People sometimes ask me why I write. Because, I tell them, I don’t golf.
—Thomas Lynch, Milford, MI, funeral director & writer.
There’s no doubt about it, at least from the upward spike in yesterday’s comments, that sex sells (not that I’m making any type of money from it)—and truthfully, that’s not what I’ve been preoccupied with anyway. Feeling somewhat vulnerable—hey, we’re all mortals here—I’d say writing about sex in sensual terms has never been easy for me; fictional sex has always been deeply embedded in some type of realism, sandwiched between death and taxes. In fact, my interests of late are more with the dark side of things. Same goes for my wife.
There’s no doubt about it, with our constant late night vigil cozying up to the television watching “Six Feet Under”—we’re currently into the third season thanks to DVD—we’ve become fascinated with the Fisher family’s funeral business. Each episode starts with some poor soul’s last dying breath, and from that a new time line emerges with brothers Nate and David pushing to sell the most expensive casket the grieving family can afford. Oh sure, the funeral home serves as a backdrop to each character’s personal story, including an overabundance of sex—straight sex, gay sex, senior citizen sex (all for the sake of entertainment)—yet, there’s a sense of seriousness, a sense of closure when each episode wraps up the planned funeral.
Pair my current interest in the death trade with my daily ritual of scanning the obituaries of people my age or younger (plus the rereading of Thomas Lynch’s essays) and you would think that I’m having a mid-life crisis. But in all actuality, I find both the television series and essays quite refreshing. Hopefully, if and when I kill off a fictional character or two, there will be more to it then a candle lit dinner followed by foreplay followed by … well … you know … the stuff that makes me blush.
Recommendations:
DVD Series: “Six Feet Under”
Books: “Bodies In Motion & At Rest” by Thomas Lynch
“The Undertaking: Life Studies, from the Dismal Trade” by Thomas Lynch
Taxes: Federal, State, and City (now this is truly depressing!)
18 comments:
Hey Jim, good timing with Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday :->
I love Six Feet Under, for all the reasons you discuss and also the magical/fantasy sequences, the appearances of the dead through the minds of living characters. That and the Lynch essays are refreshing, I agree. The quote is a good one, too.
Jim, Taxes usually are depressing! I haven't watch any of the Six Feet Under DVD's but might be interesting. Just don't go morbid on us!!! :) --Bro, Ron
p.s. Just heard the State is shutting down one of the Jackson State Prison facilities and letting go a lot of cons... Watch out!!!
I also adore Six Feet Under! I totally identify with most of the characters, particularly David and Brenda. But my favorite is Billy! Love Billy! That actor is amazing. I cried when that show ended.
I would love to write something a little more explicit, but I have a tendency to shy away from gore and from overt sex. The closest I came was a short story where a woman ties up a man and then uses a razor blade as foreplay. I won't go further.
My mom liked scanning the obituaries. I asked her one day "what are you looking for?"
She said, "to see who I'm out living." Nice post. MW
My son bought me the DVD set of Six Feet Under. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Course, I like stories from the darkside. Haven't gotten into writing blush scenes. Don't know if I could or not! Ann Rice wrote some steamy books under a pen name. They were really steamy. Well, I just finished working on my taxes last week. Feel like I was s*****d and ready for six feet under. Donnetta
JR, Did you ever see the series "Dead Like Me" with Mandy Pantikin"? It was really the dark side, and it was very sexy as well. I think that combination really does fascinate people.
Josie
Sex is hard to write about. It is easier to make vague references and enuendos.
I read something great about sex scenes the other day: http://101reasonstostopwriting.blogspot.com/2006/12/reason-10-addendum-now-with-even-more.html
The dark stuff is the good stuff.
Sounds grave.
Hi JR, good to see your back :-) Six Feet Under is a very cool series - even we have it showing :-) About the sex subject. Much easier to do than to write about..
Enjoy!!
Hey JR....gosh I also love that series, but we are so far behind on it. NO box set available here yet.
PS: Ghee Stewart I wanna read that!!!!
Gees, Jim, I'm gone for a short while, and what do I come back to...a post about sex?
Like everone else here, I absolutely loved Six Feet Under! I don't watch much TV, but my husband & I wanted to find something we could watch together (that we'd both like -- he's into blood & guts, I'm into the inner conflict of the characters) and this series certainly fit the bill. We watched it this past summer (video store rentals, disc by disc). Take it slow, or you'll be like us, disappointed when it's all over. :)
Hey, where's the sexy picture for this post? You don't think I come here to hear about "death" do you?
Sex definitely sells, particularly the genre I write.
Gone are the days of euphemistic silliness - it's all pretty blatant now.
And women love it.
(Actually, men are starting to admit to reading it now, too.)
I've never seen six feet under, lol.
But it sounds like an interesting series!
Sorry, I've never seen Sex Feet Under!!! :}
I haven't seen that show, but watch a lot of Law & Order. Maybe it's just because we like some of the actors, but probably it fills a deeper need to see good win out over evil. It isn't the blood, and the sex, on such shows, almost serves as comic relief (from all the blood. Great makeup artists.)
Yesterday we bought another season of NYPD Blue. I guess we'll have to go back to the store and check out Six Feet Under.
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