Posted on 03/09/2005 5:24:46 AM PST by beaversmom
Has suicide become the pop culture flavor of the month?
Recent weeks produced an odd flurry of news stories suggesting that the notion of taking your own life suddenly seems courageous, respectable, even chic.
Consider the pathetic death of acclaimed "gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson. It provoked wildly inflated estimations of his artistry — Tom Wolfe anointed him the past century's "greatest comic writer in English" — as well as mostly admiring remarks from his family about his decision to shoot a bullet into his head at age 67.
"This is a triumph of his, not a desperate, tragic failure," declared his 32-year-old wife, Anita, while noting that he ended his life at a time of only minor illness. His son and daughter-in-law told The Rocky Mountain News they "could not be prouder" of Thompson's bloody suicide. "The guy was a warrior, and he went out like a warrior," declared son Juan Thompson, while daughter-in-law Winkel added, "We're happy for Hunter."
Meanwhile, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave both of its "best movie" Oscars to films portraying assisted suicide in a sympathetic light: Million Dollar Baby took home the award as best picture (plus best director, best actress and best supporting actor) while the Spanish offering The Sea Inside won recognition as best foreign language film. On the entertainment industry's night of nights, millions of people saw glamorous figures in fairy-tale gowns and tuxes receiving standing ovations for telling intense stories of deeply endearing figures who longed explicitly for death and persuaded friends to help them get their wish.
Ironically enough, two days later a suicide-prevention conference in Portland, Ore., featured warnings of the disastrous rate of self-inflicted death: At 29,000 suicides a year (or about 80 a day), 50% more people now die by their own hand than as victims of murder. Among young people ages 15-24, suicide counts as the third leading cause of death. In the suburban Seattle community where I live, a 17-year-old honors student killed himself last week, and among his paralyzed family and friends, no one holds up this needless death as a "triumph."
Despite the visceral pain occasioned by such tragedies, the brute power of demographics suggests continued momentum for the trend to rationalize and glamorize suicide. As the oldest cohort of my baby-boom generation advances inexorably toward old age and infirmity, we will no doubt see increased emphasis on euthanasia as an acceptable (or supposedly "brave") means of coping with the pain and pessimism associated with the end of life. The disproportionate number of baby boomers in the population has helped us wield dominant cultural influence while redefining stylishness at every juncture in recent history.
As youthful "hippies," we sought out sexual adventure and thrilling drugs (à la Thompson); transformed into striving yuppies, we sanctified the finest cappuccino machines and home-theater systems; as middle-aged fitness nuts, we have resisted the aging process, dictating a society-wide obsession with experimental diet and exercise, not to mention Botox and Viagra. At each stage, our focus expressed the core values of hedonism. So, in years of diminishing pleasure and fun, it is entirely predictable that the children of the '60s should embrace life's deliberate termination as the quickest, surest means to reduce discomfort and suffering.
Fortunately, a timely example from an older generation offers a powerful counterweight to today's vogue for the "suicide solution."
In Rome, Pope John Paul II struggles nobly to overcome illness and to maintain, to whatever extent possible, his role in blessing and leading his flock. In refusing to surrender to his well-publicized frailties, he illustrates the important strain in Christian and Jewish tradition that cherishes life as a gift, not a choice, even at its vulnerable moments at the beginning or end of our human journey. In so doing, a fragile old man of singular integrity provides a lonely witness against hip, current notions of suicide as liberation, and teaches the world a precious lesson on the true meaning of death with dignity.
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Of course it is trendy.
How do you think this culture is going to cope with the baby boom. The sheep do what they are told.
Swell. Another "crisis" in the making. More Government programs and boondoggles to throw money at.
Seppuku or in the case of the terminally ill, those I could see. But just because it's "trendy"? Trends are normally the absolute WORST reason to do anything. Just because life handed you a hard knock or two? Pick youself up and get on with things, or make way for those of us who can.
You can sugarcoat sh** all you want Anita. We're not biting.
As society takes on more of the burdens of eldercare from the individual, euthanasia will be come more and more popular, simply as a cost-saving measure.
Each person has responsibility for his own parents and grandparents, and loves them dearly. Even so, some resent the costs of supporting them in their dotage. How much more so, then, the resentment of a person who is spending money to support elderly people whom he does not know and love.
After a while, it will occur to him that he would really be much better off if all those old people were dead.
Pretty good article, but I think that economics, not pop culture, will be the primary factor in the semi-voluntary deaths of Baby Boomers.
I find it interesting how people who contemplate suicide are so sure that the next life for them is going to be any easier on the basis of any evidence that it will be so. Indeed, most major religions do point out that it is a major no-no according to God. Therefore they'd have to be certain in the face of overwhelming opposition from the Creator of the Universe. A bit of a stretch, to say the least.
That said, I do understand it in the case of terminal illnesses. I am not keen on euthanasia, but I do understand the desire to end one's pain.
Regards, Ivan
I guess it isn't hard to figure out who enabled him to lead such a self-destructive life. Make one wonder if they cleaned and loaded the gun before placing it in his hand.
But look at the sunny side: more Social Security funds to divide among fewer recipients.
The problem with suicide is that by the time you realize it's a bad idea -- it's too late.
I'm guessing that they felt they couldn't pull off the "grief" angle very well -- but they decided that they'd go "gonzo" and celebrate the whole thing -- a approach they can pull off with authenticity.
There was a trend in our community about 13 years ago. Middle School girls having bi-racial babies. They would be so excited to get their positive pregnancy test, until I started making appointments for WIC and prenatal visits...then it would dawn on them what they got themselves into. All they wanted to do was rebel against their parent(s).
Pretty scary how society can be led by trendiness.
Suicide is the ultimate act of selfishness. The person who kills themself doesn't have to be around to clean up the mess, literally and figuratively. I had a cousin who killed herself, planning it so her ex-husband could find her. Left behind three small children. Does she have to explain to them why they don't have a mommy? NO.
Of course the left wants to embrace euthinasia (sp?). Just goes along with their unwillingness to accept responsibility for anything they do.
This is one sick family.
The only ones who think suicide is courageous or even chic, are liberals who have no moral base.
Fine by me if they want to commit suicide. I hate to be callous but how is this different from abortion? it's just late-term abortion in their eyes.
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