Life is better 'Six Feet Under'

Life is better 'Six Feet Under'

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"Are you mad at him or at the fact that we're all gonna die?"

This question is asked during the first episode of Six Feet
Under, an HBO original series that explores the issue of death
through a dysfunctional family that owns a funeral home.

While the series only premiered here on Saturday (it will also
be shown on Monday, after HBO's Monday Action at 8 p.m.), the
series has been generating a great deal of buzz in the United
States since it premiered last year.

In the U.S. it has consistently out-rated network programming
in homes that have HBO, and earned higher ratings than The
Sopranos did in its first season. An estimated 8.3 million
viewers reportedly see Six Feet Under each week.

It has won two Golden Globes, one for Best Drama Series and
the other for Best Supporting Actress for Rachel Griffiths.

At the recent 2002 Primetime Emmy Awards, it nabbed 23
nominations and brought home six awards.

So, what exactly is the attraction of the series?

First, the show was created by screenwriter Alan Ball, who
earned an Oscar for American Beauty.

It is immediately clear in the first episode that the
characters are a bunch of messed up people. Everyone, meet the
Fishers: control-freak Mom (Frances Conroy), carefree and
irresponsible son Nate Jr. (Peter Krause), closeted homosexual
son David (Michael Hall) and angsty teen daughter Claire (Lauren
Ambrose).

OK. So this is another take on a dysfunctional family by
American television. Typically there has to be a troubled teen, a
homosexual and a freaky mom.

And then there is Nate's commitment-phobic girlfriend Brenda
(Griffith), who has a manic-depressive brother.

The first episode is filled with tension: Dad is killed when a
bus runs over his new hearse, Mom is guilt-stricken by an affair
with her hairdresser, Nate and David do not get along, while
Claire is dating some guy who is on crack.

Pretty heavy, indeed.

One of the devices used to lighten the mood are witty
"commercials" for funeral home products, such as coffins and
embalming fluid.

However, starting with the second episode the show settles
into its true tone.

Each episode opens with a death, sometimes a very stupid one,
and then shows how all of the characters deal with it and with
themselves.

Death, however, is dealt with in a playful way -- a dark irony
that sparks laughter.

"I just try to do a story that's interesting and surprising
and funny. I want it to be playful instead of wallowing in
morbidity," Ball said.

The narrative is frequently interrupted by fantasies that pop
into the characters' heads. These include the dead counseling the
living about life.

The ghost of Dad makes frequent visits to share his
observations, gems of wisdom -- which are actually sometimes wise
-- and sarcastic comments.

The actors are especially excellent. While they are lesser-
known, they give stunning performances, especially Conroy and
Krause.

Conroy is brilliant as the snappish and sarcastic mother who
does not know how to communicate with her sons or particularly
with her daughter, the youngest child.

It is both funny and moving how she is concerned about her
daughter but constantly asks her the wrong questions ("Have you
been having sex?", "Are you on drugs?", "Do you have an eating
disorder?"), which of course Claire declines to answer.

Conroy also succeeds in portraying a housewife who married
young and then, later in life, tries to loosen up and explore
life.

And Krause, as Nate Jr., shines in presenting a watchable and
multidimensional character that really grows on you.

In the end, the drama succeeds in not just portraying death in
another, far less terrifying face. It also fills our hearts and
minds, and gives us something to delight in and celebrate.

Because, as Ball put it, "it's not a show about death. It's a
show about life, in the presence of death -- which is life".

In one of the "commercials", there is a line saying "real life
is better".

The show is sometimes overly and unnecessary dramatic. But the
thing that makes this series work is how it convinces the
audience that real life is indeed better, and subtly tells us to
appreciate it.

Six Feet Under premiers Oct. 12 on HBO. Following its premier, it
will appear every Tuesday.