Deaths in films can be seen as a source of drama. A
character the audience comes to love and care for losing their life can bring a
tear to the viewers. But when the death happens off screen, one can’t help but
feel cheated. A character sacrificing their life for the hero means nothing
because we never see it. We see a corpse or sometimes nothing at all, just a
inference that said character has passed on. Which leaves some viewers asking
the obvious question: Did that character really die?
1.)
Bambi’s
Mom
Probably
one of the most traumatic deaths in cinema, there are grown men who will admit
to crying when this scene in the film Bambi comes up. But for such a traumatic
film moment, the truth is we the audience never see it. We hear a gunshot, we
see an empty frame where conceivably Bambi’s mother should be, but as far as
the actual death, that is unseen. Now true, it probably would have been crass
to show a scene of some hunters strapping Bambi’s mom to the hood of their pick
up in a kids’ movie, but it does mean that the most important moment in the
film is left entirely up to the imagination of the viewer. But we only know
Bambi is alone. Mostly because he got such a huge head start over his mother.
She’s screaming for him to run yet falls behind. It is completely conceivable
that Bambi’s mother abandoned him. Later in the film we meet Bambi’s father who
decides to raise his son. Bambi’s mom could have just said “Hey, as soon as
hunting season starts I’m ditching this kid and it’s your turn” to the
estranged father of her child. For all we the audience know, Bambi’s mom found
a nice forest down in Boca where she could sun herself without taking care of a
bratty kid.
2.)
Butch
and Sundance
These
two are the most famous characters that die but we don’t see the death. That’s
because the film ends with Butch and Sundance running into a hail of bullets
and then the frame freezes but we hear the gunfire. So it is left to the
audience to assume our heroes died a tragic yet brave death. But without seeing
an actual death or body there is a slim hope of survival. Even the best shots
sometimes miss and even the most well maintained gun has the potential to jam.
It is conceivable that every shot we the audience here is Butch and Sundance
killing their captors and fleeing to freedom. The film establishes that both
men are legendary gun fighters. And they also know how to take advantage of the
element of surprise. Certainly two gunmen running towards a line of gunmen (who
have the advantage of the high ground as well) could shock any shooter enough
to give Butch and Sundance the few extra seconds they would need to escape. To
reference another movie, The Man in the
Iron Mask, the Musketeers charge the riflemen waiting to shoot them hoping
that such a display of daring might cause them to misfire. And in that film it
works. If it works in one film it is believeable that it could work in another.
3.)
Shane
The
death of Shane has been debated by fans and scholars alike. While the prevailing
theory is that in the final gunfight Shane took a fatal gun wound and dies as
he rides off on his horse, there’s no clear evidence. While Shane’s lack of
movement or response to his name seems to indicate he’s dead, again, there is
no showing of a fatal wound or clear shot of his dead body. Even the one shot
of Shane from the front of the film shows him in shadow. There is a slim chance
that Shane rode off, got off the horse and said “I’m glad I’m no longer living
with that whiny kid.”
4.)
Fred
Weasley (from Harry Potter)
This
is the one entry where there is a clear cut body. After the Battle of Hogwarts
the Weasley family is seen gathered around the body of Fred and his twin
brother George is crying over the corpse of his brother and business partner. But
even this death has to be questioned. While body of Fred Weasley is indeed seen
in the final Harry Potter book/film, his actual death scene is omitted. So that
raises the question, is that really Fred Weasley’s body? As seen in the Harry
Potter books and films wizards have several ways to change their appearance.
There are spells that can change the hair and skin. Some Wizards are born shape
changers (such as Tonks who is known as a Metamorphmagus) who can take on any
physical appearance they wish. And of course there is the commonly used in
multiple films Polyjuice Potion which allows any witch or wizard take on the
appearance of another with just a few hairs being added. And according to the
book Goblet of Fire the affects of polyjuice potion do not wear off simply
because the user is dead. Barty Crouch Jr.’s mother uses polyjuice potion to
impersonate her son, dying in prison in his place. Certainly no one noticed
“his” corpse changing back into a woman so it must be assumed the affects
continue whether or not the user is dead or alive. So there is the possibility
that the Fred Weasley seen at the end of the Deathly Hallows is not Fred but an
imposter. While the wizards who serve Voldemort are portrayed as ruthless, they
also tend to be cowardly. It is not beyond the realm of belief to assume one of
them would try to sneak away from the battle disguised as a Hogwarts student
but instead ended up being killed by one of his own fellow Death Eaters. So in
the end the question is Where is the REAL Fred Weasley? Only J.K. Rowling knows
for sure.
5.)
Lt.
Col. Henry Blake (from M*A*S*H)
Perhaps
one of the saddest moments in TV history, Radar O’Reilly walks into the OR of
the 4077 in the middle of a rush of surgeries and announces that their beloved
former commander Colonel Henry Blake’s plane was shot down and there were no
survivors. After a brief moment of silence the courageous doctors return to
saving lives. It’s sad, it’s tragic, it truly is an excellent moment of
television. But again, where is the body? MASH was a show that was never shy
about the concept of death. Hawkeye witnessed one of his best friends from
home, an ambitious writer, die on the table in front of him. Young boy after
young boy would be brought to the camp only to be beyond hope and die (causing
the doctors and staff to constantly find new ways to remark on the futility of
war). Why have the most traumatic death of the series happen off screen?
