The Gerontologist 45:426 (2005)
© 2005 The Gerontological Society of America
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: Facing Death
Robert E. Yahnke
E-mail: yahnk001{at}umn.edu
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was one of the first significant names I associated with gerontology when I began to study the humanities and gerontology in the mid 1970s. I remember reading her seminal text, On Death and Dying (1969) and pondering her theory of the five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, despair, acceptance. Her theory seemed an elegant summing up of what so many had experienced. The five stages seemed practical and sensible. Kübler-Ross had listened to the dying, and their narratives were the foundation for her theory about grief's stages. In time, of course, her theory was criticized as being monolithic, simplistic, and, at best, incomplete. When Kübler-Ross's interest turned to near-death experiences and more esoteric subjects relating to life after death, many lost interest in her work, and yet she remained an enigmatic and intriguing figure in the annals of gerontology. When I saw the documentary film Facing Death 2 years ago, I was struck by the vision of a frail and dependent Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in old age. At one point she complains that when she is unable to complete some of the basic tasks of daily living, "I'll stop cooperating. I'm not used to such dependency." She appears to have withdrawn from the world on her Arizona ranch. Although she is partially disabled, still she seems capable of drawing upon that fiery energy of her halcyon days. The documentary was completed in 2002, 2 years before Kübler-Ross died at the age of 78.
There are two versions of this documentary. I have seen both of them, and I would recommend the longer version. The review below, by Dennis Klass, is a review of that longer version. It runs 98 minutes, compared to a 57-minute version. The longer version includes several essential interviews, more direct interviews with Kübler-Ross, fuller details about her personal background (along with significant commentary by her sisters, Erika and Eva), more details about how she developed her theory, and several comments by Hans Kung about her theory of death and dying.
The subject of death and dying has been reviewed in several earlier columns. Here is a list of relevant titles: Near Death (Vol. 37, 2, 1997); Living Fully Until Death (Vol. 37, 3, 1997); The Pitch of Grief, Grown-Up Tears: Adults Grieving the Death of a Parent, Facing Death, and Grief in America (Vol. 38, 1, 1998); Tired of Living: Feared of Dying and Care of the Dying Series (Vol. 38, 2, 1998); Death on Request (Vol. 39, 2, 1999); The Vanishing Line and Full Circle (Vol. 39, 3, 1999); Dying (Vol. 39, 5, 1999); On Our Own Terms—Moyers on Dying (Vol. 40, 5, 2000); The Way We Die: Listening to the Terminally Ill (Vol. 43, 2, 2003); Those Who Stay Behind: When a Family Member Dies and The Journey Home: Stories from Hospice (Vol. 43, 5, 2003); and On Wings of Song: Music Therapy at the End of Life (Vol. 44, 4, 2004).
References
- Gill, D., (1980). Quest: The life of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
- Seligson, M., (1981). Playboy interview: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Playboy, 28, 69–70, 74–76, 78, 82, 84, 86, 90, 92–96, 98, 101–104, 106.
