL, but that hasn’t been addressed. I’ve never had the experience myself, so I am curious. And if they do stay open no matter what, why is that? You said you weren’t interested in discovering/explaining the physical reason for it, but this is the Dope after all so I think we should investigate.
I wanted to add that when my father died, his eyes were halfway open and I immediately closed them with no problem. I did this right after they pronounced him gone. Not sure if it matters how soon you do it, but I closed his right away.
I’d say it depends on the corpse. I’ve closed many eyes of the newly dead in my time. Sometimes they stay closed, and sometimes they don’t.
I don’t put pennies on them, though. And now I have “Taxman” running through my head…