What is Digg?117 Comments
- Threnody, on 10/12/2007, -10/+74Ghastly, yes. Meaningless, no. Twenty-four people leap of the bridge each year and nobody even stops to notice! Suicides of all kinds are systematically swept under the carpet in the West and it's time for that to stop. Maybe if suicides were actually reported people would realize what a big problem mental illness is here.
- manvsmonster, on 10/12/2007, -4/+42Trailer:
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/tixSYS/2006/filmguide/event_np_trailer.php?EventNumber=1903 - techmonkey4u, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32Yes, digg is a technology news website. Yes, there are quite a few people that don't follow the rules and post unrelated articles. This is true. But there's a reason these unrelated stories keep showing up on the FRONT PAGE. Enough people think they're interesting enough to read and then, after reading them, good enough to DIGG. And if this story gets a few hundred diggs (it's at 97 right now), then, in my humble opinion, I would say the story is justified. You can read the description and dismiss it as "yet another unrelated article", but no one is forcing you to click the link let alone comment on the story.
Maybe you're annoyed that it's showing up when you're expecting to skim through technology news stories like perusing the list of emails you've gotten and you spot a bit o' spam...which is understandable.. but the front page is a democratic thing and sometimes you have to weed through stuff like this. Because you'd have to weed through technology stories too.. that's why some front page stories have four hundred diggs and others have two thousand. I would say any story that gets four hundred diggs is a good one, but one that a lot of people have weeded out of their reading list. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+31Without seeing the film You cannot accurately judge whether they have been respectful of the Dead. If it is done right, It would be quite an interesting film.
RFTA - TheKillDoctor, on 10/12/2007, -5/+26No it is not!
What you are describing is what people like John Edwards does when he says he can talk with the dead. This film no matter how morbid or ghoulish it seems can and will create a lot of TALK about something that gets ignored in the media because of the fear of people doing a "copy cat" repeat of others suicides.
There are people out there who just need help. This brings their stories and controversy to the masses (hopefully). It will help and hurt but it cannot be ignored. - psyon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22@Toast1185
What does it matter if people copy the way others kill themselves? The person already wants to kill themselves, now they just know a way to do it. I doubt people watch suicide videos and just suddenly become depressed and want to die. - flamingmb, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20makes me want to see the movie.
- hyberion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18As a bot a survivor of a suicide attempt and a survivor of anothers successful suicide attempt (a good friend of mine who had long suffered from depression and a host of other issues, shot himself in the head while I tried to talk the gun away from him). I have this to say.
1). Until you stand on the bridge you can not understand what goes through the persons mind. You have your own breaking point. Just remember all that stands between you and the bridge is one REALLY bad day. The contents of that bad day are unique to each individual but that's all it takes boys and girls, helmet or not.
2). Is the guy a ghoul. Yeah. Does that mean that his movie has no merit? No. I've not seen it, and am honestly conflicted if I would. But I feel that the best answer to bad speech is always more speech, I fully support the idea that a film like this could be made, and let the marketplace determine it's worth.
3). Mental illness in this country is still treated as a stimga. Even as medications for depression increase, actual treatment of any mental illness and its causes is, at best, a joke. Add to that the social stigma that comes with a mental illeness, and you have tons of people walking around with untreated conditions that only get worse with times. (I am of course talking about legitimate serious mental conditions, Bi-Polar, scitzophrenia, social integration disorders, etc.
5) ANYHING that gets people talking about this subject, gets municipal governments off their collective hinders to actually do some common sense things (24 jumps a year and they're still talking about the barrier!) is, in the end a good thing. And maybe, just maybe, if all of this gets one person to seek the help they need instead of seeking a high place to fall from, then it's all worth it.
And that's all I have to say about that. And I now offer you some more DIGG worthy comments just to keep it light in here.
"Mac Fanboys suck."
"Windows Fanboys suck"
Thanks, cofffee and doughnuts are by the door. - vertinox, on 10/12/2007, -9/+25Personally, I find it sad, but yet none of us question why these people nor the rights of the person to choose for themselves. Our minds cannot get past the fact that a logical and concious person can willfully wish to terminate his or her own life.
If a person chooses to die, most of the time it is because they feel that there is no hope and have no one else... Other times it may they no longer want to continue with their life or have some terminal illness.
In Asia, suicide is often considered social acceptable because that is what people did to redeem their shame for the sake of society. Yet we see it as something shamful and ghastly because we are often too selfish to let our loved ones make this decision for themselves.
They are sentient beings too and everyone has the right to determine what they do with their life even if it means ending it.
