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Re-queueing this video for one more try; last queued Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 4:48am PST - requeue requested by submitter K0MMIE.

*nochannel *cinema

How the fuck is this ever comedy?

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Adding video to channels (Cinema) - requested by MarineGunrock.

Good God! Why would someone want to put this on the sift? I don't get it. Where are the other downvotes? There should be LOTS of downvotes.

I'm horrified that someone would put this on the sift.

EDIT: Added lengthier description.

I won't upvote nor downvote this video.

The scene is intense. Dunno the story, so I can't figure why the lady did that and what is her background. Those information are important to judge the "realism" of such a scene (and so, judge the fact that it's just voyeurism or whatever "bad thing" you want).

At one time, in suicide, you realize that you've done wrong, that things aren't so bad. Sometimes (often), you realize that to late. In that case of suicide (razor & bathtub), the lady should have panic at one moment and try to get help.

Well, here, the fact to have this very scene without explanation of any sort is disturbing. It may seem "gratuitous" (dunno if it's the right term in english), explaining why there's so many downvotes and why people can't handle it.

IMHO, Kommie, this sift needs more "background".

This scene made me cringe when I saw it; that's how disturbing it was to me. Just because it's disturbing doesn't make it bad, however. Like KOMMIE said in his description, it's a realistic depiction of a romanticized act. Therefore I know that KOMMIE's intent was neither to glorify this act nor play for the lowest-common-denominator vote. This video about suicide got 21 upvotes, even though it was also disturbing. Sure, it was animated and not graphic like this video, but still it made a powerful point. So does this video.

Art isn't always comfortable or easy. Sometimes it's meant to shock you, and through this jarring sensation it can give you a whole new perspective on something that you probably do your best to avoid thinking about. So please don't downvote this just because you find it disturbing. To me that's no better than turning the TV off when you see graphic images of war or famine. Not seeing it doesn't make the problem go away.

PS: KOMMIE, maybe adding a lengthier explanation as to why you queued this video rather than telling your detractors to shove their downvotes up their asses might help a wee bit. I'd like to see this video succeed too.

Good Call Kronos... I'll post it here and on the description:

The main character of the film (James Van Der Beek of all people) is receiving constant love letters from an anonymous person. When he believes he's found the girl thats doing it he spends all his time pursuing her. When he fails, he goes back to his womanizing ways. The final love note you see in the mailbox is actually her final goodbye letter. She was a person who was seen in every single important moment of the film in a very inconsequential way. (She served lunch to the main character, she watched him from the background, of course this isn't revealed until the end of the film). This video is the final result of a troubled girl who's obsessive affection isn't returned. When I first saw this movie, it was almost entirely forgettable until this happened. Strange that a character with so little screentime would make the most powerful impression during the film.

The song is "Without You" by Harry Nilsson

Come on video FIGHT FIGHT! you will survive! *requeue

Re-queueing this video for one more try; last queued Saturday, January 5th, 2008 12:56pm PST - requeue requested by submitter K0MMIE.

I hope this video makes it, KOMMIE. The brutal reality of mental illness and suicide needs to be forced into the light of day.

^ it is for reasons of my own, that i didnt feel that this was an effective illustration of the "brutal reality of mental illness and suicide"

If it was the whole film, with the scene in context, with all the power that this scene would gain from this context, then perhaps.

But even then im not sure if i would chose VS for this.

Mental illness and suicide are massive issues. This didnt feel like either a "shock wakeup call" or a "thrusting into the light" for me.

I'm not inclined to go looking for something that is. i have my own reasons for that. But if you found something that was, and if i felt its tone was such that VS was the place for it, you'd probably get my vote. But hey, its a democracy. my vote is small.

I hate this video as I have hated no other image I've seen online. I would rather watch tubgirl or goatsee than this. This is NOT a realistic portrayal of a romanticized act: just the opposite: it is a romanticized portrayal or a disgusting, degrading, tragic act.

