Remebering, "The Bridge"

The Bridge is a documentary on the topic of suicide that came out in 2006. I believe it was about that time that the film was mentioned on the Dr. Phil show and that is how I came to know the film. There is a controversy over this documentary and I can see why.

The film reveals several stories of individuals who have jumped to their deaths from the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a large number of suicidal jumpers from this bridge every year. Director Eric Steel and his crew spent all of 2004 documenting around the clock. The film captured 23 people jumping from the bridge.

The project was kept a secret in order to avoid additional jumpers that wanted to immortalize themselves in the film.

Steel interviewed relatives of the suicide victims but had not informed them that he had filmed their loved ones' jumping to their deaths. Steel has said that "All the family members now, at this point, have seen the film, [and are] glad that they had participated in it."

Since the film, bridge officials have charged Steel with misleading them about his intentions. They allowed him a permit but did not know he was making a film about suicide.

The film's official website offers links to suicide help lines but I can't help but wonder if the film itself was helpful. I think an obvious question is...why did the director and his crew allow the jumpers to jump? Because they were making a film on suicide were they morbidly hoping someone who plummet to their deaths?

Steel has said in interviews that he and his crew had to figure out when to intervene and when to keep the cameras rolling. If an individual appeared sad, was pacing back and forth or seemed to return to the same spot they became suspicious. However, Steel has said that many individuals fit this description.

If an individual was to set down a bag or briefcase, take off shoes, or step over the rail then Steel and his crew claimed that they would call authorities. He also says that he and his crew had the bridge office on speed dial on their cell phones.

The guard rail that separates pedestrians from the outer ledge of the bridge is only 4 feet high. The water below is 225 feet down. According to Steel, the Golden Gate Bridge district has resisted building a higher barrier for over 50 years. Their reasoning is that it is too expensive.


The Bridge - Trailer


Eric Steel (director of The Bridge) Interview PART 1


Eric Steel (director of The Bridge) Interview PART 2

I myself have been curious about why people commit suicide. I have known people who have chosen to do it and people who have attempted. In my own life, despite the many obstacles that have been laid out before me, particularly in my younger days, I have never wanted to end my life. Sometimes, this surprises me. I am surprised I have never truly wanted to die because it seems that so many do.

At one point I decided to search for a book that dealt with the history of suicide. I found a book entitled Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide by Kay Redfield Jamison. She is also the author of her own personal memoir about her journey will bipolar disorder, An Unquiet Mind. The book offers a readable history on suicide as well as various stories of people who have taken their lives.

Jamison has studied suicide both professionally and personally. She first planned her own suicide at age 17 . She actually attempted suicide at 28 years of age. Jamison is currently a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In the book she explores the psychology, science and social aspects of suicide and also explores how suicide can be prevented.



Later when I came across The Bridge documentary I had mixed feelings. In some ways I think it offers a non-judgmental look at the lives of those who want to die. However, it does only that. It does not and cannot really offer a look into the minds of those who want to die. Although, the film does make this effort by interviewing a young man who had jumped but survived.

I debated whether I felt this film was more so a project of voyeurism and morbidity than one that educates and promotes prevention. For those of you who decide to see it, I'll let you open that discussion for yourselves.

My view on individuals who commit suicide has changed over the years. Once I had little sympathy for those who took their own lives. I considered these people to be selfish and would not allow myself to have any sense of empathy for them, only their families and friends.

For many years now I have been able to sympathize as I think it must be oh so terrible to feel so miserable that one has the desire to do away with themselves. I know that sometimes it isn't just about making the pain going away. For some it is a loathing of one's self in every which way.

I think even those who wish to immortalize themselves through suicide, romanticize it, or hope that those who will be left behind will mourn the death are enduring a severe state of mind. To be in a place where taking your own life is worth it no matter what the circumstances is dire.

"Suicide is a particularly awful way to die: the mental suffering leading up to it is usually prolonged, intense, and unpalliated," writes Kay Redfield Jamison.

As mentioned earlier the film's footage was recorded during the entire year of 2004. During that same year a new mom in Wisconsin was also contemplating jumping to her death. Tina Zahn was suffering from post-pardon depression and decided she was going to jump off of the Tower Dive Bridge which is now named Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge. Highway patrol engaged in a high speed chase after Zahn who had her children in the backseat of her car. Zahn actually jumped but was saved by an officer. She now tells her story in her memoir Why I Jumped.


Tina Zahn

For more info on Tina Zahn go to http://whyijumped.net

I often wonder if those who die in certain ways regret their choice. According to a 2003 New Yorker article Jumpers: The fata grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge by Tad Friend this often occurs. The article Jumpers was actually the inspiration of the film The Bridge.

Here is an excerpt from the article...

Survivors often regret their decision in midair, if not before. Ken Baldwin and Kevin Hines both say they hurdled over the railing, afraid that if they stood on the chord they might lose their courage. Baldwin was twenty-eight and severely depressed on the August day in 1985 when he told his wife not to expect him home till late. “I wanted to disappear,” he said. “So the Golden Gate was the spot. I’d heard that the water just sweeps you under.” On the bridge, Baldwin counted to ten and stayed frozen. He counted to ten again, then vaulted over. “I still see my hands coming off the railing,” he said. As he crossed the chord in flight, Baldwin recalls, “I instantly realized that everything in my life that I’d thought was unfixable was totally fixable—except for having just jumped.”

Kevin Hines was eighteen when he took a municipal bus to the bridge one day in September, 2000. After treating himself to a last meal of Starbursts and Skittles, he paced back and forth and sobbed on the bridge walkway for half an hour. No one asked him what was wrong. A beautiful German tourist approached, handed him her camera, and asked him to take her picture, which he did. “I was like, ‘Fuck this, nobody cares,’ ” he told me. “So I jumped.” But after he crossed the chord, he recalls, “My first thought was What the hell did I just do? I don’t want to die.”

I figure that life may not always be as difficult as it is when individuals are convinced they want to die. I would rather live fighting till' the end than give up the fight altogether. But what about those who are plagued 24/7? Individuals enduring physical pain and/or mental pain?

Is suicide a real option? Obviously, for many it is. While I am a firm believer in various therapies and even medications I think that it is impossible to really understand the pain of anyone other than yourself. My heart goes out to those who have taken their own lives and those who are currently contemplating suicide.

My desire is for all to find that life is indeed worth living.

Being that this is a post on the topic of suicide I think it is important that I leave resources for those who may need it.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: (24 hour hotline) 1-800-273-8255
Suicide Awareness Voices of Education: www.save.org

As a social worker I have never had to 5150 (fifty one-fifty) someone. 5150 is the code under which an individual is hospitalized due to the danger that one might harm themselves or others.

I have had to check for suicidal ideation. Perhaps for those of you who are reading this, at some point in your lives you will as well.

For those who may come across someone who appears suicidal it is important to follow three steps.

1) Ask the person if they have the desire to die
2) Ask if they have a plan
3) Ask them if they have the means (a gun or weapon near them, a car to get to a bridge or desired site etc)

If this occurs it is important to contact your local police. Do not feel guilty if you choose to tell others of someone's desire for suicide. You may save a life.