Because even in the afterlife there is a rating
Ah, the Day of the Dead. That time of year when nostalgia and melancholy put on their best clothes, and we all remember those who are gone… preferably with a huge forced smile for the photo. While the common citizen sets up his humble family offering, the entertainment industry could not be less and has decided that death is also a matter of marketing and screen. Because, let’s face it, what better way to honor the relationship between life and death than with a good segment on a gossip show?
Of course, all this with the spiritual touch of placing a couple of candles next to the photo of a deceased colleague. An ancient tradition that now includes TV cameras and mentions on Instagram. How nice, right?
The eternal protagonists of the show
On the podium of this year’s illustrious deceased, we have some names who were surely waiting for this type of television immortality. We open the dance with Daniel Bisogno, the presenter who, after his departure on February 20, has achieved what many long for: to continue appearing on television without having to learn a script.
Its eternal leader, Pati Chapoy, shared moving images of the altar installed in the “Ventaneando” forum, decorated with all the traditional Mexican folklore: cempasúchil flowers (which smell like ratings), confetti (with the chain’s colors) and, of course, photographs of the deceased. Eight months after his departure, Bisogno is still part of the program. One almost expects him to give his opinion on the latest gossip.
But love doesn’t stop at just one program. “Cuéntamelo Ya” also gave his place in the offering to the comedian, a gesture that his brother Alex Bisogno described on Instagram as: “Wooow! What a nice detail.” Translation: “At least they haven’t forgotten it after the sweeper.”
And along with the king of gossip, the queen of spite could not be missing. Paquita la del Barrio, the legendary singer who died on February 17 at the age of 77, has also received her posthumous tribute. The same woman who dedicated “Two-legged Rat” to half the world now receives the affection of the public in the Tlatelolco Garden and even at the Cultural Institute of Mexico in San Antonio. Ironies of life (and death): whoever sang against hypocritical tributes is now the object of one… but nice, yes.
When rock sounds in the land of the dead
Because the show does not understand musical genres, this year the offerings have turned rock. It turns out that 2024 has also been a “hard blow for rock”, so what do you do when icons like Ozzy Osbourne, Ace Frehley and Xava Drago die? Exactly: put a themed offering. Because nothing says “rock and roll” like an altar with marigold flowers and candles.
One imagines Ozzy, the same one who bit the head off a bat on stage, receiving with surprise his own Mexican altar. “Sharon, what the hell is this?” we imagine he says as he looks at the confetti. Meanwhile, at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, fans attend a free event where family offerings will be placed. Will they include a bottle of whiskey and an electric guitar among the sugar skulls?
It is the multicultural circus of death, where Mexican traditions merge with rock legends to create something that, it must be admitted, has a certain charm… however absurd it may seem.
The business of nostalgia
In the end, it all comes down to this: in the entertainment industry, celebrities also remember their peers, but always with an eye on the audience. The traditional offering, that symbol of the relationship between life and death, now also symbolizes the relationship between rating and feelings. It’s not cynicism, it’s… spiritual modernity.
For some it will be the first year without their loved ones, and they will remember them through their actions and thoughts. For TV shows, it will be another seasonal content opportunity that will hopefully generate a few viral clips. Isn’t it another way to keep memory alive? Or at least, to keep the audience ratings alive.
So this November 1 and 2, as you set up your family offering, know that on some television forum there is a professionally lit altar with the photo of someone who, in life, would probably have made a joke about it. Death makes us all equal, but some achieve better production in the afterlife.
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