Film captures suicides on Golden Gate Bridge Angry officials misled

[seriousstan]

Film captures suicides on Golden Gate Bridge
Angry officials say moviemaker misled them


Golden Gate Bridge officials are seething that a moviemaker who told them he was working on a "day in the life" project about the landmark was, in fact, capturing people on film as they jumped to their deaths.

Eric Steel initially told officials he planned to spend a year filming the "powerful and spectacular interaction between the monument and nature" and that his work was to be the first in a series of documentaries about national monuments such as the St. Louis Arch and the Statue of Liberty. That's how he got the Golden Gate National Recreation Area's permission to set up cameras on parkland overlooking Fort Point.

Now, however, Steel has revealed in an e-mail to bridge officials that the cameras -- which were operating almost continuously during daylight hours for all of 2004 -- filmed most of the 19 jumpers who went off the bridge last year plus a number of attempted suicides.

Apparently, that was the point all along. Steel says his goal is to "allow us to see into the most impenetrable corners of the human mind and challenge us to think and talk about suicide in profoundly different ways."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/19/MNGENASPH31.DTL

[Chico Man]

1. Wow

The footage of the 19 jumpers couldn't be more than a few minutes total.. how is he going to create a whole movie with it?

[sniffa]

6. some matrix-styLe speciaL efx

and some deLeted scenes, and director's commentary... and maybe some aLternate endings. that shouLd fiLL it up.

[baba]

7. My hope.

My hope, as someone in the field of crisis intervention and suicide prevention, is that he will use the documentary to look at the phenomenon of suicide, and the reactions of the families and the community. Maybe they could have a bit on the crisis lines and crisis professionals who help prevent, intervene, and respond.

[Chico Man]

10. You think he has spoken with the families?

I hope so... there is a chance for this to be put to good use.

[democracyindanger]

11. He says he has

or plans to.

But it doesn't matter, it's still disgusting. He set up cameras in hopes of catching multiple suicides over the course of a year.

In. Hopes. Of.

[LisaL]

21. Well, even if you just show 19 jumpers X 2 minutes each-

that's 38 minutes already.

[Chico Man]

22. Would not make for an interesting documentary

He could have talked with the families without filming the actual jumps...

Once you've seen one, I guess you've seen them all. Leave it to the imagination. Unless he was able to zoom in to see the details of how each one was acting just before they jumped, I see little value gained by the actual filming. Even then that is pretty disturbing..

[NYC]

2. I guess that is part of "a day in the life".

Perhaps some of these people could have benefitted from health care? Who knows what his objective is.

Regardless of his reason, this is reality. Perhaps it should not be ignored.

[seriousstan]

5. I am sure the bridge authority does not ignore it. This is simply the

chance we take by gving people the freedom to walk on the bridge.

[NYC]

8. The bridge authority probably works hard to prevent it.

Not everything is preventable.

[flamingyouth]

3. I'm really not quite sure what to say about this

I can't imagine what the families must be thinking.

[baba]

4. Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge gets so many jumpers every year that there are signs with the local crisis line phone number on the bridge.

[Chico Man]

9. Same with the bridges going to Cape Cod

It says "Desperate? Call the Samaritans..."

[jayfish]

12. Well If Thats What He...

had to do (lie) to get "permission" :eyes: to set up cameras on PUBLIC parkland, so be it. Poor angry little babies. :nopity:

Jay

[WI_DEM]

13. sounds like he wants to cash in on the misery of others

[bambo53]

14. Suicide is illegal

They could get into trouble for that.

[geniph]

28. Book 'em, Dano!

Damn, the jail cells would start to SMELL after awhile...

[LizW]

15. 19 in one year?

I find that shocking. And that's just the ones who actually did jump.

[indigobusiness]

16. 19 succeeded. Others jumped and survived.

Apparently.

[idealista]

17. God, what a lot of knee-jerk reactions

Both from the bridge officials and a lot of the posters here.

My first reactions was, this filmmaker had to lie in order to try to do a documentary of suicide, that's unfortunate. I assume he is trying to understand these people??? instead of just sort of denying it, and saying that anyone who tries to look at it is doing something "terrible" - such collective head shaking and knashing of teeth.

Suicide is ususally carried out in secret, by people who feel ashamed, unworthy...so we never see these moments of despair and resolution. The person doing it is so lost in their own pain they may not understand most of what is going on inside themselves. Their physical bearing, expressions, last gestures, these could say something to the rest of us.

A lot of people ARE desperately unhappy. If you put barriers on bridges they will probably find another way. The big question to me is, "if we live in the richest, most privileged society in the world (maybe), why as so many people so unhappy?" I'm not pointing an accusing finger at anyone, we are just ignorant of so much. Our hearts and minds are the last frontier of our knowledge, as far as I can see. I think guilt and fear, and wanting to feel superior to others, prevent us from admitting what we don't understand, and taking the steps to learn more.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

26. Good post.. More should read it

I have no problem with what the guy did. Suicide is often a preventable waste, and the more attention which can be brought to it the better.

[jbm]

34. Dr. Joy Browne..

said something on her show a few weeks ago about how people in countries like the U.S. are more depressed than people who live in less developed countries. She theorized that it was because survival requires more of a unified effort when times are really hard, and that happiness and unity are apparently intertwined.

[sffreeways]

18. Over One Thousand

have jumped since the bridge was built. They most always jump facing the city. There have been some very interesting articles about the jumpers in the Examiner over the years.

They installed phones a few years back to crises lines and there was an effort at some point to put up fencing to try and stop it but believe it or not people fought the effort because it was going to detract from the beauty of the bridge.

It's been said that the bridge romanticizes suicide for some people. San Francisco is a last stop for people trying to find love or success and when they fail the bridge, jumping from it facing the city, is a dramatic romantic way to give up.

