The Amateurs

A man is brought to a luxurious euthanasia facility under legislation that directs the elderly toward institutionalized ends; there a polished director outlines a Philosophy of Dying that transforms passings into curated spectacles, offering customized heroic or theatrical finales—from staged battles and re-enactments to confrontations with exotic animals—while the visitor struggles with reluctance, bureaucratic pressure, and personal fear. The story examines the commercialization and showmanship of death, how ritual and entertainment are supplied as consolation, and the tension between individual choice and administrative efficiency at life's end.