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Angel Pantoja Medina asked to be put in a standing position throughout his three-day wake.
Photo credit: Juan Alicea Mercado/Associated Press.
I saw this today on Caleb Wilde’s Confessions of a Funeral Director Facebook page, and I have to admit, it struck me as a little creepy (and I’m normally not creeped out by corpses).
We have come to believe bodies lying down in a casket is totally acceptable in a wake setting (at least, in the U.S. and other Western cultures). Angel here differs in two ways: He was simply moved 90 degrees into an upright position, and taken out of the casket. I’m trying to figure out what part of this makes it “creepy.” The standing? The “escape” from the confines of a casket? A combination of both? It’s really not that different than what we see at a wake, but in many ways, it’s a lot different.
Is it just because it violates our norm of what’s acceptable at a wake?
What do you think?
If You Have Five Seconds to Spare 
I just posted a comment, but not sure if it “took,” so I’ll write it again.
I’m from the people of the closed caskets. I’ve gotten somewhat used to the open casket, having been to enough non-Jewish funerals at this point. But I think this sitting-up meets my standard for creepy because it looks like the body might stand up at any moment.
I agree–it looks like he might just start walking around at any moment.
There’s something defiant about the young man’s remains in that photo. Besides that he’s standing, his post, his dark glasses, and the slightly upwards tilt of his head. For my own part, the deceased’s body in the casket, if the embalmer has not done a ghoulish job, coneys a sense of rest. This seems more rebellious in its very posture.
I take it the cause or circumstances of his death are being investigated. Perhaps his wish to be a bit defiant at the end has reason he was unaware of when he’d made the request.
Good point about a sense of rest. We generally are not threatened by people who look peaceful. He does look a little defiant, which could be what makes me uneasy.
Eww. But I am not a big fan of seeing people in coffins either.
The good thing is that around here, I really can’t see this catching on 🙂
Definitely outside of my comfort zone. Honestly, this would freak me out.
Like I said to Angie, I don’t see this happening around here in the future!
I sure hope not.