Clearly,
this is an important documentary, because people were dying to be in it. That
joke was promised on Twitter, so there it is. In all seriousness, obituary
writing is a skill you have to admire, because you never know when the bell
will toll for someone important. True, publications will have pre-written
obituaries on file for people of a certain stature who have reached a certain
age, but who would have thought to do that for Prince? Even more challenging
and often more rewarding are the recently deceased who were not household names
but still made a lasting mark on the world. Vanessa Gould observes the New York Times obituary staff at work
and samples some of their pieces in Obit, which screened as part of
this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
Loyal
readers (who are probably dying off fast) all want their loved ones
memorialized with a NYT obit, but
very few make the cut. However, occasionally a call from family members pans
out, like the late Jack Kinzler, who really did save Skylab. In a sense, these
obituaries rescue the accomplished departed from obscurity, serving as
time-capsule histories of their time and field of expertise.
Gould
and the staff writers get into process, but not to tedious extent. Having been
burned in the past, obituary writers have to get on-the-record confirmation for
each passing and whenever possible the cause of death. The latter can be a
little sticky at times, but readers will wonder if it is not there. When they
are lucky, there are photos and perhaps even an advance obit in the so-called “morgue,”
presided over by archivist Jeff Roth. Probably his greatest archival discovery
was the advance for 1920s daredevil pilot Elinor Smith, who lived to the ripe
old age of 98, even though editors doubted her luck would hold out during the
height of her fame.
Gould
and her subjects convincingly argue obituary writing is a life-affirming
practice, which is cool. However, it would have given the film greater scope if
she had incorporated obituary writers from different, perhaps more specialized
publications. Believe it or not, The New
York Times is not the only periodical publishing obits. Still, it is fascinating
to listen to the many thumbnails of the obituary department’s greatest hits,
like the tragically sweeping life of Anna Peters, a.k.a. Svetlana Alliluyeva
[Stalin].
