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15 May 2008

The Grim Reaper

I grew up picturing death as the Grim Reaper, the skeletal figure carrying a large scythe. Even though I studied in Catholic schools, I have never believed their philosophy that Death is an angel of God and there is a better place after dying. Death is the end. I like the idea of reincarnation but I do not believe in it.


Ingmar Bergman took me to a new fantastic dimension of death with his masterpiece The Seventh Seal. Since then, the Grim Reaper, played by Bengt Ekerot in the film, is a nice and strange man that plays chess, that still carries a scythe. In that case I would be ... damned because I am a terrible chess player. In this new representation of Death, Death itself was much more human than the Catholic teachings would have it. He/she had intelligence, sense of humor - even if a bit strange - and it was almost understanding of our shortcomings, but still implacable. Remember, the Grim Reaper cheats and always wins.

Neil Gaiman showed me another version of Death, as a cool pretty girl with a Gothic style, who everybody loves. His Death "looks like rock star Nico in 1968, with the perfect cheekbones and perfect face that she has on the cover of her Chelsea Girl album." His Death always try to be nice, but keeps doing her work.

Interesting vision, but I keep Bergman's version of Death as my favourite.

13:00 Posted in Life | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this | Tags: death, grim reaper, life, chess, movies, books

Comments

Good night:)

Posted by: diana | 15 May 2008