I'm not advocating suicide as an answer, but first if we are to solve this problem we should make it less taboo and get it out in the open for discussion rather than sweeping it under a rug. - TEHBunnyBoy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18He says, that he DID try to intervene as often as possible, and that his crew should do the same, there's a second page.
- fnot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16yeah, but if they had been 100 feet away they would just turn into a "suicide prevention unit". The point is they called emergency services as soon as they suspected a jumper and that he/she would have jumped regardless of anyone beeing there to film or not.
"Steel established guidelines on when to intervene, instructing the crew to call emergency officials if a pedestrian set down a bag or briefcase, removed shoes or wallet, or climbed onto the rail. They intervened five times to stop jumpers, he said."
Good article though.
"The crew quickly learned there was no common suicide profile. "We saw lots of people crying, walking alone with hoods over their heads, their shoulders hunched," Steel said. "But none of those people jumped."
Instead, it was the woman with the nervous twitch. And a man who laughed on his cellphone until he blessed himself and pushed off the railing." - SkeletaLlama, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18Maybe we can convince the "Minute Men" on the Mexican border to do something useful and spend their weekends on suicide watch on the Bay Bridge. Maybe keeping Americans from leaving America is more important than stopping Mexicans from entering it.
- SkeletaLlama, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14One immediate benefit I can see from this film is SF is reconsidering putting up a barrier. That could deter a few wavering suicidal people a year, maybe just enough that they'll reconsider and choose to go on for a bit longer.
- thejokell, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15I think it could be interesting.
The article talks about building a suicide barrier on the bridge. Seriously? If people can't kill themselves on the Golden Gate Bridge they'll just go somewhere else (maybe the next bridge down the road)... - Suplyndmnd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11After having read this article I don't understand how anyone can bash it. The man wanted to make a documentary to try to understand the human psyche and even gives background of why they jumped and even goes as far as to interview family after wards. This isn't a "snuff film" as Golden Gate National Recreation Area put it but a gripping documentary on human nature. The article alone provokes interest for me as it points out how these people know they are going to jump and so do you the whole time they are walking the span of the bridge. He even said himself that he contemplated suicide and relates it to Humpty Dumpty. As someone who also has attempted it, that's a dead on analogy.
Is it morbid? Yes. Could it show that even the most average Joe could be the next jumper? Most likely. Hopefully this will open peoples eyes and show that anyone could take their own lives and that if a family member or friend talks about doing it, they might just take them serious and save their life. If it does, at that point, all arguments against this movie are null and void. - ChrisLowder, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15i agree... no one can judge this movie as inappropriate or morbid without first viewing it and seeing how the director has approached the subject... it could very well be an eye opening movie that helps highlight the issue of mental health...
To close... Don't be ignorant and start flaming the film or the crew that filmed it... Unless of course, you've seen it and have a valid and intelligent comment... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+19No more sick than the United 93 movie.
- Beautyon, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18Anyone who judges THE IDEA of this film is a total jackass. You can only judge if this film is good or not if you ACTUALLY SEE it. If you judge it without seeing it, you are LITERALLY ignorant of what it is really about.
Journalistas LOVE knee-jerk jerks like you; your fake outrage helps them sell papers and spread their stupid stories. - longzheng, on 10/12/2007, -8/+15What's the difference if the film cameras were there or not?
- TheKillDoctor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@fnot
Everyone who loved the person who committed suicide is a victim. The dead don't remember a thing but the living do.
- inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7> Ghastly, yes. Meaningless, no.
Exactly. I don't think I would want to see this film, frankly. I find it a bit tasteless, but it's strange to me that people are having hissy fits about the film instead of the fact that something about how our society works drives people to suicide on a regular basis. How we redirect the outrage into figuring out what so frequently causes people in the wealthiest country in the nation, the "land of opportunity", to want to end their lives? - cawpin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@electromagnetic - Nameless graves? What conspiracy web sites have you been reading? The only way they would be buried wihtout a name is if they cannot be identified. That isn't because they committed suicide.
- Tiabin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Oh so many of you guys have an opinion as to why suicide is OK. Guess what, human sentience is over-rated. People do things constantly without knowing why they did it, or even that they do it at all. My friend is constantly bitching me out because I turn off the airconditioning in the car subconsciously, for example.
But back to my main point... Yeah, suicide isn't a product of mental illness. *****. Depression is a product of mental illness straight up, if it wasn't then why can supplementing omega 3's (essential fatty acids) cure depression? What... a food source... cure depression? I've fought depression mostly from a nutritional, supplemental, and brain training approach. What do I mean? I mean using an EEG to train my brain to activate in a pattern that is not consistent with that of depression... Not thinking happy thoughts... Not going to church more.
