Post 6: Mitch Albom and the Dark Matter of Death.
I cannot possibly know what death is for me,
until it happens. No matter how many variations of death I experience, it is
still this “unknown” to me. Engrossed in what I cannot see? Yes. Some people choose
to go, others are surprised by when or how a departure happens, and bystanders
are caught up in a myriad of forms and levels of investment as death comes for
each one of us. We all will inevitably die, at this point in our scientific
understanding of death, but there are obsessions about how one controls death
and rules in place for ways it is illegal and legal to take one’s own or
another person’s life, beyond sickness and war. I once questioned why suicide
was illegal when the person committing it was dead if it was successful, which
brought up a whole list of possibilities. Here’s a little info if you are
curious. (The
legality of suicide) There are few things more compelling and influential
than being faced with a “life-threatening” experience of any kind. This thing beyond sight, beyond intimately
knowing, is a type of dark matter.
The artist or story teller using it holds a common power and varies its use in
a story for its intended impact. Each
and every one of us, depending on the individual fears of our morality and
death, can be impacted by this dark matter. The not-knowing or not-seeing makes
it more impactful in at least some cases. However, if we are watching someone
else die, it may improve our level of knowing and reduce the fear, depending on
context and story structure.
I was struck with interest for a new-to-me
writer when asked to do the voice-over of a jazz singer for a play called Tuesday’s
With Morrie, by Mitch Albom, his first novel which was then adapted for stage
and then screen (with Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria in 1999, forgive the dated and
hallmark spin and check it out here).
You may also recognize his novel-turned-screenplay,
The Five People You Meet In Heaven,
or other book titles and movies made for TV. In these two and his For One More Day, I have found this
particular dark matter topic, death, to resurface in all of them with different
treatments based on the differing stories drive and direction. However, it
seems common that Albom examines death from a perspective of life, since he is
still living, while using subjects that are facing experiences near or around
death both in real and fictional scenarios. Seeing that his initial book sparks
this dark matter, it is interesting to see it’s treatment differ from story to
story but still surface readily as if he is trying to pin it down more
effectively with every new treatment.
Mitch Albom’s Tuesday’s With Morrie, a video description
of the play and the production for the Drayton Festival Theatre in London four
years ago. The first three minutes are the most useful. (Drayton
Festival Theatre)
In Mitch Albom’s Tuesday’s With Morrie, Mitch Albom, a former jazz pianist turned
sports journalist and novelist reconnects with a former college professor,
Morris Schwartz, after seeing him interviewed by Ted Kopple regarding his adjusted
take on life in light of being diagnosed with ALS. Ted Kopple’s intended “one
off” interview with Morris turned into three interviews as a result of his
popularity. Mitch, after traveling from Detroit to Boston to reconnect, decides
to make the trip to visit Morrie every Tuesday until Morrie’s passing, learning
much about life and Morrie’s opinions on death, the dark matter I would propose
is a necessary and driving part of this story. Their renewed connection as a
result of Morrie’s impending death reminds me to not take time or distance for
granted with my health and the health of those I love. In Albom’s story, Morrie hosts his own funeral
toting that if people have something nice to say he wants to hear it while he’s
still alive. He wants to connect before death, so that death has less impact.
When your body is dead, the relationship is not dead. It lives on in those whom
you’ve had an impact. Perhaps, in that way, this dark matter impacts, in the
satisfaction or lackthereof of relationship wholeness with those who are most
dear. I dig the way his writing seems human, flawed, ugly, vibrant and full of
joy, as any relationship I strive to have so that it makes death easier to swallow
in real life.
If you want to know the whole story in a few
minutes, give this a read. The Story
Summary.
Just in case the embedded links don’t work:
Tuesday’s With Morrie Story Summary: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/tuesdays-with-morrie/summary
The legality of suicide: https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2014/03/25/is-killing-yourself-a-crime-states-grapple-with-suicide-laws
Tuesday’s With Morrie Official Movie Trailer: https://www.mitchalbom.com/videogallery/tuesdays-with-morrie-official-trailer-1999/
