I find that I'd rather take a gander at the person involved when it's a closed casket.

Yeah, I think so. Often the deceased don't look anything like they did when they were alive and this can be heartbreaking. Photos are definately a better option. Good question =) +3

Some people want that for closure, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, but some others just can't handle seeing the person dead so for them that would be a better option. I think people that have had someone pass that had been battling a disease like cancer would like the oppurtunity to see them when finally at peace.

I think sometimes it helps the mourner realize it's real. It's part of grieving.

This is really a most wonderful question! Some human beings want "one last look" at the decedent's body, before moving on with their lives. Some want to make sure that it is REALLY "Cousin Egbert" and not a case of mistaken identity. Some folks wish to touch the corpse or even give it a "good-bye kiss" of some kind. I don't enjoy going to funeral homes at all, because I have this unfounded fear of them, based on a bad experience I had in 1969, when a college buddy of mine died and a bunch of us (his classmates) went to the funeral home to "say good-bye" to him. As we were standing at his casket and staring at his body, he suddenly sat up and said, "BOO! GOTCHA!" It was an elaborate prank that he and some other friends of his had pulled on us, along with friends of his who owned the funeral parlor. Two guys collapsed at the spectacle, and I almost did, too. NONE of us thought it was "funny" at all, but after we calmed down, we had to admit that it was indeed a very clever stunt he had pulled off, and we secretly wished we had been in on it. But for the next several nights thereafter, my sleep was peppered with nightmares of his "corpse" suddenly sitting up and scaring us, and from then on, I became very leary about "public viewings," because there was always this thought in the back of my mind that just MAYBE the guy in the casket would suddenly sit up and shock everyone as my FORMER friend had done. +5

I agree, I would like to remember them as they were living rather then have that mental picture of dead and gone. When my hubs grandma died they put her in so much make up she looked more like a drunken hooker then an 80 something year old that was kind and gentle.

I agree with you. I think it is better to remember them as they were in life. But some people need to see a body in order to get closure.

Some people make that choice while alive. Other times the family decides. I don't ever go to the casket to look. It seems rude somehow.

I don't know. I have thought of this before and wondered the same thing. Maybe it is felt that people paying their respects would like to see the deceased one last time. To me it makes more sense to remembered them when they were alive.

Nobody is forced to view a body in the casket. In a lot of places the deceased is only viewed white at the Funeral Parlour and the casket is closed before Going to Church

Most people need to see the body for closure and as part of the grieving process.

This very thing caused some rifts with me and my own family. At the passing of both my grandparents I wanted nothing to do with the funeral, I didn't want to even be there, because I had already said my goodbyes and I didn't want to join in the self-pity orgy. So far as I was concerned thats all that the tears and sadness were about as they were both in a better place. Who are we mourning really? Them or are we sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves? What would they have wanted? I knew them well enough to know that they would have preferred a happier event than that.

whats wrong a dead body? tbh, whats wrong with death?

Sometimes people need to see the person dead to accept that they are gone. One of my friend's mothers went out of state for experimental treatment for cancer and died in a motel there before she could even start treatment. My friend didn't have the money to fly the body back, so she was cremated there and the ashes shipped back. My friend never saw her mother's body. For years, she had dreams where her mother was still alive and asking her why my friend had abandoned her there. Once you've seen the body, you come to terms with the fact that they are gone. I'd like to add to this that the lack of a viewing or closed viewing for select people only can lead to the idea that the person is still alive. I doubt the National Enquirer, the Star or the Globe would still be in business if Elvis had had a viewing open to the public.

I have only ever done it once - I have had the opportunity to on quite a few occasions, and always declined - but on one occasion I was at a country funeral - and things are done differently out there - so I paid respects, respectfully, as it was expected.

Not for everyone. Every is different. Some like to see the body for confirmation and to say their goodbyes "in person". Others perfer not to see them dead and just remember them a live. It's all in a preference. I think most people just say sure have an open casket bc everyone can be happy. If you don't want to look you don't have to and if you do than you can. I never looked at my greatgrandaddy. I wanted to remember him the way he was but others went up to his casket to pay respect.

You don't have to look at the body if you don't want to. But let's face it, you die "once" so why water it down with photos (unless the face was mutilated/missing/etc...)? Coming face-to-face with a dead body is a humbling experience; that's the point. ;)

I saw two dead people in caskets when I was a child, and it bothered me, and still does to this day. After seeing the lack of a soul in the body, it was hard for me to remember the person alive. I do not go to funerals. I wish to be cremated. +5

for me, it makes it real...it is part of the acceptance process of grieving and it in no way replaces any of the wonderful memories i have of the person. i was with my brother when he died...ALOT of us were...so i saw his body at that time too. being with him at that time was an unselfish act for all of there...it was by far the hardest thing any of us there have ever done but it was more important for us to make sure he knew he wasn't alone (because we knew that is what he feared most) than it was for us to be "comfortable". i lived 1000 miles away when my grandpa died and i didn't come home for the funeral...it has taken years for me to wrap my heart around the fact that he's not here anymore.

This is a very good question. When I went to my boyfriends wake, I didn't want to see his body. I was talking to his mother and I happened to glance to the right and there was the casket. She said to me to go and pay last respects or something to that effect. How could I not? It just didn't look like him laying there, and that wasn't the way I wanted to remeber him, I really didn't want to have seen him like that.

A couple of people have answered this in the same way as I am about to. Two of my brothers died in the last few years and one I went to his funeral. It was very real and although it was painful it does give you "Closure" (I hate that word but it fits here) My other brother died just last year and I was unable to make the funeral. I didn't even find out he died till he was gone for over a week. It's still difficult to grasp his being gone. I think some people just need the funeral experience to accept what has happened. It's often said that funerals aren't for the dead but for the living. I think that's true.

I feel awkward when I do, but I guess its tradition. +4

yes and while you at it~~ just post them to a website so you can peruse them at your lesiure? There is some funneral homes with a drive through that is kind of neat

yes, it is good to know they are dead. now there is a video out of michael jackson getting out of the ambulance after he died. usually in church funerals there is no body in the casket. it is just ritual. symbolic. and often times, the body has already been turned to ashes.

Yes, there are many people who truly "need" to see the deceased in a casket ..... it is an important part of "finalizing/closure". Photographs are, well ..... still just photographs ..... unless the deceased was very badly maimed or burned. In that case, photos would be infinitely more appropriate.