The Bridge...

I went to see the documentary "The Bridge" this afternoon. I was a little hesitant as I didn't want the day to become "morbid day" - since I went to the "celebration of life" party for my recently departed neighbor. But, I was torn as I didn't want to miss the film either and it's been showing for a while now. So I decided to go, but allowed myself the option of skedaddling should I find it too much. I did not.

The film never felt like it was too much. There were scenes of people jumping, but you always saw them free falling, never hitting the water. The survivor interviews - mostly with friends or family of jumpers - were not overly dramatic, very matter-of-fact. From all of the interviews you get the sense that the people that killed themselves were all suffering from mental illness. As a matter of fact, in no case did it seem like the survivor was surprised that it happened.

Also, there was no preachiness to the movie - strictly in the documentary style - this is what happened, no judgements about it - just interviews with people who had an experience. No talk of a barrier, no talk of "this is what you do when you think someone is suicidal" - nothing of the sort. They did interview one man who jumped and survived. He too suffered from mental illness and it was sad to hear his emotionally painful story. It was the only time I teared up.

Just about a year ago the SF Chronicle did a series about suicide jumpers from the bridge entitled Lethal Beauty. It had several parts to it including the barrier proposal, the history, some victim stories (including the survivor featured in the film), interviews with the clean up folks (Coast Guard, Marin Coroner) and what actually happens physically to people when they jump. The last bit was enough to keep me from ever jumping.

Oh, lest you think that the center of the universe had magically shifted away from Pittsburgh, there was an interview with a guy from Pittsburgh who was visiting the bridge taking pictures. He noticed a girl hurdling the railing and had the wherewith all to grab her and pull her back over the railing. Okay, after taking pictures of her climbing over and standing on the other side. He likened himself to a National Geographic journalist who was being charged by a tiger - so caught up in the photography that the subject didn't seem real. But, he saved her nonetheless. They showed police arresting her on the bridge several more times afterward.

After absorbing it all I find that I'm no closer to understanding real suicidal thoughts or actions. I understand that there is a mental illness or some other kind of intense pressure at play, but I don't feel like it's something I can relate to. I've been in situations that at the time felt extremely intense, but besides a passing thought that I quickly ruled out suicide just wasn't an option for me.

Prior to reading the Lethal Beauty articles I was strongly against the idea of an unsightly barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. I just felt - "well, they'll just go somewhere else." Since reading them I'm a little warmer to the idea - but not 100% convinced. Two comments in the movie struck me - 1) during an interview with someone who was going to jump the woman - who had to fly here - said that one of the factors that made the GGB a serious consideration was the ease and 2) the fact pointed out at the end of the movie that more suicides occur on the GGB than any other structure. Do these comments convince me that a barrier would actually prevent suicides from occurring overall, meaning the people wouldn't just find someplace else? No, not entirely.

Incidentally, about 24 people jump from the bridge each year - about one every two weeks. Contrary to popular belief the number isn't higher around the holiday season (November - January) - the incidents were pretty evenly spread throughout the year.