On a human level, I’m even more troubled by the thought that Steel and his crew could have done something to stop the suicides but chose not to. Steel packages desperate people at their most hopeless final moments into a film for a profit, which many have condemned as ruthlessly self-seeking and insensitive. While interviewing, he never made it known that he had footage of their loved ones jumping to their doom. Rather than be forthcoming about the real intentions of his undertaking, he told the Golden Gate National Recreation Area that he hoped to “capture the powerful, spectacular intersection of monument and nature that takes place everyday at the Golden Gate Bridge.” More despicable was his deception of the victims’ families. While making the film, Steel hid his intentions from both the families of the deceased and bridge authorities. Like Culver and many other critics, in some ways, I am appalled by Steel’s project. So is The Bridge tactlessly morbid or remarkably sensitive? discomforting or viscerally fascinating? A tastelessly exploitative snuff film or a profoundly empathetic look into a topic that is traditionally taboo? C ritic Stephen Holden of the New York Times called the documentary “one of the most moving and brutally honest films about suicide,” while c ritic Andrew Culver of The Guardian gave it a harsher review, only awarding it 1 of 5 stars and claiming “it could be the most morally loathsome film ever made.” Reactions to The Bridge can best be described as divisive. Most who jump die on impact those unlucky enough to survive hitting water at 75 miles per hour drown or die of hypothermia. Plus if you choose to make the fatal plunge, you eliminate the possibility that a loved one will find you and, the idea goes, spare them (some) trauma. Other forms of suicide (overdosing, shooting yourself, hanging) are less likely to be successful. But for others, the Golden Gate is a bitter reminder of failure.īesides its morbid mystique, many choose the Golden Gate Bridge for practical reasons: a 98% fatality rate pretty much ensures you’ll perish if you jump. Its mighty stature is a testament to the grand things man can accomplish. What makes the Golden Gate Bridge such an attractive place to commit suicide? As Friend observes, “the Golden Gate is unrivaled as a symbol: it is a threshold that presides over the end of the continent and a gangway to the void beyond.” For many, this marvel of construction stands as a gateway to the golden west: Silicon Valley, Tinsel Town, and all the glamor and shimmering possibility of success. O n average, every 2 weeks another person jumps. Since the bridge’s opening in 1937, an estimated 1,700 people have committed suicide by hurling themselves 245 feet into the frigid San Francisco Bay below. Over the course of 2004, Steel and his team recorded over 10,000 hours of footage, capturing 23 of the year’s 24 tragic suicides. Based on Tad Friend’s 2003 New Yorker piece “Jumpers,” Eric Steel’s disturbing documentary follows one year in the life of the mythical Golden Gate Bridge.
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