Suicide prevention groups protest `The Office'

[ccharles000]

NEW YORK— Some suicide prevention groups aren't laughing over a scene in "The Office" where Steve Carell's character tries to scare young children by struggling in a hangman's noose.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and other mental health organizations say NBC and other entertainers should stop using suicide as a punchline. They worry that depiction of a method of suicide might encourage mentally ill people to take their own lives.

"We try not to be zealots about this," said Robert Gebbia, the foundation's executive director. "But this one ... kind of crossed the line."

A spokeswoman for NBC's entertainment division did not have an immediate comment.

There's been a run of television shows that have inflamed sensibilities lately. The Parents Television Council has urged affiliates of the CW network not to air a Nov. 9 episode of "Gossip Girl" following on-air promos for a sexual threesome. Some religious groups were angered by an episode of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" where a drop of Larry David's urine is splattered on a portrait of Jesus Christ.

"The Office" Halloween episode last Thursday opened with the paper company hosting a haunted house for young children. Carell's socially clueless office manager Michael Scott promises a scare, and pops out with his depiction of a hanging.

http://www.rr.com/entertainment/tv/article/rr/6571967/9418735/Suicide_prevention_groups_protest_The_Office

[Drunken Irishman]

1. People complain too much.

[Forkboy]

2. I'm pretty sensitive to the issue of suicide, but this is silly.

[TommyO]

4. Same here

Hanging scenes are frequently used during Halloween at haunted houses, amusement park Halloween events, and other venues. It does not glorify suicide in any way, shape or form.

[dysfunctional press]

3. to be fair to michael scott- he does tell the children that suicide is never the answer.

[JonQ]

5. Doesn't he tell the kids not to commit suicide?

Sounds like someone wants attention to me.

[liberalmuse]

6. I love 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'...

and 'The Office'. Their humor comes from the fact that they are way out of line and often tasteless. Life sucks, but its our ability to find humor in even the worst things that gets us through. I find it ironic that we didn't hear a peep when 'Curb' had some jokes about a breast cancer situation, but all hell breaks looks about a drop of pee on a picture of someone who may or may not be real, depending on who you talk to. I'm guessing the people who were outraged have never even watched the show. I don't know. I think protesting 'The Office' having a scene of a hanging in the context of a Halloween storyline is going overboard - and this is from someone who's had two immediate family members commit suicide.

[iamjoy]

7. They Miss The Point

Michael Scott is such a goof and so socially inept that he thinks it is okay to pull a suicide stunt in front of children. Most of us know suicide is not funny, not the source of a joke, but Michael Scott doesn't and that's what is amusing about the show.

AT least, that's how I saw it. Maybe I'm the clueless one.

[mindfulNJ]

8. Nope...not clueless

You're right on. That was EXACTLY the point.

[Warren Stupidity]

9. Their point is that it is socially inept and tasteless to pull a suicide stunt

oh wait...


Yeah. But what would one expect from the religiously impaired?

[Chemisse]

10. So does that mean any reference to a noose is out of bounds?

They need to be less sensitive.

[undeterred]

11. Most of what his character does is inappropriate...

and its a really funny show because of that. The people who work at the office just have to deal with it, as in real life.