ARTS
& OPINION: So you like to work with the dead?
SEBASTIEN:
I like my work, which involves working with the deceased.
A
& O: But you chose a profession whose essential materials
are the dead?
SEBASTIEN:
To the best of my knowledge, my colleagues are quite alive
as are the families and friends of the deceased with whom
I’m in daily contact.
A
& O: Why didn’t you choose a normal profession,
like social work or teaching?
SEBASTIEN:
Embalming is perhaps an unusual choice, it’s not an
abnormal one. By the age of 9, I already knew I wanted to
be an embalmer.
A
& O: That must have pleased your parents?
SEBASTIEN:
At the beginning, they weren’t at all that pleased,
but as I got older and they realized that’s what I
wanted to do in life, they accepted it and have been very
supportive.
A
& O: How did your classmates react to your inclination?
SEBASTIEN:
Knowing how cruel kids can sometimes be, I guess I had the
presence of mind to keep my fascination with embalming a
secret until I was well into my teens. When I finally came
out -- in a manner of speaking -- most of my classmates
respected my choice.
A
& O: Do you know or understand why, at such an early
age, you wanted to become an embalmer?
SEBASTIEN:
Yes. I had to attend a funeral when I was young, and I was
amazed by the transformation on the deceased’s face,
having just seen and remembered that face ravaged by death.
It was almost as if the embalmer had brought the deceased
back to life, so convincing was his work.
A
& O: Analogous to a resurrection?
SEBASTIEN:
You could say that. The experience turned out to be a transforming
moment of my life, and I remember during those years that
wanting to become an embalmer was an obsession.
A
& O: Most of us on the outside regard you on the inside
as a bit weird. We imagine you with all sorts of hang-ups
and social phobias, that embalming is the refuge of the
socially challenged. Your comments?
SEBASTIEN:
I can’t speak for everyone in the profession, but
without exception, all of my fellow embalmers are normal
and socially well adapted. Like in all professions, I suppose
there are bad eggs, those who choose embalming for the wrong
reasons, but they are certified professionals subject to
a professional code of ethics.
A
& O: If a garbage collector’s kick comes when
he finds something valuable or newsworthy in the garbage,
and a doctor’s kick comes when he saves a patient’s
life (depriving you of work, of course), how do you get
your professional kicks?
SEBASTIEN:
In our line of work, most of the bodies we receive are in
very terrible condition; bodies that have been in terrible
accidents, burn victims,
bodies ravaged by cancer. Our challenge is to restore dignity
to the deceased, to rid their faces of suffering and anguish,
to transform their ugliness into something more beautiful
than when they were alive. The satisfaction comes when the
families view the embalmer’s work for the first time:
the amazement in their eyes, the pleasure at what they are
observing. This is my kick. Gone is the pain and suffering
of the deceased’s final days; he or she has found
his peace and it shows in their faces. In our special way,
we are artists, bringing beauty into the world, a beauty
that will survive in the memory of the survivors. The satisfaction
of our work is in no small way an aesthetic one.
A
& O: It must be frustrating that most people think you
are weird?
SEBASTIEN:
I’m comfortable doing what I’m doing. I cannot
allow my work which I find meaningful to be held hostage
by public opinion. If people like you think people like
me are weird, that’s your problem.
A
& O: Aren’t we as a society avoiding the unpleasant
facts of death by covering up or editing out the death of
the deceased, dressing him/her up for big show?
SEBASTIEN:
The family members and friends who have spent time with
and cared for the dying cannot be accused of avoiding the
unpleasant facts of death.
A
& O: Do you develop relationships with the dead? Do
their faces reveal something of their lives, if they were
happy or not, if they were good or bad people?
SEBASTIEN:
As mentioned earlier, most of the deceased have suffered
considerably in the last days of their lives, have been
administered strong drugs, and this is what you see in their
faces. It is during my contact with family members that
I try to learn of the deceased’s life, his history,
to arrive at a better likeness of the person as he was in
life. So yes, like their survivors, I think about them,
wonder about them, especially if I have access to photographs
that span their entire lives.
A
& O: From time to time, I’m sure, a perfectly
healthy, perhaps beautiful young body arrives. How does
this affect you?
SEBASTIEN:
These are the most difficult cases, when someone young is
brought in, who hasn’t lived, whose 
life
has been cut short. These cases leave me with a feeling
of terrible sadness.
A
& O: If I may be indiscreet, on those thankfully rare
occasions when young bodies arrive, the opportunities and
temptation to experiment with necrophilia might be considered
an occupational hazard. Would you care to respond?
SEBASTIEN:
Mr. Lewis. I am not sexually attracted to the dead.
A
& O: Do you ever hear of such behaviour within the profession?
SEBASTIEN:
We are certified professionals, not perverts.
A
& O: In the brilliant Canadian film entitled Kissed,
the female protagonist, played by Molly
Parker, 
makes
love to the dead because she is fascinated by the mystery
of death and believes she can get closer to it, by what
she refers to as “crossing over,” in order to
contact the deceased’s soul. As a viewer, I found
her motivation totally convincing, and her love making with
the dead almost sacred, easily more dignified that ours
with the living. Your response?
SEBASTIEN:
I have seen the film and wasn’t particularly impressed.
People who indulge in necrophilia are perverted and they
need professional help. Secondly, the premise of the film
is flawed. Dead bodies don’t arrive at our doorstep
with erections. I’ve embalmed over 1,500 bodies in
my career and only one or two have arrived in this state,
and only after severe abdominal bleeding has leaked blood
into the penis. The movie Kissed has propagated
a negative stereotype about the profession of 
embalming
which is very unfortunate. And while there may be a very
small percentage of disturbed people among embalmers they
are the exceptions. There are periods during the year when
I’m on the job 70 hours per week. We have a job to
do and not enough time to do it. If you are looking to categorize
the gist of our work, our profession is similar to that
of restoration, where we try to bring something back to
its original state.
A
& O: Does working with the dead sharpen your appreciation
of life?
SEBASTIEN:
Absolutely.
A
& O: Do you believe in God?
SEBASTIEN:
Yes.
A
& O: Do you ever question what kind of God it is that
brings you up close to bodies and faces that have suffered
so terribly in their last days?
SEBASTIEN:
First of all I don't question God's ways, nor do I regard
him as an executioner. Perhaps he doesn't permit suffering
but rather tolerates it.
A
& O: Thank you, Sebastian, for your time and frankness.
I have learned much today.
SEBASTIEN:
It’s been a pleasure discussing my life’s passion
with you. If I should be fortunate enough to outlive you,
it will be both a pleasure and privilege to embalm you.
A
& O: I’ll pass on that, hopefully for the long
term.
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