The Bridge - a documentary film

[maggy_97]

I didn't know the Golden Gate Bridge is the most popular suicide destination int he world.

Witness: (after witnessing a suicide) When I talked to the highway patrolman, I asked him "Is this a rare occurrence or does this happen a lot?" And he looked and me and he sort of smiled and he said, "It happens all the time."

The Bridge is a documentary

Comments

[maggy_97]

To be honest, there was not really much that the filmmakers could have done to prevent it. Their camera spots were both not directly ON the bridge, but on land at both sides. it's not that they could have yelled or something and running there to try to talk them out of it was not really an option either, as it would have taken way to long for them to get there in time. What they did though, was calling 911 when a person acted suspecious. And that's how they prevented a few suicides.

What I was wondering was: the jumpers weren't really alone on that bridge. There were at least a few passersby and yes, there were some that talked to the people that were climbing over the rail and the film shows people who succesfully talked people out of it; but on other occasions people were there and the jumpers climbed over the rail and people did nothing: What I've learned from reading is, that it is a pretty common thing to sit there, on the side of the bridge. Apparently many people do that every day, just sitting there and they don't jump. So, I guess passersby just don't want to "believe" that the person is really jumping, you know. It's like something you don't really want to witness, so it's easier to just pretend everything is normal.

The film actually shows, that there are people who are just crying for help when they attempt suicide, that they want to be talked out of it, that they need to know people actually care. But there are others, that really are tired of their lifes and don't see any other way to deal with it. And those are the people, that will succeed, even if you manage to talk them out of it one time or maybe twice, but eventually they will get it done.

[thrace_adams]

Good point, although I guess - long and involved they could have had crew members stationed on the bridge at various points - but then there's always the old adage that whatever you study is changed just by the nature of you studying it. I'm glad they were able to call 911.

Yeah, the passersby - that made me wonder too, I think a lot of people just don't want to get involved or think it's there problem.

And yes, you are right, there are some people that have made the decision and if it doesn't happen today or tomorrow, they will eventually succeed.