What’s the difference between this and making a documentary about people jumping off the bridge?
According to TMZ, many people taped the incident, and all are shopping their videos around. TMZ saw the videos and passed, so they must be pretty crappy anyway.
An attempt to humanize the jumpers, attempt (though in some cases misguided) to discuss the issue of suicide, and give some kind of respect to their final desperate moments. I’m not saying that the documentary isn’t necessarily guilty of some of the charges you’re hinting at, but the real difference ultimately comes down to voyeurism vs. documentary. In the former case, where people lately have really loved to watch videos online of people dying or being murdered, there is no way to describe it other than a perverted voyeurism. In the latter case, it at least offers some border between it and documentation. A blurry line, often, but still the line is more or less visible.
I’m not getting the difference between the guy wanting to sell a video he happened to get, and all of the “professional” news people who rush to get the latest death/disaster on tape, and shove their microphones and cameras into the faces of the grief stricken. Asking inane questions like “how do you feel about this tragedy?”.
and for the opposing team:
All those pictures of people leaping to their deaths on September 11- are the photographers there fucking arseholes as well?
Well…perhaps if people were actively selling those photos of such an event to TMZ they’d be accused of “profiteering” off of a catastrophe. One man killing himself doesn’t really amount to much in the face of a terrorist attack along the lines of 9/11.
It amounts to a hell of a lot if you are that person.
What amazes me is that someone with Tony Scott’s experience didn’t foresee that his closeups had to be shot** first**.
Why to TMZ specifically? Photographers were taking those photos and video on September 11 because they were paid to.
But what if you were that person and it was 9/11? There’s a grassy knoll in there somewhere!
So…TMZ had set-piece photographers in place before the incident occurred? What kind of terroristic madness is this? First the dancing Israelis, now TMZ…next, the galaxy!
Yes, I disagree with Rand. Big whoop.
Ba-ziiing!
I see no problem with it. Something newsworthy happened in public. If I had that video, I’d have no moral qualms trying to sell it to TMZ or whatever.
Just reflecting on it, the difference (to me) is that the folk on September 11 had no choice. They faced a horrible death, or could jump and probably face the same. However, it was not their preference to jump in the first place.
In the instance of a guy wishing to top himself, yes- there were choices.
That’s the way I view it.
I have a dvd of dozens of Golden Gate Bridge jumpers taken over two years. Here’s the IMDb link to The Bridge
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0799954/plotsummary
So would you try to stop a jumper?
Yeah. News is news. Don’t mean to be jaded, but I can’t get worked up about this. You kill yourself in public, well, tough shit if it’s made public.
Considered a name change to Noxious Nozick or Norquist Numpty?
Generally yes. There are circumstances under which I wouldn’t (eg, the jumper has a weapon and I’m with my kids), but barring those circumstances I would try.