People need to see mental illness? Maybe. People need to see a completely detached scene where a pretty woman goes gently into that good night with no panic, no second thoughts, no explanation? NOT BLOODLY LIKELY.

I doubt I am alone in having lost loved ones to suicide. Am I alone in knowing the statistics that say how much more likely suicide is in someone who has seen it or had a friend do it?

I voted yes on the movie about people jumping off the golden gate bridge, and that was tons of suicides, but they were in context, they were not romanticized, and many of the consequences to friends and family were discussed.

I see the sift as a place to archive the best of the visual web. I've even dumped my own vids when I thought htere was better available or it was something I wasn't proud of having up here. What's good about this? What thing did you learn? What experience does it explain?

Differences of opinion are good, but honestly, I have a much harder time dealing with people I otherwise like saying yes to this gratuitous, disgusting, nauseating, hurtful image than I do dealing with people who think the war in Iraq is rightious or who otherwise espouse political values I abhor: I see the reason for that. I see no reason at all for this. It isn't real. It isn't cautionary. It isn't in context. It's just pathetic.

I wasn't going to say any of this. I was going to leave it be, but I came back and read the new comments, and I couldn't keep it in longer.

I hope this video dies. I wish I could vote it down 7 times.

Differences of opinion are good, but honestly, I have a much harder time dealing with people I otherwise like saying yes to this gratuitous, disgusting, nauseating, hurtful image than I do dealing with people who think the war in Iraq is rightious or who otherwise espouse political values I abhor: I see the reason for that. I see no reason at all for this. It isn't real. It isn't cautionary. It isn't in context. It's just pathetic.

So let me get this straight: It's much easier for you to deal with a guy like Dick Cheney who sold our nation a bill of goods so we could go to war in which over 5000 Americans and countless Iraqis have actually DIED because he believes the war is righteous, rather than a guy like me who happens to think that the gruesome portrayal of suicide might be realistic enough to persuade certain people to seek help or find help for others that they care about? There's not only no gray area for you, but I'm actually a worse human being because I don't see this clip in the same way that you do? I mean, solely because YOU find it gratuitous, offensive, and unrealistic and yet I don't, this somehow places me on a lower moral plane than the fucking war pigs in Washington because at least they think their cause is "righteous"? Wow, if Cheney ever has to face charges for war crimes he better pray to have you as a judge. All his attorney would have to say is, "Well your honor, at least he's not as bad as that guy who defended a suicide scene from a movie!"

No, you most certainly are NOT alone in experiencing a loss from suicide, but let's spare each other our sob stories because that's really besides the point. Could a scene like this possibly encourage someone to commit suicide? Certainly it's possible. But could a scene like this also dissuade others from taking their own lives? Certainly that's possible too, and unless you somehow have insight into the thinking of every suicidal person on the planet I doubt you'll convince me otherwise. And even more importantly, could people who have friends or loved ones who they know are depressed be moved enough to be more active in finding help for this depressed person after seeing this scene? That is a DEFINITE possibility too. Suicidal people react to the world in ways that aren't entirely predictable anyway, so we can't go making everything they see and hear safe just to protect them, unless you think that the parent of those kids who sued Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest because they blame them for their kids suicide have valid cases.

How realistic is this scene? Most persons don't walk this calmly into their own suicides, but as KOMMIE stated this woman already had other mental health issues to begin with so it's not outside the realm of possibilities. Not every suicide is a person standing on a ledge for hours while police, firemen, and family members all try to talk them down. There is a subset of persons just like her who remain calm and collected during the entire process. I know.

To restate, this scene is not at all romanticized or completely unrealistic, nor does it promote suicide, but that makes no difference to you because your opinion is the one that matters most, right? I'm just the devil, worse than Rumsfeld and Cheney because at least they think their cause is righteous while I must be some sick fuck who likes watching snuff scenes. The worst thing I said about this scene's detractors was that they don't like seeing things that make them uncomfortable, while you say that you have a harder time with me than with deluded war criminals.

