The destruction of a nation,:
When the main character in a film commits suicide this is not an incidental event. Suicide informs on the nature of the subject as well as the state of the society in which the person lives.
One should not dismiss the action of self annihilation with a simply, well, he was sick or it was inevitable, without going back into the history of the victim to learn the origins of this deadly act. What in the person's life would lead to their premature demise done with a sane mind and a willing body?
The original sociological explanation advanced by the Father of Sociology, Emile Durkheim, was that suicide is a violent act against the self. But upon closer examination, it is clear this explanation is self serving. It blames the act on the victim and gives the motive of violence as well. But is suicide a violent act against the self or is it more to the point to say that the survivors of the act, the close friends and family members are the ones who feel violence towards the actor, the person who has deserted the ship of life, leaving the rest of us poor souls to carry on.
This is an important question for the film director,and producer to answer before making a film that focuses world attention on the personality of a suicidal victim. If the act is done with a weak mind, a mind that is living in a drug filled or psychotic state where reality, reason and meaning no longer apply to the person's judgement, then the suicidal act has a different meaning than it has when the person who does the deed is of sound mental capacity.
Jim Morrison of the Rolling Stone fame, is the most frequented grave site in all of France. He was an extraordinary hero and the film on his life was a testament to his life and death. While i watched it I couldn't wait for the agony of living to be over, finished: a tortured existence extinguished. In taking his own life, Jim Morrison did not effect a violent act of self destruction. To the contrary, he saved his sense of self, that was doomed to further torment by ending lis life.
The same is true of Dr.Hunter S Thompson who could not tolerate a simple life. There was nothing that informed on his capacity to go into a quiet space to recover and be replenished through self contemplation. To the contrary , The thought of being without constant stimulation, without a public to confuse and stimulate every moment was intolerable for Hunter. So much so, that he chose to end his life in the wake of just such a peaceful family moment, When, for someone else, all seemed right in the world. for Hunter to be calm, loved, and appreciated by his personal fold was deadly.
If the actor of the suicidal act is actually saving his soul, preserving his ego and sense of self, how can we fault or punish him for this act. It is a moment when we can see with a clarity not otherwise obvious who the person was and how it came to be that the only course, the way of the future, was no future at all.
With this in mind i urge movie makers and audience to appreciate the icons who could not continue to live beyond a specified moment. With their act of annihilation they offer insight into who they were and where we are and that is a gift we should use to understand, who we are and what the world in which we live is all about.
When a discharged solder kills himself, that is a moment to pause, to reflect, to cry and to know, why. War does more than destroy and maim the body, It reeks havoc on the mind and makes the men and women who go off to serve their country, inoperative citizens. One step away from suicide.
What film past or present takes on this delicate subject: the destruction of a nation, one person at a time.
Linda Zises
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