TV - Movies
The Ending Of
Meet Joe Black
Explained
By STACY DOOKS
In "Meet Joe Black," Death takes on the body of a deceased young man Joe Black and eases himself into the life of businessman Bill Parrish, to learn more about what it means to be alive. Death learns more about humanity and falls in love, as his initial whim to become human evolves into something far more serious.
By the film's final scene, Death has come to realize that his love for Susan can never really work. He could take her with him to the afterlife, but Parrish makes the case that love is about sacrifice and honesty, forcing him to realize that to take Susan from her life simply because of his passion, would be wrong.
The ending of "Meet Joe Black" is a meditation not only on the beauty of life and the exuberance of passion but also on learning when to let go, to sacrifice our happiness for the hope of someone else's. It's an act of true love that makes the film's ending bittersweet, but still oddly hopeful.