Congratulations, oxdottir. You've pissed me off as bad as I used to get when I read political blogs on a regular basis and trolls would stop in to say that we liberals deserved to be waterboarded because we dared to question the President. "Differences of opinion are good", you say, but then you say I'm worse than a megalomaniacal war criminal because my opinion is different than yours. Just cut to the chase and say "Differences of opinion are good, but you're a sick piece of shit because you don't find this abhorrent just like me."

Thanks for letting me know where you stand.

PS: I have no problem with anyone else who's disagreed with me on this thread because no one besides oxdottir has implied I'm a sick bastard for defending this. Everyone on VideoSift can downvote this and I won't care, but I don't take remarks like oxdottir's lightly, obviously.

OK, I'm not going to spend my night going around and around in my head on this. I'm going to say a few things without composing a nice piece:

1. This is my opinion. No, I don't think my opinion is somehow better than yours, but it's strongly felt, as apparently yours is. I did not say you are a sick fuck. I said I had a hard time reconciling that opinion with that of someone I like. I probably shouldn't have said that. I apologize.

2. There are people of good conscience who believe in aspects of the war in iraq. I've heard very convincing arguments about not abandoning the kurds, for instance. Politics is complex. I have no trouble believing people seeing what I see will come to a different conclusion. If I showed someone a 3 minute clip of war atrocities in some unnamed country, without any other context, I would indeed be apalled that, absent any other context, someone would think that film was valuable. This suicide video was THREE MINUTES alone: very easy to draw conclusions. An entire history with more input than one human could even process: not so easy to make black and white.

3. I did not call anyone a megalomaniacal war criminal. I believe the name calling is all in your corner.

4. There is a lot of evidence that viewing suicide increases suicide probability and I know of no evidence for the contrary. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_and_methodology_of_suicide, just for instance. In any case, this clip does NOT talk about the complexity of this victim's mental health. See the whole movie and things may be different. This short clip shows NONE of that. I see no value in it. What you point out as good points in it require significant information from outside the film.

5. I said I was hasty before about condemning people who liked this clip, and I was. However, you've gone out of your way to make sure you and I are on opposite sides. Sure, I pushed you, though I wasn't speaking to you personally (unlike you who are condemning me personally), and I shouldn't have, but I'm not going to edit my words after the fact, so they have to stay. I find it unlikely that I upset you more than this video upset me, but we are not in the same room, so I can't tell.

6. You can fix this. You can make sure your view triumphs: drum up the votes for this video: there is a much larger population of potential up-voters than down-voters so it should be easy. Get other people to show me how judgemental and out-of-touch I am. Get this video into the sift. I mean, clearly this is a crusade for high quality, meaningful videos. You think it is. I think it isn't. I voted, with my one vote, indicating how I saw it. I opined that I hoped many people would vote it down once, and I explained further the depth of my loathing for it later. You, no doubt others, took it personally. That's fine. I'm done here. I doubt I could say any more that would make it better.

Okay, ox. You were willing to apologize for some of your rhetoric, so I'll also apologize for some of my rhetorical excesses in the above rant. I won't rehash this further, so I guess we'll simply agree to disagree on this one with neither of us casting aspersions on the other, and I hope we can both view each other's future opinions in an honorable light.

Agreed. Thank you. I've valued many, many other things you've had to say, so I will have no trouble doing so in the future, even if we did spit and strut at each other once.

As we say around these parts, how 'bout them 'niners?

You will not die viddy... never... never...

*requeue

Re-queueing this video for one more try; last queued Monday, January 7th, 2008 3:51pm PST - requeue requested by submitter K0MMIE.

It just doesn't deserve to be here without the contextual background from the film. As a sole piece of video it's simply sensational for all the wrong reasons.

Needs more context than the written text, although that helps. I'd need to see the whole movie to consider an upvote.

Discarding this video. It failed to receive enough votes to get sifted up to the front page within 2 days.