Funerals and funeral rites are different all around the world. Things one culture might think of as disrespectful may be a major part of honoring a loved one to another culture.
Most people in the United States, for example, now treat death as a distant thing and are typically pretty uncomfortable with corpses. Funerals are a somber time for mourning with a dress code and expected hushed voices and somber tones.
Other cultures treat death and funerals as a much more intimate and personal thing, taking the time to tend to the body of their loved ones themselves, often in their own homes.
Some cultures completely disregard the idea that a funeral should be somber and, instead, treat it like a giant party. Some have dancers who carry the coffin; some have funeral strippers; and the funeral we are writing about right now ... well ... that funeral had this.
Casket Twerking.
The 20-second clip shows a woman twerking and grinding on top of a wrapped coffin—not something Western funeral-goers are used to seeing. The crowd around her is cheering and celebrating, which is pretty common for these "boisterous" celebration-style funerals.
The woman, wearing jeans and a simple black top, is obviously emotional. Her facial expressions do seem to betray sadness at some points and she leans forward to lay affectionate kisses on the glass covering the open portion.
We can't confirm where the video was shot to be able to tell you if this sort of thing is an established tradition or not, but we aren't really sure that matters. To be honest, what concerns us the most about this video is the fact that the casket seems to be precariously balanced on the back of motorcycles.
What Twitter seems to be struggling with is whether this is just a unique celebration of the loved one who has passed on or if it's trashtastical.
It doesn't seem we're going to come to any sort of consensus on this one, which isn't exactly surprising since death and the rituals surrounding it are such a profound and sacred thing for so many. It's one of those things people have passionately held feelings about.
So let's talk about them.
The woman is obviously mourning and obviously emotional. The same can be said for the onlookers who weep and hug one another in the background.
It's their funeral and this is how they want to do it. Who are we to judge?
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter