Lonely Funeral: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Distinct from [[And There Was Much Rejoicing]] in that the reaction needn't be positive, only largely indifferent except for a select few, and usually [[Played for Drama]] instead of [[Played for Laughs|laughs]].

 

 

Compare [[Dying Alone]].

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

** It signifies how, in the end, everyone saw him as a traitor. To ''everyone''.

* {{spoiler|Sherry's}} funeral in ''[[Gungrave]]'' was attended only by {{spoiler|Harry}} mostly because all of their friends and family are dead.

 

* In one of the first issues of the modern JSA series, at Wesley Dodds' funeral, Wildcat remarks that when Madam Fatal died, the only people who came were the cast of the local production of ''La Cage aux Folles'' (Madam Fatal was a male actor who fought crime in old-lady drag, and had been all but forgotten). This may have been sparked by the fact that the only people present were JSA, though the topic at the time was mortality in general, and Wildcat was also wondering how, or if, he himself would be remembered.

** And in ''[[Kingdom Come]]'', nobody came to Dodds' funeral at all.

** However, in [[Booster Gold]]'s case this trope has special meaning: He needs his time-traveling life to be a [[Stable Time Loop]], which means he ''can't'' be remembered after death, because he knows he wasn't famous in the future. If he had a lonely funeral, it's because he spent his whole life ensuring it'd be that way.

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* Parodied in ''[[I'm Gonna Git You Sucka]]''. A crowd of people show up for Junebug's funeral. When they realize they're at the wrong funeral, they all leave, taking all of the funeral decorations as they go. The only people left are Junebug's immediate family.

** Although after the reboot, Felix Leiter could come as well. But that still makes two.

*** This is interesting to think about, considering they seemed to have dropped the Moneypenny character after Pierce Brosnan was done being Bond. Coincidence?

* In ''[[The Bad and The Beautiful]]'', Jonathan Shields' father had plenty of mourners at his funeral, but only because he willed the last of his money to pay for them to attend.

* ''A Carol Christmas'' had Carol's aunt Marla who had only her niece and her work partner there. Later on, Carol saw her funeral with only her assistant and her friend there.

 

== Literature ==

* {{spoiler|Gatsby's funeral}} from ''[[The Great Gatsby]]''. Used to show how fair-weather all of his friends were. Except {{spoiler|Nick, and the owl-eyed man from the library.}}

* Jim Butcher's'' [[Dresden Files]]'': In ''Turn Coat'', {{spoiler|Morgan}} had no mourners at his funeral, owing to [[Malicious Slander|the story they put out]], but they engaged in [[To Absent Friends]].

* Mercedes Lackey's ''Alta'': {{spoiler|Prince Toreth}}. Given an insultingly extravagant state funeral that not even his own parents attended, only his brother and {{spoiler|the other jousters of his wing}}

* In ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'', Scrooge is shown in the [[Bad Future]] that he will [[Dying Alone|die alone]] and unmourned if he doesn't repent.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Supernatural]]'': When John Winchester dies, the only people who attend his funeral (being burned in a field) are Sam and Dean, possibly because most other hunters hated him.

** Pastor Jim and Caleb would have come, if given the opportunity, if they hadn't been murdered by demons half a season before so the Winchesters would have nowhere to run.

* The funeral of "Jeremy Bentham" in [[Lost]].

** This is also true of the {{spoiler|fake}} funeral of {{spoiler|Locke's father}} in a season 2 [[Flash Back|flashback]].

* On ''[[ER]]'', when [[Dr. Jerk|Dr. Romano]] dies, the only person who attends his memorial service was Dr. Corday.

* ''[[Sanctuary]]'': When {{spoiler|Ashley}} died, only the core cast attended her funeral. The nature of work at the Sanctuary lends itself to people without many attachments, so this makes sense.

* ''[[Leverage]]'', subversion: Sophie apparently gets killed by an IED sent by the villain of the week, and we cut to her funeral, where Eliot is giving her a speech...until he gets to her name, at which point he [[Faking the Dead|stutters out one of her aliases]]. Cut to the crowd, which is actually pretty big.

* ''[[Dexter]]'': Due to the fact that everyone assumed him to be the Bay Harbor Butcher (instead of Dexter) {{spoiler|Sergeant Doakes}} has a funeral attended only by his mother, his two sisters, and his former partner. Emphasized when the former partner suggests starting up a memorial fund in his name, and everyone looks at her like she's high.

* In ''[[Numb3rs]]'', Charlie went to a funeral of a colleague of Larry's only to see that Larry was the only one there.

* ''[[Six Feet Under]]'': One of the people that died was a con artist who had swindled a lot of money. The only one who showed up was his wife who didn't know about it until after he died.

