The Importance of Death

Woody Allen and Death

Recently, I watched a documentary on Woody Allen. He is quite an interesting character. If you do not know much about his life and work, go look him up. I had seen a film or two written and directed by Woody Allen and I had heard talk of his thoughtfulness and intelligence, but until I took the time to view the documentary, I had not understood the depth in his work. One of the subjects that struck me was Woody Allen’s appreciation for death.

His explanation for why he turned from being a sweet infant and toddler, to a sarcastic and slightly mean boy is that he learned of death; he realized that he was not going to live forever and the happy world around him would become irrelevant. He decided that the way one lives his life is largely determined by how he responds to the reality of death – to what degree is an individual creating an illusory world that allows him to ignore the fact of his own death? Woody Allen responded with irony.

Woody Allen’s ironic stance towards the world allows him to be funny; because he can lampoon those things that most other people take seriously, but know they are silly for doing so. That same ironic stance also allows Woody Allen to be a serious thinker and to understand and express the depths of meaningful human relationships.

The ironic approach towards life that Woody Allen takes on, because of his view of death, gives him a form of detachment. He accomplishes a sort of secular detachment, as opposed to detachment motivated by religious beliefs.  Although Woody Allen is not the ideal role model in many ways, this essential bit of an interesting man offers food for thought.

Anyone familiar with the Benedictine religious order will know that an important piece of guidance offered in St. Benedict’s Rule is to “keep death always before your eyes.” This maxim is appropriate for any Christian attempting to walk the straight and narrow. Woody Allen had it right – we all must face the reality of death, and we all must respond in some way. For a Christian, death is a reminder of the life after death, which in turn encourages detachment from earthly things.

Detachment, however, is not the end, for one still must live out his time on earth. Similar to Woody Allen’s growth from a simply satirical young man to one who is a serious thinker, with interest in the complexities of human life and relationships, Christians must mature from an initial experience of detachment to a posture of detachment that appreciates the good, the true, and the beautiful so marvelously found in human experience on earth.

Death is important. Death keeps things in perspective. Death helps bring new life. In our culture that hates and hides death, yet actively promotes and produces death, we not only must labor to respond well to death as an idea, but also work to strengthen our courage and the courage of others in facing the reality of a culture obsessed with death.