Are Funeral Selfies The Lowest Point Of Self Obsession?

One of the most revolting trends on social media these days is posting funeral selfies with deceased relatives. People try to pass off their self-obsession as a tribute to the dead, by posting snaps with dead bodies, very much on their way to their final journey. How does this not come across as insensitive? Why doesn’t it feel inappropriate to use dead people to get likes for a selfie?

This macabre trend, like that of accident selfies, speaks volumes about the current obsession that is social media. Can people stoop to any level for popularity? There is a point where this obsession with social media "likes" crosses the line to become an illness. Those who use someone’s pain, suffering or death to gain popularity on the internet are way past it.

No decency even in wake of a loss

Mourning someone’s passing is quite common on social media. It has become a natural part of our lives to inform peers of a dear one’s demise on WhatsApp or Facebook. We all express our sympathy to such posts as sincerely as we may have in a letter or over a phone call.

Taking a selfie with a deceased relative, however, is entirely different. There is nothing about such a selfie, which speaks of mourning.

SOME TAKEAWAYS

• Amidst other distasteful selfie trends, one is that of clicking selfies with deceased people.
• There is a line beyond which the obsession of clicking selfies becomes an illness. Such people are way past that line.
• Funeral selfies aren’t meant to mourn the loss of a life. But a heartless and insensitive way of getting a few more likes for a picture.

Narcissism is what drives this process.

No matter how much selfie aficionados deny, let’s face it, taking selfies is an act of self-love. Those who click hundreds of pictures of themselves every day, on every occasion, time and topography don’t actually care much about their surroundings. All they care about is themselves. Their looks, the lighting, the endless processing of the pictures, till every blemish and crease on their face is removed…

What else can justify the behaviour of a person pouting and searching for a better angle or lighting, while trying to click a photograph with a deceased? There is no sorrow or mourning involved. No regard for someone’s life coming to an end. Neither is there a realisation of inappropriateness.

If someone’s first reaction in the face of death, natural calamity, a catastrophe or accident is to reach for the smartphone, to either record the event or take a selfie, then it speaks volumes about their psyche.

The desire to find success on social media has stifled all humanity and sensibility from their being. They feel no panic, or sadness, or amusement or even fear. All they feel is a desire to click a photograph. Call it foolish or insensitive, this selfie craze has indeed killed the compassion in us.

Right now, there seems no solution to this selfie mania which possesses most people in the world. The only thing we can do is to strongly condemn their actions when obsession blinds their empathy. People who take insensitive selfies must know that their actions are wrong. That is the only way we can keep the selfie mania in check and hopefully grant the dead some dignity in their demise.

Picture Credit: zeenews.com

Also Read : Taking Selfies Amidst an Emergency Is Not Cool People!

Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are the author’s own.