Thursday 18 November 2010
Suicide
I found this video really interesting, It's a short documentry, made by Vice Magazine about Aokigahara forest in Japan, which is a popular destination for suicide attempts.
It really makes you contemplate not only why people commit suicide but why do people choose the same place that so many others have chosen before them? Is it a final attempt to connect with society?
In the video the most interesting things he says are that people kill themselves because they can't adapt to society or feel they can't. He also says that the way we live in society today has become more complicated, face to face communication used to be vital but now we can live our lives being online all day. However the thuth of the matter is; we still need to see each others' faces, read their expressions, hear their voices, to co-exist.
What i also find interesting, is that people supposedly kill themselves because they feel they are outcasts, yet even in death we treat them as outcasts. In history they have been buried differently, away from the rest of society. Here in Aokigahara they lay in the woods for months (the woods are only swept for bodies once a year), sometimes they might never be discovered. It is a very different death.
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Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteFascinating film. It's interesting
that he hinted that a Samurai warrior
committing suicide was heroic,
but not so if an ordinary citizen
does it. I've personal experience of
a loved one committing suicide
and it's something I've thought
about in terms what would be the
best way to do it - my favourite
is flying on a spaceship at light
speed straight in to the sun :-)
I also love that Beck song - Volcano
which is about a true story of a
japanese girl throwing herself into
a volcano - which I think is very
romantic. I also love the fact that
there is no rotting corpse.
That disgusts me.
I would like to leave in a flash
of dust, with no remains.
Blowing my brains out is just
too messy ...
I think too, that there should be
a suicide institution who have a
variety of exciting ways to die,
and for a small fee they will 'take
care of everything'.
If I suddenly found out I have
cancer and only a limited time to
live, I'm not sure I would choose
chemotherapy spending the rest
of life wasting away with more pain
and suffering.
This is an endless theme to discuss.
Thanks for posting.
Bless*
Mark
I agree Mark, he does seem to hint at that, I think it's about honour. The samurai warrior is facing his fear but the ordinary citizen is running away from his fears.
ReplyDeleteThe volcano story sounds painful! I think if i was going to go it would be drowning or something. I would never do it though, I like being alive too much, it would take something pretty big to happen to make me do something that drastic.
I have watched someone suffer through cancer and although there is pain, there is a lot to numb the pain and when you are that ill and you know you are going, you bond with people on a whole other level, it would be a shame to loose those last moments with loved ones.
I plan to do further work on this theme so look out for it :)
Dear Laura,
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather died of cancer,
he was at home, his pain was of
course alleviated by meds, but
he was so drugged up, he spent
the last weeks barely conscious
and developed nasty bedsores.
I didn't feel it was a dignified
way to go. Other members of
the family were comforted by being
able to sit with him, to talk to
him even though he never responded.
I was there when he received
the last rites.
I never had the chance to say
goodbye.
I don't think that hanging oneself
in a forest is any more dignified
but for some the tranquility,
being out of sight of prying eyes
acts as a kind of anaesthetic,
and bolsters their intent.
The scenes of the skeleton were
sad and haunting, and I was amazed
thinking about this charming
geologist who now roams the forest
like an angel trying to save a few
lost souls.
It was heartbreaking, yet inspiring.
Bless*
M