Death Fear: Why Do We Dread Be Dead Analysis

Two things are for certain: death and taxes. Yet, unlike taxes mortality cannot be paid off. Presently, contemporary culture has begun to shun aging and death altogether. Currently, youthfulness glitters and tastes sweet. Successful working models begin to lose campaign and gigs after reaching the age of twenty-five to younger individuals. Because youth is so easily replaceable, it creates panic the second wrinkles starts to take form. So much so that individuals are beginning to inject Botox before reaching their thirties. This obsession with firm, plump skin is relatively new. Before Hollywood became the host of popular culture, wigs were often powdered white so one could appear older and wiser. However, nowadays wisdom is perceived negatively with lingering connotations of feebleness and antiquation. As a result, the pressure to remain forever young has been combatted with forced ignorance towards the inevitable decay of youth.
And what we shun, we fear. And what we fear controls us" (Acosta). This controlling fear of death is seen in almost all of present-day popular culture. A reoccurring theme for season three of the popular anthology series American Horror Story titled Coven is the fixation of youth and the inability to accept death. The narrative unfolds around the search for the next supreme witch or leader of the new generation. She is said to embody multiple, if not, all of the seven wonders—telekinesis, concilium, descensum, transmutation, divination, pyrokinesis, and vitalum vitalis. As the new Supreme begins to come into her own, the life force of her predecessor is literally stripped away and is a product of organ failure and