Português

Abstract

This article reflects on the invisibility and exposure of death in Belo Horizonte, with the arrival of the Comissão Construtora da Nova Capital (CCNC). Death begins to distance itself from public spaces, as described by Ariès, who defines it as part of the phenomenon of "tame death" in modern societies. Under the modernizing principles of the CCNC, death was displaced to the urban outskirts or made invisible in lawn-park cemeteries. However, in contrast, the phenomenon of "wide open death" emerges, as described by Kovács, where violent deaths gain visibility through media sensationalism, especially in police and true-crime shows, in which victims belong to marginalized groups. This phenomenon reveals a social duality: while we seek to hide death from our daily lives, we absorb it as entertainment, often disregarding the dignity of the victims. This contradiction highlights the complexity of the contemporary relationship with the theme: the desire to socially control death and the impulse to consume it as content.