More Hollywood Idiocy: "Wristcutters: A Love Story"

Considering the epidemic of self-injury that's already affecting many American students, life is difficult enough without this sort of nonsense being thrown at them by the Hollywood Crowd:

NEW YORK -- Fifteen suicide prevention groups are dead set against After Dark Films' proposed campaign for the comedy "Wristcutters: A Love Story," which is set to bill itself with signs showing people killing themselves.

After Dark Films co-owner Courtney Solomon said late Friday that while the film's promotion may feature images of people jumping off a bridge, electrocuting and hanging themselves, they would be displayed as traffic-style stop or yield signs with a barring-style circle and line over the illustrations, along with hearts to reference the film's romantic story line. He said the campaign may change before its mid-July rollout because of the outcry.

Solomon intends to offer screenings or DVDs of the film to concerned organizations in the next few weeks, then discuss the campaign with them and ask for their input. "The movie takes place in purgatory, and its message is that love is better than suicide," he said, adding that the film may even help prevent suicide. "Our job is to get people into the theater in a way that's accessible to them. There are many different ways to skin a cat. God forbid someone was considering committing suicide. This film may change their opinion."

It's just the latest controversy for After Dark, which last week removed billboards and taxi signage for "Captivity," after complaints over depictions of star Elisha Cuthbert being tortured and killed (HR 3/20).

After reading about the "Wristcutters" signage, the R-rated film's target audience of 17- to 30-year-olds, and Solomon's comment that he hopes the signs "don't cause too many accidents," (HR 3/8), a coalition of groups including the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health America and the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA sent a letter to Solomon and Lionsgate CEO Jon Felthheimer on March 13 contending that the marketing campaign is overkill.

Consider going and reading the whole thing.

Seems to me as though the concept for this movie was likely generated by the same people idiots who came-up with "heroin chic" and other ad campaigns featuring mal-nourished fashion models. ---------------------------------See our latest EduPosts.