As an Australian who grew up watching the very American Halloween I find it weird. Halloween is not part of my culture and always looks plastic and fake. But, did you know of the very Christian tradition of All Saints and All Souls? Because there is more to Halloween than just Spooks and Screams.
Death is a complicated subject that, due to technology we can avoid. In a western society, especially in countries like Australia you do not see dead bodies regularly. Those who do are part of a select group who work with the dead and dying. Historically, this was not so.
In many places in the world right now, people live and die a lot. Children and Mothers die during and after childbirth. Simple injuries lead to death. For our grandparents and great-grandparents this was the norm not the exception. Our recent brush with regular death through COVID has found us wanting when it comes to the reality of death.
All Saints and All Souls
For this reason celebrations and remembrance traditions exist in many cultures. All Saints (November 1) and All Souls (November 2) are both dedicated to those who have died. All Saints is dedicated to the martyrs for the Christian faith. Curiously All Saints begins on the evening of October 31st. Do the Saints chase the spooky ghosts and monsters away?
All Souls is the Day of the Dead, a day of remembrance. Families and communities gather to remember those no longer with us. You may have heard of the day of the dead and begin to think of either zombies or Mexico. That should not be surprising. Because Dia de Muertos or Dia de los Muertos is perhaps THE most Mexican thing people know about.
Like all things there is a larger story about the development of Dia de los Muertos. The simple and inaccurate answer is, its a mash up of Spanish Baroque and Central American funeral traditions. Over time it developed into the spectacular celebration it is today. It is so far from the plastic commercialised Halloween that is exported in tv shows and movies.
The Book of Life
If you desire a bit more perhaps you should check out one of my favourite Halloween movies. Directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez and Produced by Guillermo Del Toro “The Book of Life” is a total celebration of the tradition of Dia del los Muertos. Like Encanto this is a magical realism story. There is no big explanation as to why things are like this. It is the way things are.
The movie begins declaring Mexico is the centre of all things. We are introduced to La Muerte and Xibalba they are bored deities who make wagers over the lives of mortals. In the centre of Mexico is the town of San Angel. The people live their lives as best they can. They also remember their family and celebrate them on like All Souls on The Day of the Dead.
The graveside celebrations are shown within the movie. Food is offered to the departed, which is then given to the poor and needy. Further exploration of this worlds cosmology deepens as the narrative grows. A narrative that is about growing up and realising your truth and uniting that truth with familial obligations and expectations.
Not Where, But Who
By the half way point you find out about the place of the remembered and the place of the forgotten. One is bright and joyous, the other is drab and morbid. Meanwhile our three heroes strive against what is expected of them versus what they fear and fight against. It is through the community at large both living and dead that through forgiveness they are able to save the town of San Angel.
When I first watched this movie I cried. It was not the first time that a Jorge Gutierrez script has made me cry. Gutierrez’s Maya and the Three (on Netflix) which fans consider the prequel to The Book of Life, also made me cry. What made me cry was the vibrant festive and colourful Land of the Remembered. Why? Because our cosmology and image of what is to come is important.
While the shape and colour of such a place is needed it is not essential. More important is that The Book of Life shows WHO we are spending our after life existence with. We are there with our loved ones, those we have said goodbye to. A good bye that is only for a while. For our belief is that we will see them again.
The Book of Life is a movie connected to the Christian celebration and remembrance of the departed. It is not the familiar depiction of the place of the dead. But it just might be the view so many of us need. Because how we see the place of the dead should be less plastic and more colourful and filled with the fantastic.
Phillip Hall has been too long in Melbourne to see AFL in the same light as those back in Fremantle. East Fremantle born and bred, he would love to see the Dockers back in the eight. But would settle for just beating West Coast twice a year.