There are two particular announcements that many films seem to have great difficulty in explicitly verbalising: the announcement of a pregnancy (“hello”), and the the announcement of a death (‘goodbye’). In fact, these two announcements, considered together, constitute a solid taboo. We might assume this is true only of very old movies, but the phenomenon is remarkably consistent right up to our present day. Let’s gather some striking examples.
© Cristina Álvarez López & Adrian Martin, January 2026
