I just don’t get it

I’m somewhat bemused to read a report of a woman who’s moving her husband’s body from its present location to her own crypt, so that she can sell his grave – sited directly above that of Marilyn Monroe – to the highest bidder. The BBC reports:

“Spend eternity directly above Marilyn Monroe”, says the ad placed on eBay by Elsie Poncher of Beverly Hills.

Bidding opened at $500,000, and had reached $700,000 by Sunday.

Mrs Poncher said she will be “vacating” the remains of her husband “to make room for a new resident” at LA’s exclusive Westwood Village cemetery.

The widow told the LA Times that she hoped to make enough money to pay off the $1.6m mortgage on her Beverly Hills mansion.

“I can’t be more honest than that,” she said. “I want to leave it free and clear for my kids.”

. . .

Mrs Poncher is selling the chance to reserve a “place in eternity” directly above the Hollywood sex symbol, telling the LA Times that her own husband was placed face down in his crypt on top of the actress, in keeping with his dying wish.

Richard Poncher – who died 23 years ago at the age of 81 – was said to be a successful businessman who worked hard, spent lavishly, and knew “all the gangsters” of LA.

Mrs Poncher said he bought two burial plots from Joe DiMaggio during the US baseball legend’s 1954 divorce from Monroe.

There’s more at the link.

Is it just me, or is this more than a little weird, twisted and bizarre? I mean, what difference does it make if you’re buried next to someone famous, infamous or unknown? You’re dead, aren’t you? It’s not as if you’re going to be fretting about it!

And doesn’t it seem vaguely obscene – almost necrophiliac – that, in the words of the news report, Mr. Poncher chose to be “placed face down in his crypt on top of the actress”?

Perhaps I’m just old-fashioned and out of touch with reality . . .

*Shudder*

Peter