"Mourners" photograph dead Pope with cellphone cameras...WTF?

[Pert_UK]

So this is what counts as "showing respect" these days? Personally I find it ghoulish and think it shows how modern society has virtually no idea of what counts as "appropriate behaviour".

And for the record, I'm 30 years old and not exactly a prude......

"When they entered the basilica, some mourners took pictures of the Pope's body with their mobile phone cameras. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4410749.stm

[rawtribe]

1. The nerve..

[murielm99]

2. They should have disallowed cell phones in the basilica.

Some people have to be TOLD how to behave.

[Sandpiper]

3. The whole thing seems so ghoulish

Parading his corpse around on a platter like it was a pizza.

I much prefer the tradition of putting the stiff in a casket and carrying it around.

[Skittles]

4. I think parading his corpse around is ghoulish and in bad taste

it is disgusting

[Cooley Hurd]

16. I remember 1978...

I was 12 and was treated to the sight of 3 corpses - my grandmother, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul I.

Creeped me out for months...:scared:

[Skittles]

23. I am lucky enough to never have been forced to do that as a child

is that really the way children want to remember their loved ones? It IS creepy.

[moggie]

18. Need to show people he's still dead

Can't have rumours of a zombie pope spreading around, it'd be bad for the church.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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[Cuban_Liberal]

6. Nice broad-brush smear.

:eyes:

[ET Awful]

7. Well, when they televise his corpse, put pictures of it on the front page

of every newspaper, and spend 24 hours a day talking about his body, people begin to think that it's acceptable.

If it weren't for the media making it acceptable in advance, people probably wouldn't be doing it.

[B Calm]

8. I don't know, but I think it's a Kansas thing. We have relatives

in Kansas and everytime the come east to, a funeral for a family member they always take pictures of the dead family member in the casket. WE just don't do that here, and think it's very strange.

[Cooley Hurd]

17. My uncle did that at my mom's funeral...

...he did it because "we would someday want to see the pictures."

It's been 6 years, and I still have no desire to see them...

[tanyev]

19. Yep, Iowa, too.

I remember as a kid looking through some of the photo albums at my grandmother's house. Mixed in with all the family/holiday/grandchildren shots were photos of various elderly relatives in their caskets. Really creeped me out at the time.

[Name removed]

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[RPM]

10. as if he wasnt photographed in life....

:eyes:

[LostinVA]

15. Agreed. Possible cultural differences, too

My dad's family is Italian, and they ALWAYS take "death photos" of people in their caskets. I think it's icky, but that's what all the old Sicilian relatives do. Also, I agree they probably just want a remembrance. And, having been in many cathedrals on the Continent, I can't tell you how many times I've seen photos and videotapes taken of sundry saint's body parts. Just a different culture. It's not my cup of tea, but I see nothing wrong with it.

[Mojorabbit]

44. One side of my family is Portuguese

and they do the same thing.

[mrbill]

11. the catholic church is very liberal about photography......

Was a wedding photographer in my misspent youth and the Catholics were easy. Take pictures of anything you want, drag in your lighting equipment and cords, just please duck tape them to the floor so that nobody trips.

Some beautiful backgrounds in these buildings.

In denominations other than Catholic more photo restrictions applied.

Fundy chruches have really crappy backgrounds.

Not surprised that photos are being taken of the pope. Cell phones with cameras, cool.

[Gin]

12. there was a professional photographer taking picures of the body

from every angle.....I thought that was odd.

[mrbill]

13. in this case it seems the norm.......

was the guy using a flash?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. But it's okay to televise his dead body worldwide???

[wicket]

20. It used to be a tradition to photograph dead bodies

Here in the US any way.

[LizW]

21. Yes, it's a cultural thing

My older relatives used to do this. I think it is sort of traditional in Europe. I don't see anything wrong with it if it's done with respect.

And it not like the dead person cares.

[woodsprite]

31. Now we just watch CSPAN. n/t

[alcuno]

22. So you probably wouldn't like our tradition of tapping a keg outside

the funeral home.

BTW - If you think Americans are bad about cell phones, the Italians are ten times worse.

[ohio_liberal]

25. I like your tradition

Ours is a clandestine bag of weed and a flask or two of whisky. :)

[aeolian]

24. Mourners photograph Pres. McKinley with cameras.

"Mourners" etch King Rameses in Stone.

Thag immortalized in cave painting.

[Redstone]

26. So fucking what.

Let them do what they want to do. It doesn't affect your life.