Want to know the truth? You idiots that think that depression might be a rational thing are just that... idiots. It's not. This is coming from someone that fought depression for years (and won).
Now... is suicide allowable in cases where the person is enduring constant physical misery? That, I can possibly conceive of. But I almost wonder if we should offer them the opportunity to be cryogenically frozen instead. - OrcusThanatos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Suicide happens only for 2 reasons: drugs/alcohol or when a person's ability to cope with mental pain has been exceeded. Anyone that talks out of their ass and says suicide is done by the weak-minded is an insensitive, ignoramus. A person reaches the point where suicide seems like the only solution to end their pain. People should think before they speak. Trying to impose a ridiculous view of how the world is on anyone because of their lack of understanding only shows stupidity. To all those who think suicide is a weakness, I'm willing to bet, if you were tortured long enough, you'd be begging for death. Mental pain can be much worse than anything physical. I've said enough because I have absolutely no tolerance for stupid, insensitive clods that think they are better than anyone else.
- Valo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6The same can be said about every WW2 movie, ever Veitnam movie and every movie that takes place around real tradgides. It brings up emotion that we want to egnore and by bringing up these emotions we heal ourselves (I can't belive I said that, starting to sound like docter phil). This movie will help people deal with their problems. Not everyone is strong willed to say, "Suicide is the cowereds way out". The world isn't black and white as people wanna belive it is. I would rather have a movie out like this to help people then another hollywood movie just out to make cash.
- Murdats, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6My dad is a train driver for a mine company, but he has some friends who have gone into public transport
one of his friends quite because he couldnt deal with people being splattered all over his windshield anymore, 3 times in one year i think it was (this is 1 driver) so those sorts of suicide are incredibly selfish (and may infact incite depression and mayhaps suicide in those people) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I agree with some of sophistifunk's points - suicide is a selfish thing to do in the best of cases, as it passes any problems you had onto someone else - but I think that certain suicides are more selfish than others: jumping in front of a train, bus, or anything else involving other people is distgusting - it can affect them for years onwards from the event, people who had nothing to do with the person or their problems.
*edit* Summed it up well, killdoctor. The living are the ones who have to deal with it. - sbernath, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6If this content is treated with the appropriate respect, it could be a very eye-opening movie. I tend to agree with the person that said suicide was a problem that doesn't get enough attention. I've seen first-hand the pain caused to family members because someone was too ashamed or too afraid to seek the help they needed. If nothing else, it's my hope this film will outrage people enough to get them talking, and maybe even doing something to help. Isn't that the only way to motivate Americans to care, by pissing them off?
- electromagnetic, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I think it's a good thing, suicide needs to be looked at and the stigma taken away from it. I mean up until recently anyone who commited suicide got burried in a nameless grave and things like that which seem an abomination now, yet no one wants to talk about it. Why?
- sanza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I doubt that it was meant to be entertaining or that anyone would be entertained by it. Our society pushes pleasantries under a rug and does its best to pretend it doesn't exist.
It saddens me that Steel lied to get this footage-- it's a huge blemish on what could be an important and revealing film. On the other hand, San Fran is talking about a suicide barrier now, so perhaps all is not lost. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"Did he try to stop them? No."
Didn't bother reading the second page, eh? Too 'overpowered' by your own Moral Outrage?
Pathetic. - hyberion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Ok then. Fine. But who determines the worth of one person over another? Or your worth? I'm not a religious person in any way, but I do have to wonder for those of you that are, isn't the central message of Christ something along the lines of "What you do to the least of you, you do to me".
But then again, it is easier to dismiss whole groups of people bassed on things like, mental condition, sexual orientation, or. . .what's the other critera that people used to say things like that about. . .oh yeah. . .skin colour. . . - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9It's not outrage.. it's concern over motivation - the cynic in me says that this guy wasn't doing it for anything else than to shock people. Now, to be fair, that's more than likely a little harsh - but the nagging feeling is that his motives aren't entirely good...
Is it a real eye-opener, or is it just a shameless cash in? - DougieD, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Don't feed the trolls.
- maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I think a lot of people associate movies with entertainment, and are unable to serperate the two in their own minds.
That is why they get angry over stuff like this. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Fair point, I guess.. I see what you're saying, just from my point of view I couldn't sit there while people did that... matter of opinion I guess ;]
- ProfessorRiffs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5First off, this movie is not about making money. Yes obviously people will pay to see it but I highly doubt it will ever break even, let alone profit. It's just not what happens in the small-time documentary world. Secondly, these people were going to jump if he had been there or not. At least something good came out of it, in this case the something good is the heightened public awareness of these suicides. Human life isn't somthing to tiptoe around and treat like a fragile little tea cup. It's volatile, and horrible things can do and will happen. At least let people make something of this volatile nature, as opposed to their deaths being completely in vain. It's time to take off the rose-colored glasses and embrace all aspects of humanity, not just the cheery ones.