Some people have actually survived the plunge.

[BadGimp]

19. JUMP!!

eom

[Johnny_Ramone]

20. You go first

EOM

[DrZeeLit]

23. FBI via Patriot Act arrested my son for just taking pictures at the bridge

He's an artist and was taking pictures below the bridge.
They arrested him and confiscated his film and his camera phone. He travels the world for a major corporation, doing their art, so he had film from South Africa, Australia, Germany, London, and NYC. He said they told him these all led to suspicions -- what? they knew this when they saw him taking pictures? Initially he was scared. But...

He said during interrogation these guys had no imagination whatsoever. They arrested him, not his friend. They never once looked in his van, which was parked right there. He said by the time they let him go, they were all buddies, but he told them what he thought about their lack of critical thinking skills.

Since he was on vacation, he had to go back up to SF for a hearing. This is a young man who has never had a credit card or a t.v. He finally got the corporation guys to find him a good lawyer. The fed agents had botched writing the citation, so the records were all screwed up, including the date on which he was supposesd to be at a hearing. Eventually, they dropped the charges.

So, I guess you gotta be a "big time" film maker in order to get permission to film the bridge, but the Patriot Act can send some of us to jail? Go figure.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[zann725]

25. Maybe not...depending on how he 'handles' the subject matter and footage

If seeing the futility of someone grappling with suicide, and then the ultimate no-win outcome...might actually prevent others from doing so...and also poignantly illuminate what leads up to that final ultimate act.

Oddly enough, when I first moved to California many years ago, I lived in a boarding house in S.F....where one morning I looked out the window and someone had jumped to their death during the night, and landed on a ledge two floors below me. She landed face down, but from behind she sort of looked like me. And clearly others who lived at the boarding house thought so too...as for a few weeks after that, I got a lot of 'knee-jerk' reactions when people saw me in the hall.

But most importantly what I remember most about that afternoon as the Coroner and police spent hours photographing and documenting evidence...I kept thinking what a waste. And because she looked somewhat like me...there was a kind of 'resolution' to me that I had learned what I needed to. And would never consider it an option.

Perhaps this is what the film can teach. Though it would be gut-wrenching to watch.

[Vinnie From Indy]

27. Steele Doesn't Deserve Respect For This Stunt

I hope any group that is asked by Steele for permission to film in the future takes this episode into account. Steele, it seems, is willing to use pre-meditated lies in order to sell the spectacle of death. The simple fact is that suicide occurs everyday and Steele's decision to film the act at a national monument will do nothing to further any cause other than Mr. Steele's bank account. This films premise reminds me of a grisly, death soaked "Girls Gone Wild" video or "Uncensored Police Videos". He is not even original in his concept. "The Faces of Death" and dozens of other films have graphically shown the taking of human life as a way to make money.

What about those folks that have to work at the bridge? Will Steele's film do anything but make their jobs that much tougher and that much more stressful. Steele appears to be the worst kind of coward. He was able to lie his way onto property to SET UP CAMERAS to film. He didn't have to deal with horrible events in person. He didn't have to suffer all the intense human emotions and stress that the workers on that bridge have to face every time a human being attempts or succeeds at killing themselves. No, he swooped into their lives on a lie and has flown away to sow more misery for the families and friends of those that chose the GG bridge as the place to end their lives.

Also, what about all the other film makers that will want to film the bridge in the future? Steele has not done independent film makers any favors either.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

29. Here's a clue

he's got people thinking and talking about suicide which is more than usually happens.
People don't even ever have to see the f'ing film, because he's already pushed the issue up front, and it DOES need attention.

[Vinnie From Indy]

30. Sez Who?

Using that tired logic, you could justify just about anything! As a matter of fact, there have been spectacular, highly publicized, quality films relating to suicide done in just the last decade. The issue, for me, isn't about suicide, it is about Steel's craven attempt to make money by lying and exploiting the deaths of others at the expense of their families and bridge workers.

It is a pretty weak argument to justify the pain this film will create simply by saying it serves the greater good because the issue needs more exposure. I am certain you wouldn't say that if you were the one experiencing the pain. In addition, would you use the same justification if Steel produced a film showing the WTC jumpers under the guise of starting a public debate related to fire and building safety?

[Piperay]

31. I doubt his goal was

"allow us to see into the most impenetrable corners of the human mind." It was to make a buck selling the equivalent of a 'snuff film' to the kind of people who 'get off' on that kind of thing. x(

[Anakin Skywalker]

32. I'm Afraid You Might Be Right.

I'm waiting to see if he's marketing this in the future like those "Girls Gone Wild" videos.

[ccarter84]

33. Hal Brown spreading paranoia

""What else did he film?'' added board member Brown. "The underside of the bridge? The security patrols?"
He may be one of our local representatives, but he's a dumbass for this comment (in my opinion)

[kodi]

35. officials are right to be mad. publicity increases such jumpings

and any film that shows this sort of stuff is fodder for unstable people to imitate it.

i have had two close friends who committed suicide, and anything that has the potential to provoke such behavior needs to be examined for its pros and cons before anyone screams about censorship.

Steel remarks to "allow us to see into the most impenetrable corners of the human mind and challenge us to think and talk about suicide in profoundly different ways." is pretty self serving. steele is looking at this as some sort of art project while ignoring the profound impact on unstable people such a film might provoke. if steele knows anything about the mentally ill, one thing he should understand is that they do not need any more ideas on how to kill themselves.

i serious doubt showing this filming to an unstable, suicidal person is going to have a positive impact by relating the imagry of a thousand foot fall to learning to cope with life's vicissitudes.

[Milspec]

36. Many thoughtful posts...

On this thread.
However, I can't get the unmistakable feeling of "ICK" out of my mind.

Just me