Perhaps the writers thought the death of a character such as Henry Blake would
be too traumatic for us the audience to witness. But at the same time we have
seen that the Army as portrayed in the MASH universe is not the most efficient.
Characters are mislabeled as dead all the time. Father Mulcahy valiantly saved
a young soldier when while performing the last rights noticed he still had a
pulse. Both Hawkeye and Trapper John received paperwork informing them that
they were deceased. How do we know that Henry Blake was even on the plane that
was shot down? Or that the plane was even shot down at all? Seeing how
befuddled Henry Blake was throughout the series it is not beyond reason to
think he is still wandering the streets of Tokyo trying to find a way home.
6.)
Nicodemus
(The Secret of Nimh)
True, the lifespan of a rat is at best somewhere between
four and five years so even if Nicodemus did survive, he’d be long dead by now.
The Secret of Nimh revolves around Mrs. Brisby trying to move her house before
the spring plow starts. Her young son is sick and can’t go outside. In order to
do so she must enlist the help of the rats who live in the thorn bush on the
farmer’s property. Apparently the rats are all escaped medical experiments from
some placed called NIMH and they have super intelligence. They also all revere
Mrs. Brisby since her husband Jonathan was also an escapee from NIMH and is
also super smart. There’s also a magic jewel and a power conspiracy among the
rats, it’s kind of like Game of Thrones with rodents. But the oldest of the
rats is Nicodemus. And he is the leader.
Now in the climactic scene of the movie the rats are
desperately trying to movie Mrs. Brisby’s giant brick home. This is when evil
rat Jenner makes his move resulting in the dropping of the brick and the
supposed death of Nicodemus. But here’s the thing, no one sees Nicodemus die.
The rats are in such a state of shock when the brick falls that no one was
looking where Nicodemus is standing. And it is only when it is pointed out that
a bit of Nicodemus’s cloak can be seen sticking out beneath the brick that
anyone thinks he is dead. But it is only his cloak that is seen. In a world
with genetically altered super rats and jewels that can grant telekinetic
abilities, a rat taking off its cloak to avoid getting crushed is not out of
the realm of possibility. Now one could wonder why Nicodemus didn’t show
himself after the brick was moved and the day was saved if he did in fact
survive. Well as it turns out, Nicodemus’s death motivates Justin, the hero
rat, to take charge of the other rats and fight Jenner to the death. So his
“death” while tragic is a good thing for the rest of the rats.
7.)
Uncle
Owen and Aunt Beru (Star Wars)
Every
fanboys’ favorite Aunt and Uncle duo, Owen and Beru Lars devoted their lives to
raising a young Luke Skywalker and keep him protected from the Empire. Of
course, they don’t really do a good job of keeping Luke safe. They keep his
last name Skywalker, which unless that is the Star Wars universe version of
“Smith” is a pretty big red flag. They also let him go off by himself into the
desert whenever he wants. Beyond Imperial patrols or Sand People or Hutts there
is just the simple fact that if his speeder breaks down he could die of
dehydration in the middle of a desert. From what little interaction we see from
Episode IV, Luke hates living with his Aunt and Uncle. And his uncle really
only seems to like having Luke around as an extra farm hand. So if given the
chance to abandon Luke for a better life, would they take it?
The
reason why anyone can believe Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru are still alive is once
again because we the audience do not see them die. Like Luke, all we see are
the charred remains of two humans who were shot down after running for their
lives. True, the farm where The Lars live is pretty much in the middle of
nowhere. And we do never see anyone else working at the farm (which is probably
why Owen and Beru keep Luke around) so it is an obvious assumption for Luke to
make that those two burnt bodies are his Aunt and Uncle. But unless Luke gets a
DNA swab or judges their dental records, he can’t know for sure that Uncle Owen
and Aunt Beru are the ones dead in front of him. And why are the bodies burnt
in the first place? Before Luke discovers his “dead” Aunt and Uncle, he and
Obi-Wan Kenobi come across an attacked Sand Crawler with many dead Jawas. And
we can tell their Jawas because their robes are perfectly intact. So why did
the Stormtroopers who attacked the Sand Crawler so much more violent when they
attacked the Lars? Certainly dozens of Jawas pose more of a threat than two
famers. Why leave the Jawas identifiable but burn the humans to a crisp? One
can come to the conclusion that the bodies on the farm were burnt on purpose.
Why burn a body? To remove all identifiable traces of who that person is! It is
completely believable that Owen Lars recognized the two droids he bought from
the Jawas (which he would since he met them both in episode II). Believing that
the Empire would soon follow, he and Beru destroyed the farm, placing burnt
bodies so everyone assume they had been murdered. People who live in fear
usually have contingency plans for escape and Owen said he was afraid of Luke
being like his father. Chances are he had many other fears. Since only Jedi
come back as Force ghosts, Luke can’t exactly be sure his aunt and uncle are
dead. The Lars could be living on another planet, under new assumed identities.
