Death+Metal+Versus+Pixar+Animations

=Back to Media = = = =__Death is Everywhere. __=

Death is a natural occurrence that happens to every living creature. It is, however, still seen = = = = as a taboo topic by many people, in most cultures. Perhaps, death is more than just “the price [humans] pay for the ability to reproduce.” (Tyler Volk, 2002). Death  appears in TV shows, video games, movies, music, literature, and every other form of art imagin able, all with varying degrees of intensity in its presentation. A video game, for exampl e, may be aimed towards children or family audiences, but when the character falls off a cliff or runs out of health they still must die, be it onscreen or off screen. Death’s appearances in all outlets of media has different representations and effects on the audience, but its appearance can always be traced back to the human desire to understand death and

become more familiar with it. As a way to demonstrate this, look at the way these two completely different specific corners of media portray death: Animated Pixar movies and the death metal subgenre of metal. These two topics contain extremely different subject matter and target audience, = = making the contrasts more apparent and the similarities all the more significant and effective (Bear in mind that when “death” is mentioned it refers to the act of dying, as opposed to the character “Death”, often referred to as the Grim Reaper). Death’s many forms in the media may seem too broad a target to form a conclusion on, but this concept is a wide-ranging simple certainty that holds true no matter what aspect of media you analyze.

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Pixar and Death
First off is animation, specifically Pixar animated movies. Specifying Pixar movies is significant for many reasons including the fact that the most recent Pixar release is a movie heavily revolving around the concept of death: //Coco// (Lee Unkrich, 2017). Additionally, many Pixar movies incorporate a death of some kind into the storyline. For example, in the aforementioned //Coco//, the Mexican culture of the “Day of the Dead”, a tradition which heavily revolves around deceased people living in an alternate realm for an afterlife. Deaths in Pixar movies are usually used to drive the story along by giving the character a motivation to reach their goal. This is true for //Coco//, //UP//, and //Ratatuoille// (Brad Bird, 2007), in which the deceased characters Ernesto De La Cruz, Carl’s wife, and Auguste Gusteau serve this purpose of motivation, respectively. In the case of //Ratatouille// and //Coco//, the deceased character did not even die on screen, instead passively serving as the motivation by acting as a symbol to guide the protagonist. This is oppos ed to //The Incredibles// (Brad Bird, 2004), where the most significant death -the main antagonist, Buddy Pine- takes place near the climax of the movie. Although being done differently, these many deaths in the mentioned films are all presented in a way that is impa ctful, yet also depicted without any graphic content. This contrasts with other movies, such as the //Kingsman// franchise, that feel inclined to include gore or exaggerated violence in death scenes to make them more impactful or for the sake of dark humor. Since Pixar movies are intended for audiences of all ages, they leave this content out, making it a more impressive feat as to how the scenes retain their effect.

Most Pixar villains do not die, making it more intense when they actually do

Death Metal and Death
It seems an obvious connection to make, the one between death metal and death, but the meaning is deeper than many initially suspect. Death metal bands have an idiosyncratic way to approach death. First off, most death metal bands’ names do reference death in some shape or form. Some well known examples are //Cannibal Corpse//, //The Black Dahlia Murder//, and the famous simple-named band, //Death//. These names and many others often attempt to provoke a very horrifying and extreme notion of demise and gore. Non-death metal band names can also refer to death, such as //The Grateful Dead// and //Death Cab for Cutie//, but tend to play generally cheerful classic rock or alternative indie music, respectively, which may be unexpected to people unfamiliar with them due to the death-referencing name. There is a bias towards the sub genre death metal and the overall genre of metal that it all sounds the same, is only edgy lyrics on a garbled guitar, or that no thought is put into it. Someone with extended knowledge on the genre can conclude, however, that this is quite far from the truth.