* ''[[Spooks]]'': After {{spoiler|Ros dies while attempting to rescue the Home Secretary}}, only the rest of Section D attend her funeral, which causes Harry in particular a great deal of grief. Noteworthy in that of the [[Anyone Can Die|many, many]], people who have died during the course of the show, she is the only one whose funeral is shown in any depth.

* On [[True Blood]], only Sookie and Tara attend {{spoiler|Eggs'}} funeral.

 

== Music ==

* "Eleanor Rigby" by [[The Beatles]]. The lonely title character dreams of someday being married, but ultimately dies, her funeral service attended only by the equally lonely Father McKenzie.

 

 

== Theatre ==

* In ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'', Willy Loman's funeral is attended only by his wife, his sons, Charley and Bernard. He wasn't mourned by half as many as the man who inspired him to become a salesman (and was the subject of the [[Title Drop]]).

 

* In ''[[Fable]] 2'', Hammer's adopted father, the head priest of the Temple of Light is killed trying to protect Hammer. You, Hammer, and three monk's attend the funeral. Nobody from the town who's prosperity is given to them by the Monk's holy tree, attends. To make matters worse, the monks depart immediately after the prayer, ignoring Hammer as she calls them out for their callous nature and the callous "business as usual" way the world is treating the death of this man.

** That wasn't Ramza's funeral. He was considered a heretic and the Church refused to give him so much as a marker, much less a ceremony. The funeral was for his sister Alma, which makes it almost worse: aside from the elderly there to mourne the end of a family, not Alma, the only other two visitors were there as a proxy funeral for ''Ramza'', not her. {{spoiler|Thankfully neither Alma nor Ramza are actually dead, though only Olan saw this}}.

 

* In the ''[[Ciem Webcomic Series]]'', Eric and Patty Levens are never shown or depicted. (They are in the books.) Denny and Angie's dual-funeral is attended by Eric, Patty, Candi, and Donte in the books. But only by Candi and Donte in the comic with one minister present. Justified in that too large a gathering of Flippos or Levenses at any event [[Feuding Families|could draw in Hebbleskins like flies]]. Attendance of the public to such an event could also lead to blacklisting; and fear of Arfaas assassinating someone's cousin just because of that someone having sympathy on an already-targeted family is quite strong in a town recently ravaged by doom ships and supervillains. But also played to show that the community in Viron is spiteful and [[All of the Other Reindeer|will do anything]] [[Designated Monkey|to make Candi's life suck]].

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[The Simpsons]]''

** In "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace," Homer imagines himself dying: In Homer's imagination, the gates to the Graveyard of the Future open, where his funeral is taking place. Ned Flanders does the ceremony, while a suited Lenny and two bodyguards, Barney Gumble with his arms full of Oscars, as well as a robot and Heckle and Jeckle, stand by.

'''Jeckle''': Indubitably, old chum! (several dogs start to chew on Homer's feet) }}

** When Bleeding Gums Murphy died, the only person who went to the funeral was Lisa. Marge and Homer didn't even actually attend the funeral, they just waited for Lisa at the edge of the cemetery, Homer buying hot dogs. Reverend Lovejoy didn't even get his name right.

** In "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish", Mr. Burns and Abe Simpson are the only people attending the funeral of Asa Phelps. The only reason they're there is that they've entered a [[Tontine]] over a set of priceless German paintings that they stole from the Nazis during World War II.

*** Which is [[Fridge Brilliance|subtly brilliant]], when one notes that Reverend Lovejoy’s eulogy for Asa Phelps suggests that he was a ''very'' boring person.

** The funeral is never shown - we see Carl alone with the casket, but that may be intended to underscore how alone he is without Ellie.

 

== Real Life ==

* Sometimes, funerals of very aged people – particularly, those who were not well known within their community – with very few surviving close friends or family who are able to attend (for example, a 100-year-old man who never married or had children, and whose siblings/sibilings-in-law/cousins have all preceded him in death, and was unknown to most outside his circle) will be attended by a very small number of people. This is absolutely not a reflection of how well liked/disliked the decedent may have been, but simply reality: virtually all of the most important people in his/her life (or those who knew him and were sufficiently close to him) have also died, are in poor health or otherwise unable to attend services.

** Conversely, sometimes a very aged person who may have been well known in his community and have many survivors could conceivably still have a large funeral. Again, this is absolutely not necessarily an indication that the centerian who isn't so fortunate to have such a large turnout (i.e., only the number of fingers on one hand is what the number of mourners are) was hated, but simply the fact that the less well-known decedant may have lived a private, anonymous life and was not well known outside his circle of friends and family.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Death Tropes]]

[[Category:Funeral Tropes]]

[[Category:Sadness Tropes]]