Helser 1

Olivia Helser

Professor Buz Ecker

English 1201 Online

7 April 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My essay will be answering the question, “Do television series and movies glorify

suicide?” I would like to know why producers and directors think they are portraying

suicide in a positive way? What do parents think about their children watching these

shows? Is there scientific evidence that an inaccurate depiction of suicide in a television

show or in a movie can actually increase risk of teen suicide?

Conolly, Christina. Interview with William Brangham. “’13 Reasons Why’ is provocative

and devastating. Is it also dangerous?” PBS News Hour, 2 May 2017.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/13-reasons-provocative-devastating-also-dangerous

This interview is narrated by William Brangham on May 2nd, 2017 and was published by

PBS News Hour. Some people worry that “13 Reasons Why” explicit behavior regarding

suicide may cause a copycat reaction in the teens watching. National government

foundations warn that students who are already suicidal should not watch the show

because it “may lead impressionable viewers to romanticize the choices made by the

characters.” One of the creators of the show even stated that “we wanted the show to be
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painful to watch.” The show is provocative and draws you in, possibly leaving a thought

of suicide when you finish watching it.

PBS decided to use this news segment because it is valuable information to transfer to

parents and grandparents who are oblivious to what is going on in their child/grandchild’s

life. As stated in the video, not even school districts know about the dangers of shows

such as “Thirteen Reasons Why” until it is too late.

I would use this resource in my final paper as another example of how current shows

glorify suicide. I would also use this as evidence of how school districts are getting

involved in solving the suicide problem in teens.

William Brangham is not necessarily himself a reliable source, the people who write the

news segments are the reliables ones. PBS has been known for decades as a wholesome,

educational broadcasting station for the whole family to watch and learn from.

Gilbert, Zecharia. “The Failure of “A Star is Born” & Suicide.” National Alliance on

Mental Illness, 8 October 2018, https://namiccns.org/2018/10/08/a-star-is-born-suicide-

this-movie-fails-us-all/. Accessed 3 April 2019.

This article was written by Zecharia Gilbert in October of 2018, and was published by the

National Alliance on Mental Illness. The article explains how the new movie “A Star is

Born” falsely depicts suicide. According to the article, Bradley Cooper’s character killed

himself while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. This can be viewed by the

audience as something Lady Gaga’s character should have prevented. Maybe they

thought she did not love him enough. This is romanticizing and glorifying.
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The purpose of this article is to persuade the audience to try to stay away from harmful

movies. The audience is directed toward moviegoers.

This source is reliable because the National Alliance on Mental Illness has raised

thousands of dollars for charity events supporting people with mental illness.

I would use this source in my final paper as another example of current films that glorify

suicide. Not only does this film glorify suicide, it also romanticizes mental illness.

Kessler, Ronald. “The Impact of Fictional Television Suicide Stories on U.S. Fatalities: A

Replication.” American Journal of Sociology, 1 July 1984, https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=a8ee100e-ef1a-4475-

9619-eab58cd911da%40sessionmgr4009. Accessed 7 April 2019.

This paper, written by Ronald Kessler on July 1st 1984, and published by the American

Journal of Sociology proves that what we see on television can be set in our brains like it

is real life. Soap operas caused many suicides. Violent television programs can lead

people to becoming more violent, so why can’t soap operas lead people to suicide?

The purpose of this paper is to inform people that you do not have to have a set opinion

on this topic, you can widen your horizons and learn more about people that you may

have not known before. The audience of this topic is people who will judge one thing

without trying it first.

This paper is reliable because it was on the Sinclair official library. Sinclair is a college

and it is acceptable to believe that a college would provide their students with credible

resources.
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I would use this source in my paper as the solution to my rebuttal because it gives the

example of how many think that if you watch violent shows you will become a violent

person, but they do not believe that if you watch depressing shows, you cannot become

depressed.

Saint Louis, Catherine. “For Families of Teens at Suicide Risk, ‘13 Reasons’ Raises

Concerns." The New York Times, 1 May 2017,

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/well/family/for-families-of-teens-at-suicide-risk-

13-reasons-triggers-concerns.html. Accessed 5 April 2019.

This informational article was written by Catherine Saint Louis, and was

published by The New York Times in May 2017, informing readers of one mother’s

opinion on the Netflix Original show, “Thirteen Reasons Why”. A nurse, who’s name is

being withheld for privacy purposes, lost her son to suicide in 2013. The nurse’s younger

daughter, who is struggling from depression and trauma from her younger brother’s death

has been watching the popular Netflix show without her mother knowing. When the

mother found out about the show she was very concerned for her daughter’s mental

health. She explains how this show glorifies suicide and can even encourage young,

impressionable, teenagers to use self harm and/or suicide to solve their problems. Author

uses multiple quotes from doctors who have evidence that suicide rates have increased

since the release of this show.