Redstone

[Pert_UK]

42. What a stupid argument......

People being tortured in Egypt doesn't affect my life either.

[LeftyMom]

27. Open casket funerals are creepy

I can't imagine why anyone would want thier body oogled like that. People shouldn't have to stare at his corpse to mourn the man anyhow.

[CornField]

28. As long as they don't run and try to pose with the body

Or pose the body for that matter.

Really... pictures of his shell have been broadcast everywhere. Why should a few more photographs hurt anything?

[tammywammy]

29. An uncle took photos of my grandma at her funeral

But it was for more practical reasons. He has an older half-sister, that due to some of her actions, has been disavowed from the family. My grandmother was in udder distaste for the aunt, and she knew better than to show up at the funeral. My uncle took the photos to give to her.

I didn't find it creepy in the least. When my mom did genealogy, I spent a lot of time in cemeteries with her, and she took lots of photos of headstones of deceased relatives.

I don't think taking pictures of the dead Pope creepy either. While not considered "acceptable" here, it is elsewhere in the world.

[QC]

30. Not everyone is as squeamish about death as middle-class white Americans.

[RedCappedBandit]

32. Am I the only one?

I went for a ride after school today, and stopped in at a local 7-11 to buy a snack, when I saw newsday. The front page featured a huge picture of an old man's dead body laying in a casket.

Am I the only one who finds this extremely disturbing?

[QC]

35. Must have been some other dead guy,

because the Pope is not in a casket.

[xultar]

33. So now we'are against Cellphone cameras? WTF??? n/t

[xultar]

34. I suppose you didn't know the Vatican announced the death via SMS

on cellphones and emails.

should we be against that too!

Buhwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[Mabel Dodge]

36. I agree with QC

I personally have no problem taking pictures (with respect) of the deceased and I certainly don't see anything wrong with children viewing a body. Our society views death as obscene instead of a natural part of life. That's not healthy in my humble opinion.

[jdj]

37. I guess next the pope sex video will come out...

"The Pope in Paris" or something.

[nini]

38. This isn't so unusual in other cultures

I wouldn't do it, but have been to funerals where they were videotaped, pictures taken etc.. It's just a different approach than the American way of dealing with the dead.

[Liberal In Texas]

39. Cell phone camera or Pentax....what's the difference?

The morning paper here had a huge pic of J2P2 on the front page laying in state. I thought it lacked taste.

DV BetaCam SP or handycam mini from WalMart.

What's the diff?

[ohio_liberal]

40. It's not disrespectful

Maybe a flash indoors would be a bit much with all those people around, but taking a photo isn't that big of a deal.

[deadparrot]

41. The whole "dead body on show" thing creeps my grandmother out to no end.

She's a devout Catholic, but can't even watch the coverage because seeing a dead body on display makes her flip out.

[Pert_UK]

43. OK - here are some further points for people who just don't get it.

I'm not against mobile phones or mobile phone cameras per se - you'd have to be a bit weird to think that this was my point, IMHO.

What I am saying is that "lying in state" is supposed to give people an opportunity to pay their respects and say goodbye to somebody important to them.

Taking photographs inside a church during a lying in state is, IMHO, utterly distasteful.

It removes any sense of dignity from the occasion.
It is pointless because the official media have already been given access and have provided a million pictures already, all of them better quality than you'll get from a cellphone cam.
It devalues and cheapens the event, turning it into a tourist attraction.
It is highly likely to offend people who genuinely HAVE gone their to pay their respects, if they see you treating it as a photo opportunity.

Am I saying that it is never acceptable to photograph the dead?
Am I saying that cellphone cams are a bad thing necessarily?
No, of course not. And I can't understand why anybody would take that impression from my original post.

[Pert_UK]

45. BBC article on this very same subject:

"They have come to pay their final respects, so is taking a mobile phone picture of the Pope's body disrespectful or just a sign of how times changed during his 26-year papacy?

To some it is distasteful, inappropriate and plain disrespectful. To others it is recording an historic moment to share with those who cannot be there...

The real issue is whether taking a picture with a mobile phone is a breach of hospitality"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4415947.stm

And for my final point....

On a practical level, if you're taking a photo with your cellphone camera then your cellphone is switched on. It is TOTALLY unacceptable to have your cellphone switched on in church, equally so when viewing a body lying in state, because it just might ring. It's pure selfishness to risk disturbing the tranquility of the situation and intering with other people's genuine mourning simply so you can take a photograph.