Understanding death attitudes: the integration of movies, positive psychology, and meaning management.

The portrayal of death is one of the most common themes in movies and is often unrealistic, promoting misconceptions to the public. However, there are also many films that portray death acceptance in an instructive way. Such films depict the development of character strengths useful in embracing life and lessening death anxiety, namely zest, curiosity, self-regulation, and humor. Moreover, the role of meaning in films is pivotal for understanding death attitudes. The authors discussed key elements in a number of popular, independent, and international films and emphasized the use of films as an important adjunct for both teachers and clinicians addressing death attitudes with students and clients. A program of death education using movies is briefly discussed.