Did you watch Surviving Death on Netflix ?
Here’s what you should watch next, and what fuels our morbid curiosity.
The six part documentary series Surviving Death sheds light on the greatest mystery that sits in our shadow each and every day of our existence: our impermanence. As much as we hate change, death is the essential conclusion of our lives. But, what happens when we die? Where do we go? What do we see? Is it nothing at all? Or, could it be everything?
If Surviving Death left you hungry for more, your next streaming venture should be The OA. The cerebral show was inspired by an encounter of one of its creators: Brit Marling. She met a stranger at a party who divulged her near death experience. In remembering the account, Marling observed that “She just seemed to be operating at a different frequency. When she told me she had a near-death experience — and described leaving her body and what she felt inside herself on the return — you understand why she felt like a person who was both apart from the world, but also more deeply in it.”
And so, The OA was born. The show is certain to sweep you out of your comfort zone, holding up a perpetual mirror to your own mortality and reshaping how you look at death.
How do you think about death?
Acknowledging death and pondering it largely defines the human experience. Most of us fear it, or try not to think about out — but for all of our efforts to trick ourselves into immortality, it still comes knocking on each and everyone’s door. Without death, there would be no urgency. Why? Because without a deadline, we wouldn’t have to hurry. If time, as we perceive it, was infinite, our entire approach to life would likely be radically different.
There would be no rush in procreating. If we were immortal, we would not fear disease, or many of the other concerns and calamities that plague modern society. But if nothing dies, and we can still create, the planet would eventually be a nightmarish sphere crowded like a hoarder’s home.
Except, we wouldn’t just be drowning in cardboard boxes. We’d be drowning in one another’s presence. You’ve likely heard the saying, “sometimes, there is too much of a good thing.” Here too, life without death would be too much of a good thing.
What if there was life without death?
We’d be walking alongside ancient heroes. Yes, even Jesus Christ — perhaps you’d break bread with the actual son of God. Conversely, he might not be around at all. It would certainly solve one problem: the ever-ongoing debate about whether or not certain people (like Jesus, and Mary Magdalene) ever even existed.
In this world filled with immortal beings, we’d soon run into problems. Eventually we’d be out of room for everyone, and eventually there would be too many of us to distribute resources. What does that result in? A world with many unhappy people staring into the void, not needing or desiring anything — except, perhaps: death! Which echoes another saying: “we want what we can’t have.”
Imagine the circularity of it all. You wouldn’t need food, because starvation would not lead to death. You wouldn’t need a bed, because you’d stay alive without sleep. You wouldn’t need a routine at all. There wouldn’t be a need to search for meaning — because you’re not going anywhere.
The world would riot, overflowed with the undisciplined. In time, this way of living would spread like a gluttonous infection. And we’d all be stuck there together in our own manmade hell without time. That’s why death is a good thing. That’s why death is necessary.
So, what can we glean from those who have survived death? Irresistible information of what it’s like to cross over the finish line of life.