- seeprompt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think that this film is a good idea, as horrific as it may sound this movie may help people who are contemplating suicide to decide not to go through with it.
- kob2040, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Sure people are going to commit suicide, but why make it so easy ? we put unclimbable fences on our Sydney harbor bridge years ago. America is quite backwards in allot of ways.
- saska, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The nail on the head moment here is that "Faces of Death" is absolutely gleeful in its alleged portrayal of human deaths (the vast majority of them are staged reenactments with multiple camera angles, or images of people after death, gussied up through editing to look like live coverage). I do not get the impression - but having not seen it I can't say for sure - that this film is gleeful about the portrayal of suicides.
There have been numerous times when still photographs of very unpleasant moments have brought social awareness to issues. Think about the photographs of the mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When I say "the photographs of the Viet Cong officer at point blank range", do you know what I'm talking about? Chances are you do. The portrayal of death in journalism is not always equal or useful, but if the filmmaker has valid intent I think it is reasonable to hear him out. - fnot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4hmm, reminds me of the Japanese movie "suicide club" where 50 or so high school girls simultaneously jumped in front of a subway train.
- cazoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's almost impossible to make money in the documentary film world. Most documentary filmmakers live off of grand money and work for years and years on small films which hardly ever get exposure or distribution. So to say this guy did it to make money is a bit ludicrous. I think the title of the article where he is referred to as a "Hollywood" producer makes us automatically believe he is some guy from a big studio but the reality is no one who wants to make money in Hollywood would ever go into the doc world.
- fnot, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8@Sophistifunk
You're an ignorant fool. Obviously you have never had any thoughts about suicide yourself. It's not like "oh no I'm out of milk and can't bother buying some, I'll just go kill myself". Have you ever been deeply depressed? Do you know any persons with depression/manic depression? Do you know what's going on the mind of such a person? It's like there is no hope, they find no other solution than ending their life. You make it sound like the relatives left behind are the victims. NO, it's the person who commited suicide whos the victim, society failed in helping these people or even worse - society was the cause of their suicide (partly by comments from ignorant people like you). - chamel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It's an easy decision, don't go see it, and people won't make movies like this.
I think its sick and without morals to show to the public someone in their darkest moments.
If you want to bring awareness to suicide, there are other ways to go about it. - darkclarity, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Digg is a technology website, it attacts a certain demographic that suffer from a much higher level of suicide than any others. There, now it's relevant.
- mungk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Interesting timing on this story. I just returned from a 5-day trip to San Francisco with my wife. On our last day there, early in the morning before we were to get on the plan to return home, we drove out to the bridge because we wanted to walk across it. For the first time on our trip, there was no fog around the bridge; it was very beautiful. As we walked across the bridge and reached the San Francisco tower, I looked down into the moat that surrounds the tower in the water. There was a body floating in the moat. We alerted some painters who were working on the bridge who then called their supervisor and the police to retrieve the body.
This was on Wednesday morning (6/7/06). We were on the bridge very early (about 7 am.) so our best guess is that he jumped overnight.
After returning home, I read quite about the history of the suicide barrier debate that San Francisco has been having since the 1970s. Aesthetics of the iconic bridge vs. the lives of mentally ill people. I just hope they can find a happy medium between the two, a way to preserve the beauty of the bridge and the scenery and still help prevent people from taking their lives. - stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think the issue San Francisco has to deal with, is that the Golden Gate bridge has become glamorous among the suicidal. It's not just jumping off a bridge, but jumping off "the" bridge. It's not just suicide, but going out in style. The Golden Gate has become a suicide magnet, and they fear the film will inadvertantly make the situation worse.
- Valo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is just a sign that digg is getting bigger. If you want tech news then go to a Tech news site. Kevin has said several times that digg was a site where people can show whats newsworthy. Digg may have started off as Tech because thats what had the biggest draw at the time.
If I remember the Twit entiteld Digg This! explains alot of what digg is all about and talks alot about its future. - armyturtle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3A bit off topic here, but not really - I really think the suicide barrier idea for the bridge is complete idiocy. As the article says, "The Golden Gate Bridge is everywhere." People are going to commit suicide if they want to and there is no way you're going to easily stop them, aside from actual mental help.
- tytanium0503, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2wow, that's really eye-opening. The trailer gave me chills.
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