My Valentine’s Day night was spent at the movie theatre watching ‘A Star Is Born’ with a group of my girlfriends and let me just tell you, it was an emotional experience. I didn’t really have any expectations going into the movie, but I left the theatre sobbing about what I had just watched.
Disclaimer: this article contains spoilers so if you’re planning on watching ‘A Star Is Born,’ stop reading!
So, the movie began in a somewhat lighthearted way and there were a few scenes that caused the whole theatre to laugh. However, it was pretty early on when the problem of addiction was introduced that the movie was going to take a bit of a turn. One of the main characters clearly suffered from both alcohol and drug addiction and you get the sense that this is going to be a major problem later on in the movie, although I don’t think anyone in the audience was prepared for what was to come.
The addiction built up and climaxed in a tragic scene that caused him to go to rehab to get help. I personally thought that this was the turning point of his recovery, but at the end of the movie he committed suicide because he couldn’t take the guilt of causing so much pain in the people’s lives around him.
This scene really shocked me, and it was so unexpected for everyone watching. For someone who has struggled with depression in the past, seeing tv or movies about this subject is always a bit triggering for me. Luckily, I have never really had to deal with suicidal thoughts in the past, but I can imagine how difficult it would be to watch this scene if you have struggled with this. This got me thinking about the sensitive issue of portraying suicide in the entertainment industry.
On one hand, it is important to shed light on this problem and break down the stigmas surrounding suicide, but I think a lot of times this isn’t done in the correct way. Seeing suicide on screen can be very triggering for people, especially when there is no warning about what is to come.
Although I think ‘A Star Is Born’ was an amazing movie that shed light on a lot of important issues facing our society today, I do think that TV shows and movies need to do a better job of warning people about sensitive content like suicide. It would take ten seconds before the movie to display a screen with a warning/disclaimer about whatever sensitive topics are to come. This would allow people to make the decision for themselves about whether or not they think they can handle it and gives them the opportunity to prepare if they do feel like they can deal with the content. This would also get rid of the shock factor while still maintaining the overall effect of the movie.
I hope the entertainment starts thinking more about how the content they produce will affect the audience and maybe make some changes that will help this problem.