There are some concepts that I’m not sure I’ll ever get comfortable with. But never has the term morbid fascination been so appropriate. During my daily inter-stellar exploration of the webosphere I staggered across a website so intriguing, I wasn’t quite able to fathom its significance or indeed its potential at first glance, and have visited several times since.
Allow me to introduce you to Obit-Mag.com. Obit takes its name from an abbreviation of obituary that is used in common practice in America; fellow fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm will remember the consequences of leaving Larry David in charge of a loved one’s obit.
In a morose twist on the notion that the obituaries are one of the most read sections of the papers, Obit are a dedicated team of writers, editors and researchers publishing content on the recently deceased – blogging for the dearly departed. But don’t just take it from me.
Behind this somewhat eerie spectacle are Bob and Barbera Hillier, a couple better known for their extensive work in architecture. ‘Our stories focus on the lives well lived and what death can mean to the living and what living meant to the dead’ reads a statement on the site.
‘We challenge traditional stigma about discussion of death and dying. In doing this, we weave together art, prose and reflections on the famous, the firsts and the ordinary folks around us. We don’t believe there is any other forum like Obit.’
Too fucking right there isn’t.
The homepage is awash with photographs of the deceased (before they died of course, if you want snaps of corpses I’m sure there are sites for that too), quotes and discussions about the great inevitable. On the right hand side users are met with Obit Mag’s proudest asset; the Just Died list. Clicking on a recent departure will fire up a short obituary and sometimes a photograph. At the time of penning this piece, the latest to kick the proverbial bucket was Dan Duncan, an oil billionaire ‘known for his philanthropy and global hunting of exotic animals.’
No love lost there.
But what fascinates me isn’t that this is a website about dead people, for this is the internet - guaranteed to thrill shock and shock again (if you’ve ever played the popular net game Google-Whack you’ll know that there’s a site for everything. EVERYTHING.) But with Obit Mag, it’s the professionalism, the tone and the overall feeling that this is a genuine, well oiled machine that is practicing a socially acceptable exercise, which in Western society – it really isn’t. We don’t talk about the dead, we certainly don’t tend to celebrate them and we tuck the obituaries into the back pages of shit papers no one reads for a reason.
That’s why Obit Mag is so exceptional.
It’s a whole new angle on the only certainty, that one day we’ll all be history, and that famous or interesting people snuffing it is actually, well, interesting. And the quality of the writing isn’t too shabby either. I read a piece about how the closure of a greasy spoon diner in Chicago represented the last hoorah for a town barraged with trendy wine bars and pretentious coffee shops, and how the author had enjoyed what would be his final meal with his dying brother there.
I read Forever Fido, a dry humoured piece about a [former] dog owner who was struggling to see any profound meaning in the death of his mutt, despite an overwhelming moral obligation to do so.
And now I’m hooked.
I’ve now considered the possibility that I’m just a late bloomer when it comes with a fascination with the bitter end. Most kids I knew doodled skulls and bones in their copy books, had gone into the woods at least once to look for dead bodies, or thought Sixth Sense was anything more than just another predictable Bruce Willis flick. I just assumed I’d skipped that phase or rather had gotten it out of my system having watched all seven series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the late nineties.
But like Wes Bentley with his zoom lens panning the gaping hole in Kevin Spacey’s brain with a smile on his face in American Beauty, I feel the need to hold up this new angle on death and share it with people.
I strongly suggest you find out about Obit, before Obit finds out about you…..