The author’s purpose in writing this article was to inform the readers that their are

actual concerns from parents and doctors regarding “Thirteen Reasons Why”, especially
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those who have lost children to suicide. The audience for this piece is parents and anyone

who is not aware of the effect of this television show.

The author of this article is Catherine Saint Louis. She has been a health journalist

and author for one the largest newspapers in America, The New York Times. The

information shown in the article was given by a real-life mother who lost a child to

suicide and reliable doctors who have studied mental health for decades.

I will use this article in my research paper to prove that even present day

television shows are depicting suicide inaccurately. I will discuss whether or not shows

that portray suicide should be eliminated altogether, for the health and safety of the

younger generations. I will use it as something to grab the attention of parents, because

they should be worried about their children watching threatening shows and movies.

Stack, Steven. “The Impact of Fictional Television Films on Teenage Suicide, 1984-85.”

Sinclair College Off-Campus Authentication Form, 1 June 1990, https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=899c3792-837e-4db9-

91e5-0e030cb11853%40sdc-v-sessmgr03. Accessed 7 April 2019.

Steven Stack is the author of this academic article which was written on June 1st 1990

and published by the Sinclair Library. There are multiple theories revolving around the

cause of suicide. One theory is to assess the stories of each suicide. This usually leads to

the “imitation” theory meaning the person sees someone commit suicide in media and it

leads them to do the same. Literature has been neglected when it comes to media causing

suicide. Many books and especially young adult novels portray suicide in a way that is

unfitting for people, even adults.

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The purpose of this article is to warn the reader of harmful messages in television and

books. The audience is impressionable people, most likely younger people.

This source is reliable because the author conducted research and experiments and made

it onto the Sinclair Library.

I would use this source in my final paper to show that you can be manipulated by all

forms of media, not just television and movies.

Sung, Sabrina. “Criticize the glorification of suicide in US television.” The Justice, 23

January 2018, https://www.thejustice.org/article/2018/01/suicide-us-television. Accessed

6 April 2019.

This article was written by Sabrina Sung on January 23rd, 2018 when it was published by

The Justice. Logan Paul, “13 Reasons Why”, and the 1980’s classic “Heathers” are just

three examples of current media features that glorify suicide. There was a 12% increase

in suicides after the death of Marilyn Monroe. “Thirteen Reasons Why” is an example of

how not to write a suicidal character. Suicide is still the tenth cause of death in The

United States.

The purpose of this article is to persuade the audience to criticize these television shows

and movies rather than share them with others. The audience is young people, or anyone

who has watched the movies and television show examples she states in her writing.

Sabrina Sung is a reliable source because she uses sources in her paper from Universities,

and doctors and government foundations. Basically, she may not be a great source, but

her paper is just made up of reliable sources.

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I would use this source in my paper because I would love to look back on it and use some

of her evidence and her own sources in my paper. She made some very good points on

how these suicide trends have developed throughout time.

Tsai, Jui-Feng. “The Media and Suicide: Evidence-Based on Population Data over 9

Years in Taiwan.” Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, February 2010, https://eds-b-

ebscohost-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=4f1e42a0-9e43-

41b1-afd9-41a4dc575ffc%40sdc-v-sessmgr01. Accessed 7 April 2019.

This research paper was written by Jui-Feng Tsai in February of 2010, and was published

on the Sinclair Online Library. Suicide rates in Thailand between women and men vary

greatly. An experiment was conducted giving men and women different densities of

different medias, and seeing whether or not they would try to commit suicide. Female

suicide rates related closely to television while male suicide rates were related closely to

newspaper articles. The rest of the research paper is how the scientists conducted the

experiment and what their results showed which I have stated above.

The author’s purpose of the article was to inform the reader that the media has an affect

on our lives and the way our brain functions. The audience for this article is anyone who

is worried about their social media habits or worried that media takes over their lives.

Jui- Feng is with the department of Psychiatry and Faculty of Medicine at Tzu Chi

University in Thailand. This is a reliable source because Jui-Feng is a member of a

university, so this higher level education school believes in his ability to conduct research

and write papers. Jui-Feng uses reliable sources including national charts which portray

the national suicide rates.

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I would use this source in my final paper not only as reliable information that television

shows from the past have subliminally encouraged suicide, but also as a rebuttal. Tsai

wrote an entire section of his paper dedicated to the other reasons people would commit

suicide during those times instead of the television shows that were playing on tv.