In the Supreme Court case of Gonzales vs. Oregon, the Federal Government is scuffling to uphold the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. This federal law makes it illegal to prescribe controlled substances for assisted suicide, and doctors who follow state law to assist will be penalized. Ultimately, the highest court in the land is deciding whether or not terminally ill Americans may have that right to abruptly terminate their lives along with the pain they endure day in and day out. Some perceive suicide as a choice. Others believe that suicide is really about lack of choice. This time of uncertainty presents a pivotal opportunity to examine suicide as a health issue, and to explore the presence of choice within this social problem.

Derek Humphry, an internationally recognized author, journalist, and euthanasia activist, is convinced that people aren’t really free unless they are able to die according to, and at the time of their selection (10/14/05). In an email sent to InTheFray, Mr. Humphry wrote: “The right to choose to die when terminally or hopelessly ill is to me the ultimate civil and personal liberty” (10/14/05).

Humphry specified that assisted suicide should only be available for dying or hopelessly ill people whose bodies have decimated to the point of limited mobility and strength.

Diane Brice, Program Director for Suicide Prevention Service of the Central Coast (SPS) carried the point that, in the case of assisted suicide, many times terminally ill patients never actually use of the lethal pills that are prescribed to them. Patients keep the pills close to them, as an option to end their lives if the pain ever becomes unbearable. “That lets me know that control is the issue,” said Brice.

The International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide reports that, while 326 prescriptions for lethal substances were dispersed within the last seven years, only 209 assisted suicide deaths were reported.

Michelle McCarthy, director of crisis services at SPS, stated that suicidal individuals do not wish for death. “When you’re suicidal, it’s like being in a tunnel or a box. It’s an altered state. People are in a lot of pain. Sometimes the pain becomes unbearable…people are looking for a way to end their pain.”

McCarthy pointed out that suicide is about requiring resources such as social support. Individuals may become unable to experience options during moments of overwhelming pain, leaving suicide as the only release. McCarthy delegates a group of volunteers who work on the Suicide Prevention Service Crisis Line (1-877-ONE-LIFE). The volunteers are trained to recognize the callers’ thoughts, decisions, and abilities to choose during crises.

McCarthy showed confidence in the abilities of individuals who call the crisis line; “People have their own answers. People know how to take care of themselves. They just need support in the process. After talking, you may still have the same issues, problems, and that emotional bundle that you’ve been carrying around might be a little bit lighter.”

Other suicide activists have extended knowledge via the Internet. Metanoia, an online therapy website, has created an Internet crisis page. The message on the page embarks with a directive, “If you are thinking about suicide, Read This First.” Below the title is a letter to the reader. The first line follows: “If you are feeling suicidal now, please stop long enough to read this. It will only take about five minutes. I do not want to talk you out of your bad feelings. I am not a therapist or other mental health professional — only someone who knows what it is like to be in pain.”

The presence of online media resources for people in a suicidal mind state is vitally important. Crisis Link, another Internet resource site, states that one of the biggest mythical warnings surrounding suicide is, “Don’t mention suicide to someone who is showing signs of severe depression. It will plant the idea in their minds, and they will act on it.” Society’s conviction to avoid the subject of suicide has only intensified the issue and has made it difficult for community members to acquire resources.

In regards to assisted suicide, it seems that, rather than focusing specifically on ending their lives, terminally ill patients simply yearn for some form of control over the pain that isolates them in states of physical agony while they live out their final days. Many times these people are cared for in supportive environments such as hospitals and homes. However, when somebody has no support during times of crisis, it is very common to feel as though they do not have control. In this case, suicide is not about making the choice to give up on life. It is about feeling disempowered to the point where one cannot experience any choices, leaving only thoughts of suicidal reaction. Suicide prevention is about self-empowerment, about helping someone who is in crisis to understand that they are valuable, and also to acknowledge the pain that is present in the world today.

Diane Brice stated that people are discouraged from recognizing the full extent of their emotions. “We are allowed to be sad today, but not next week, even if those feelings come up again.”

For social activists such as Humphrey, Brice, and McCarthy, the goal, as described by Diane Brice, is, “To get real about our human condition… about loving and losing.”

