"Death Inc."

Emily Shaw


Professor Stokes

English 2010

September 8, 2010



Penn & Teller: BullShit!

“Death, Inc.” is the ninth episode of the second season of a Showtime series called “Penn & Teller: BullShit!” It is produced by Mark Wolper and Star Price. In this episode Penn and Teller discuss the topic of how bodies are dealt with after death. The purpose of this film seems to be to convince their audience that it is ridiculous and illogical to make death such a big deal and to throw away outrageous amounts of money disposing of bodies. They make a strong statement that, “living is what matters and the rest is bullshit (9).” Penn and Teller address this topic from several angles to get their point across.

One angle they take is exposing the way the funeral industry is making huge profits by charging ridiculous amounts of money for their services. They used logos to persuade the audience by giving examples of how funeral homes are ripping off consumers. Some examples given were; selling coffins with huge mark-ups, using lighting to make the expensive coffins look nicer, charging up to hundreds of dollars for boxes to place bodies in for cremation (only to be burned), charging extra for coffins with good seals which only cause gases to build up and the body to liquefy and having cremation costs range from $339 to $3800 for the same process.

Penn and Teller used ethos and pathos to persuade their audience that the funeral industry is unethical. They discussed how morticians are taking advantage of emotionally vulnerable people by over-charging for services when the last thing people dealing with death want to do is worry about price shopping. They revealed how the funeral industry manipulates its consumers by using more appealing names for the higher priced caskets. This takes advantage of emotionally vulnerable people who want to get the best for their loved one.

Another angle Penn and Teller take to get their point across that people make too big of a deal out of death is using humor to make fun of people who try to deny death. They made fun of a man they interviewed whom runs workshops telling people that if you don’t believe in death you won’t die. Another example was Penn and Teller mocking a couple who claim to be vampires but believe in reincarnation. They believe that because they are energy and energy does not die they will never die. To emphasize how far-fetched this couple is Penn and Teller used pathos and ethos to disgust the audience and display something not “normal” in our society by filming the woman slitting her husband’s wrist and sucking his blood.

Another angle taken was to mock cryogenics, the freezing of bodies so that people can come back to life. They used logos saying that there is no scientific proof that cryogenics could be successful and that they are relying on future scientists to find a way to fix the degeneration of proteins which will cause bodies to turn to mush. They discussed how only two clients have ever been frozen, the owner’s brother and his dog and yet the cost is outrageous. Penn and Teller made it clear that this idea is absurd.

For this episode of Bullshit, I think the most important audience is consumers because Penn and Teller thoroughly discuss the financial scams and unnecessary costs involved in burials. They probably have the expectation that these consumers will be interested to learn about the death process. They also might acknowledge the values of most consumers as being agreeable while wanting something affordable and of good quality. Consumers usually have an attitude that is receptive to learning so this film will most likely intrigue their interest in finding out how they can avoid being ripped off or scammed by the funeral industry. The second most important audience will probably be regular viewers. I’m sure Penn and Teller expect that their regular viewers enjoy the humor, vulgarity, and controversial information they present and so they will want to appeal to them as they have done in the past. The values of their regular viewers are probably people who are opinionated and blunt and perhaps they have attitudes that are easily persuaded. I think the third most important audience is the funeral industry. I’m sure Penn and Teller expect that the funeral industry will be insulted by their film. I’m sure these companies value success and take pride in their achievements so I’m sure they will feel disrespected. Their attitudes will probably be defensive and fearful of this negative exposure.

Overall, this film is very persuasive in convincing the audience that it is irrational to make such a big deal out of death and waste money on unnecessary disposal of bodies. However, it’s important to note that Penn and Teller are magicians, comedians and skeptics so they probably do not have explicit knowledge or time to do intensive research on this topic. It appears they are merely expressing their opinions and viewpoints. Further, the series “Penn & Teller: Bull Shit!” covers a wide variety of controversial issues and is aired on Showtime which is a movie channel. Therefore the information may be unfounded and used merely for entertainment purposes. Regardless, as a consumer, the film was effective in making me be weary of potential ways I could be scammed when the occasion of death arises. And I, for one, will most definitely go cheap on burial expenses. I’d rather spend money on living.



Works Cited

"Death, Inc." . Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Season 2 Episode 9. 2004 .