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THE VIEW DISCUSSES ENQUIRER (WHITNEY IN THE CASKET) COVER PHOTO

gregg75

gregg75

Every major entertainment magazine show picked up the story; Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and (I think) Access Hollywood blurred the photo, while Inside Edition showed it uncensored.

But it was the Enquirer that also ran the pic of Elvis Presley in his casket, while the New York Post three years later had the last photo of John Lennon on their front page. And wasn't James Brown's funeral in 2005 an open casket as well?
 
Well Houston's family decided to make a public spectacle out of her funeral, what do they want? They should've had a nice closed funeral and a public memorial afterward. And really a picture of a body in a casket isn't so unusual. I've seen many people take pictures of dead relatives like that.
 
The actual photo was not as bad as I expected. I was thinking a face shot on the cover. It was
more of an across the room photo..............still tasteless though IMO.

I could see the photo maybe inside somewhere, but on the cover was a bit overboard.
 
The rites we perform to observe the life or to observe the death of a person are very cultural.

Some cultures have FUNERALS to observe the death of a person.
Some cultures have MEMORIAL SERVICES to celebrate the life of a person.

(I am an on-call sound system operator for a church. Since I have daytime availability I get called in to do many funerals or as we all them, memorial services. I cannot tell you the last time there was a casket in the room for one of these events, casket open or casket closed. There is no opportunity at these events for people to grab a "casket shot".... open or closed!)

In the case of Whitney Houston it was interesting to see the focus on her (extended) family, how her early years were nurtured by the culture of a very expressive church setting, and how the traditions of the culture from which she came were such a big part of the recognition of her life and death. Whether you or I approve or disapprove of "casket shots" doesn't count for much. Her family "threw a party" in their own very special cultural atmosphere. It would appar to me that the only people who have a valid authority to like or dislike the publishing of the photos would her family.

I will not be calling you folks from the funeral home to ask for advice and input on how MY final rites should be observed. ;D
 
The taste of the printing of the photo can be debated, but the fact of the matter is that a casket picture of Whitney Houston was probably a six-figure payday for the photographer who could take it.

To put it politely, the taking of celebrity pictures, dead or alive, has always been recession-proof.

Tabloids, newspapers, and magazines pay big bucks for them, and they do that because of public demand.

It may be based off of a tragedy, but this week, imaginary cash registers at the offices of the Enquirer are making a very loud KA-CHING!
 
johnnya2k6 said:
Every major entertainment magazine show picked up the story; Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and (I think) Access Hollywood blurred the photo, while Inside Edition showed it uncensored.

But it was the Enquirer that also ran the pic of Elvis Presley in his casket, while the New York Post three years later had the last photo of John Lennon on their front page. And wasn't James Brown's funeral in 2005 an open casket as well?
Click to expand...
Inside Edition showed it blurred, while Access Hollywood didn't show it at all. Don't know about the others because I haven't seen those.
 
"Enquiring minds want to know"? In this case, I don't want to know what Whitney looks like in her casket -- it's bad taste.
 
firepoint525 said:
Inside Edition showed it blurred, while Access Hollywood didn't show it at all. Don't know about the others because I haven't seen those.
Click to expand...

Nope; Inside Edition did show it unblurred like I said.
 
johnnya2k6 said:
firepoint525 said:
Inside Edition showed it blurred, while Access Hollywood didn't show it at all. Don't know about the others because I haven't seen those.
Click to expand...
Nope; Inside Edition did show it unblurred like I said.
Click to expand...
No, Inside Edition (the show hosted by Deborah Norville) showed it blurred, just like I said. ::) I didn't see it unblurred until I saw it in the stores.
 
C'mon folks. This is the National Enquirer we're talking about. Did anybody expect anything differeent? On the Weekly World News, you can probably see Whitney's body abducted by aliens in a laughingly bad photo.
 
Lkeller said:
C'mon folks. This is the National Enquirer we're talking about. Did anybody expect anything differeent? On the Weekly World News, you can probably see Whitney's body abducted by aliens in a laughingly bad photo.
Click to expand...

I'm not surprised that the National Enquirer, TMZ, or the Murdoch tabloids in the UK to run with photos of Whitney's body. Or any of the contract stringers for all the tabloid industry. I know its bad to do so for some families. But we have to look at this by a family basis.

I've seen TV newscasts from the Philippines and they show open caskets of shooting victims in the crime ridden parts of Manila.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/metro-manila/06/13/11/beware-online-friends-says-police

Heres my case and point.
 
When Selena was murdered in 1995, there was much coverage of her earthly remains on display. The media showed thousands of mourners walking by her open casket and she could be clearly seen.

No one complained.

Am I missing something? Or is there some kind of double standard going here?
 
RicoGregg said:
When Selena was murdered in 1995, there was much coverage of her earthly remains on display. The media showed thousands of mourners walking by her open casket and she could be clearly seen.

No one complained.

Am I missing something? Or is there some kind of double standard going here?
Click to expand...

Its probably the culture of the majority audience that watch a funeral. I think the FCC and Various News directors will tell us standards on how to show dead bodies. I know if its a major disaster like a quake at 7.x and above or a hurricane in a certain part of the country they might show dead bodies on local newscasts. But wait I seen CBS News air the uncensored footage of Libyans kicking Gadhafi's head after he died. I know some sources would air the beating of Gadhafi. I know Saddam Hussein's execution was showed on ABC News in 2006. and the Body of Saddam was showed.
 
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