For more information about suicide prevention services, call Suicide Prevention Service of the Central Coast at 831-459-9373.

ahodgdon

As three bombs rocked the Palestine and Sheraton Hotels — both of which serve as bases for foreign journalists and contractors — and killed at least 17 people today, the death toll among the media rose yet again.  

“It’s about time the international community of journalists realized that Iraqi journalists make up the lion’s share of the killed list. In this year alone, 31 out of the 32 journalists killed in Iraq were Iraqis,” stated Hayet Zeghiche of the International Federation of Journalists, referring to the rising death toll — now over 100 — among journalists and the media since the American invasion in March of 2003.  

Mimi Hanaoka

“I said loud and clear that one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey, and I stand by that. For me, these are scholarly issues… I am a novelist. I address human suffering and pain and it is obvious, even in Turkey, that there was an immense hidden pain which we now have to face.” — Orhan Pamuk, reiterating his stance on the contested Armenian genocide in Turkey that occurred during the twilight years of the Ottoman Empire. Pamuk’s remarks to a Swiss newspaper regarding the Turkish slaughter of Armenians have earned him the charge of “public denigration of Turkish identity,” complete with a December 16th court date. Crucial to Pamuk’s defense is his insistence that he has never used the word “genocide,” to describe the event.

Pamuk sparked the controversy with his comment to a Swiss newspaper in which he claimed that “30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it,” referring to the Turkish killings of Armenians in 1915 during their forced march out of Anatolia.  Pamuk faces trial and up to three years in prison for his statement.  

The Turkish government is playing a dangerous game of semantic brinksmanship with the EU in the trial of Pamuk; with the question of Turkey’s possible entry to the EU fraught with infighting within the European community as it is, the imprisonment of an internationally acclaimed writer on charges of humiliating the state will be an ideal explanation for some European nations for Turkey’s unsuitability to joining the European club.

Mimi Hanaoka

Randy Newman turned his satiric song “Short People” into a music video that appeared on MTV in the early 80s.  Not just short people make films; many people make short films.  In essence, a music video is just a new form of the short film, many of which — including those by Randy Newman — have been made by both short and tall people.  The short film is also a forgotten art form that deserves a return to mass-market theaters.  

In the days before satellite and pod casting, the only place to see moving images was at a theater where not only feature length films were shown but a variety of news, information and entertainment films — with the majority being short.  Many a Clark Gable picture would be preceded by a newsreel, a cartoon, or a non-fiction short, which in today’s media milieu would be analogous to a piece on a TV magazine show like 20/20.  When the medium of television infiltrated American living rooms, the short film slowly faded away as a theatrical presentation, turning into an Oscar category that pool players dread each year.  

What many people may not know is that the short film is as challenging to make as any feature or more so, whether a narrative or documentary.  The advent of cable TV has allowed for some new venues to show some short films, such as The Sundance Channel and the Independent Film Channel, and shorts have become the darlings — and saviors — of film festivals around the world.  Shorts have also become calling cards for unrecognized filmmakers that enable them to show off their abilities, even if those are shortsighted.

Having just finished presiding over a short film showcase in my small town of Moorpark, California, I have been reassured that our youth is still interested in making short films and are doing so in droves.  Of course, with technology making it easier for even Aunt Mabel to make, edit, and distribute a digital film, all from the comfort of the den, there’s also a lot of garbage that should never have been burned to a DVD, let alone shown to the general public. But the cream always moves to the top, as they say.

And speaking of cream, the short film thrives in the form of activist propaganda pieces, and I don’t mean that in a negative sense.  The short film allows the individual filmmaker or one representing a group to get out a point of view in a concise, viewable, and entertaining manner.  Case in point is a 14-minute film made by award-winning filmmaker and founder of the Webby Awards, Tiffany Shlain called Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness.  The smartly made film uses a humorous approach to advocate the issue of a woman’s right to choose.  The film was an official selection of the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and finally has its television debut on The Sundance Channel this month (see below for dates).  I’m all for independent, artistic freedom of expression and know a film can be enjoyed even if the viewer does not totally agree with its politics, but all I ask of filmmakers is that they entertain, as well as advocate.  Ms. Shlain achieves this wholeheartedly, and like the old Michael Moore on the feature front, uses the form intelligently and without boring us out of our minds.  Not to be short, but you better not miss this great example of length-challenged filmmaking.  

Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness airs on The Sundance Channel on October 26 at 7:15 p.m., October 29 at 7:45 p.m., and October 31 at 10:45 a.m., all times Eastern. Check the schedule for other times.

Rich Burlingham

“I did not say, we Turks killed this many Armenians. I did not use the word ‘genocide.’”
— Orhan Pamuk, swiftly backtracking after he allegedly commented to a Swiss newspaper that “30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it,” referring to the contested Turkish killings of Armenians in 1915.  Pamuk faces trial and up to three years in prison for his remarks.  

Turkish and Armenian historians differ in their accounts of what happened in 1915. It is a fact that Armenians were driven out of eastern Anatolia, their ancestral homeland. It is also a fact that many Armenians died during this forced march out of Anatolia. The unresolved question is whether this incident — what amounted to a death march for the Armenians — was planned and orchestrated by the Ottoman government. The traditional Turkish answer to the Armenian accusations of state-sponsored massacre has been that the Armenians, with the backing of czarist Russia, rebelled against Ottoman rule. The deaths that resulted from the resultant conflict in 1915 must be placed in their appropriate historical context of World War I and the twilight years of the soon-to-be-abolished Ottoman Empire.

As Turkey looks towards the EU for prized membership in the European club, so too will the EU be looking towards Turkey and at Pamuk’s trial to determine the nation’s suitability for the EU.  
  

Mimi Hanaoka

When I was a kid during the 70s, the made-for-television film was in its infancy, having been developed by Barry Diller at ABC.  One of the earliest examples of a MOW (movie of the week) that was so popular, it spawned not only more MOWs but a series as well, was Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1972).  It was about a hack journalist Carl Kolchak who went about digging up the dirt on serial killers who often were of the paranormal variety, such as vampires, all while wearing a seersucker suit and straw hat — kind of like Harold Hill in a Wes Craven movie.  The series didn’t live up to the movies and Darren McGavin, who played Kolchak, himself closed the series down by asking out of his contract after 20 episodes because he saw the show was becoming a parody of itself.  Its legacy remains as the granddaddy of the genre that begat shows such as Twin Peaks and The X-Files decades after.

Now 30 years later, the powers at ABC looked to their vault for ideas since listening to any original stories must be too strenuous.  They resurrected The Night Stalker (Thursday, 9 p.m.), tapping producer Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files) to bring the series back from the dead.  From one who saw the original, the current The Night Stalker should not be borrowing the title because it resembles little from the original, a show that was adept at using humor to temper the more gruesome aspects, at least for 1970s audiences.  Through the genius of Darren McGavin’s melting skeptic performance, the show never took the paranormal and serial killer themes too seriously.  This new version axes the humor altogether and tries to sex it up with a hunk playing Kolchak (Stuart Townsend) and giving him a babe, Perri Reed (Gabrielle Union), as a new partner in covering crime.  After viewing the first few shows, it looks like Spotnitz is trying to rekindle that old Mulder-Scully, are-they-or-aren’t-they relationship that was strung out for years on The X-Files, but hopefully the Kolchak-Reed hook-up will be all business for quite some time.  It seems the network suits don’t think a Darren McGavin-type character would fly in today’s TV culture. His Kolchak was an almost comic throwback to the smarmy tabloid reporters of the 1950s; this Kolchak is a brooding, noted, maverick journalist with a crawl in his gut because the FBI thinks he killed his wife.  It is his quest to find out what or who really killed her.  Do I hear Mulder crying in the background?

I was all prepared not to like this incarnation of The Night Stalker, but after viewing the first three episodes, it has grown on me — and though I think they should have called it something else, I believe it deserves an audience.  It is more down-to-earth and real than The X-Files but still with shocks and twisty storylines to keep you watching.  I hope the relationship isn’t pushed between the two leads and they give more airtime to the supporting players, Jain (Eric Jungmann), the Jimmy Olsen-like photographer, and the newspaper editor Vincenzo (Cotter Smith).  Thursday is no “Must-See TV” anymore, but if you have nothing better to do, tune in to The Night Stalker for some small-screen thrills and chills.  If you were watching closely to the pilot, you may have seen Spotnitz’s homage to Darren McGavin as he digitally placed his Kolchak into a newsroom scene.  Nice touch.

The Night Stalker is worth a try.

Rich Burlingham