While it is hard to classify bands into direct genres because they all bleed together after a given time, death metal is commonly characterized by deep guttural vocals and distorted guitar. The lyrics are very gruesome and try to push the boundaries of horror as a theme, often describing violence and torture in brutal ways, trying to be as graphic as possible. Death metal is basically to music what slasher/horror movies are to cinema. This is in stark contrast to the aforementioned methods Pixar uses to depict death, being almost the polar opposite side of the spectrum. However, the way the topic is communicated is not as important if the effect is the same. But do death metal’s nightmarish detailings of body horror and Pixar’s tame depictions of death have the same effect? media type="youtube" key="F2bk_9T482g" width="560" height="315" align="center"

The iconic montage scene from UP that depicts the death of the protagonist's wife in a heartbreaking manner. __**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Their Correlation **__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The scene credited to being one of the saddest moments in children’s animation, the opening montage from //UP (see the embedded YouTube clip above//), receives a lot of attention from fans and film analysts alike for many reasons. The drastic shift from the bright cheerful visuals to the imagery of a lifelong happy couple being separated by death only gets accentuated by the use of the recurring theme song, except in minor key, during the tragedy. That explains why this montage seems to have the effect on every human being with even a hint of consciousness to feel a touch of sadness. It is all about the presentation, because simply telling the audience about the story would not cause this effect. That explains why death metal does not generally make people sad or feel depressed about death, nor does it intend to. Yet death metal is so infused with emotion and passion within each musician that there has to be something the artist wants you to feel that is different from what other bands do. For some it may be anger, for some it may act as an escape from reality, but one thing is presented the same for everyone: an introspective view on the subject of death. The presentation causes us to contemplate the nature of death, such as why is it such a taboo topic, even though it happens to everyone everywhere? The extremities of death metal and the exaggerated descriptions are oftentimes humorous too, in a way that communicates that the band does not take itself too seriously. Typical death metal lyrics talk about decapitations and burning dead bodies, so it is an odd claim to say that these are not meant to be taken seriously. However, simply having the mindset that death is inevitable shouldn’t stop people from enjoying their lives to the fullest. This sounds unnecessarily nihilistic, but actually mostly consists of a carefree philosophy that everyone deserves a chance to live a fulfilling existence. The extreme and morbid situations described in death metal may be viewed as commentary on society’s ultimately irreverent fear of dying. Mary Bradbury (1999) says, after speaking to women who had each suffered the loss of a loved one, that they “told me stories of loss that were intimate, touching, even humorous at times”. People have diverse ways of dealing with death; many take solace in adding a touch of humor or wholesomeness into an otherwise bleak situation. It is a way to make tragedy less of an emotional weight by adding lighthearted, appropriate jokes to situations dealing with death.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Pixar also presents a commentary on death and dying, only through a different presentation. Their approach consists of showing a tragic or depressing scenario and contrasting it with their signature animation style of gentle and colorful imagery. While the filmmakers may use this as a way maintain a family friendly and appropriate for all ages type of film, it also forces its cute, relatable characters to go through these mature moments, which explains why it speaks to so many people. So while Pixar’s experience conveys a different range of emotions, it still makes its audience contemplate what it means to be dead, maybe not by making light of the situation like death metal, but by presenting it with such earnest characters in a carefree story that one cannot help but notice the implications.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">It seems that no matter the medium or vassal used to communicate ideas, media exists that makes the audience contemplate death and attempt to alleviate its connotation. Death metal and Pixar, on two separate sides of the spectrum in terms of target audience, both achieve the same effect in the end. Perhaps the taboo nature of death will come to a close in the future, so that society finally stops ignoring this elephant in the room.

**References**


 * 1) Kagan, Shelly. Death. Vol. 1, Yale University. 2012.
 * 2) Bradbury, Mary. Representations of Death, A Social Psychological Perspective, Vol. 2, Routledge. 1999.
 * 3) Volk, Tyler. What is Death – A Scientist Looks at the Cycle of Life, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2002
 * 4) Fanthorpe, Lionel and Patricia. Death – The Final Mystery, Hounslow, Oxford Toronto. 2000
 * Up, Dir. Pete Docter. Pixar 2009, Film
 * 1) Ratatouille, Dir. Brad Bird. Pixar 2007, Film