Crossing the bridge of ethics: "The Bridge" hurts more than helps
Kari Albsmeyer
Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: Opinion
Life is a precious thing. It is the greatest thing any one human being will ever experience. When a person doesn't appreciate his or her own life, it is a shame, and when they decide to take their own life, it is a tragedy and is devastating to many people.
Movie director and producer Eric Steel took advantage of this sensitive subject and decided to film people committing suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in his 2007 documentary titled "The Bridge."
Steel chose the site because more people commit suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge than any other location in the world. Between 30 and 40 people successfully make the jump every year, and bridge authorities stop nearly double that number before they have the opportunity.
Not only does this film make life seem trivial, but it makes suicide seem like a meaningless act.
Suicide is a serious action and should not be taken lightly. People who commit suicide are, for the most part, extremely depressed individuals who feel they have no other choice in life.
To use someone's pain and anguish to make money from a disturbing film is not only flat out wrong, but it is disgusting.
The film shows clips of friends and family talking about how unhappy these individuals were and how precious their time on earth was to those who knew them. To then turn around and show a clip of them ending their life makes their time on earth reduced to the four-second plunge it takes to get to the water.
To make matters worse, the film then shows their lifeless bodies being fished out of the water by the coast guard.
Steel was recently on "Dr. Phil" to defend his documentary. He said that the film was meant to be used as an educational tool to the public so they could better understand depression.
The film was also intended to be a prevention method, according to Steel. He said he believes that if people who are depressed and considering suicide watch his documentary, they may reconsider.
I'm no professional and I have never known anyone who was seriously considering suicide, but I'm pretty sure if a person was serious about wanting to end their lives, then some video is not going to suddenly make them want to keep on living.
Even if this film did serve as an educational tool to those who want to understand depression or those considering suicide, there are better ways to educate people about such topics other than showing someone jumping 245 feet to their death.
All this film does is provide a sick and twisted form of entertainment to people who think watching someone kill themselves qualifies as entertainment.
People say life is short, but what is longer than life? Life is the longest, most meaningful experience any one of us will ever have. It is something that should be cherished by all and not made insignificant by Hollywood producers looking to make some easy cash.
Movie director and producer Eric Steel took advantage of this sensitive subject and decided to film people committing suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in his 2007 documentary titled "The Bridge."
Steel chose the site because more people commit suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge than any other location in the world. Between 30 and 40 people successfully make the jump every year, and bridge authorities stop nearly double that number before they have the opportunity.
Not only does this film make life seem trivial, but it makes suicide seem like a meaningless act.
Suicide is a serious action and should not be taken lightly. People who commit suicide are, for the most part, extremely depressed individuals who feel they have no other choice in life.
To use someone's pain and anguish to make money from a disturbing film is not only flat out wrong, but it is disgusting.
The film shows clips of friends and family talking about how unhappy these individuals were and how precious their time on earth was to those who knew them. To then turn around and show a clip of them ending their life makes their time on earth reduced to the four-second plunge it takes to get to the water.
To make matters worse, the film then shows their lifeless bodies being fished out of the water by the coast guard.
Steel was recently on "Dr. Phil" to defend his documentary. He said that the film was meant to be used as an educational tool to the public so they could better understand depression.
The film was also intended to be a prevention method, according to Steel. He said he believes that if people who are depressed and considering suicide watch his documentary, they may reconsider.
I'm no professional and I have never known anyone who was seriously considering suicide, but I'm pretty sure if a person was serious about wanting to end their lives, then some video is not going to suddenly make them want to keep on living.
Even if this film did serve as an educational tool to those who want to understand depression or those considering suicide, there are better ways to educate people about such topics other than showing someone jumping 245 feet to their death.
All this film does is provide a sick and twisted form of entertainment to people who think watching someone kill themselves qualifies as entertainment.
People say life is short, but what is longer than life? Life is the longest, most meaningful experience any one of us will ever have. It is something that should be cherished by all and not made insignificant by Hollywood producers looking to make some easy cash.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
pk057
patrick k. hines
posted 11/19/08 @ 7:21 PM CST
Steel's Movie is responsible for SAVING significant lives.
Steel only brought out into the open the fact the Golden Gate Bridge Authorities have stood by and let one person a week for the last 70 years die at the Golden Gate. (Continued…)
Nicole Q
posted 11/21/08 @ 6:23 AM CST
This is very poor writing..."Life is a precious thing. It is the greatest thing any one human being will ever experience." If they DONT experience life, they dont experience anything. (Continued…)
Dayna Whitmer
posted 11/21/08 @ 9:27 AM CST
This is clearly ignorance writing. It is not a matter of people NOT APPRECIATING their life; people who jump from the bridge do it because of mental illness and anguish and impulse. (Continued…)
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