FORGET M*A*S*H*: SUICIDE IS PAINFUL -- ESPECIALLY TO THE OFFICE

FORGET M*A*S*H*: SUICIDE IS PAINFUL -- ESPECIALLY TO THE OFFICE
Mental-health groups, including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Suicide Awareness Voices of education, have condemned a Halloween episode of The Office in which the character played by Steve Carell slips his neck into a noose during a haunted house visit and tells a group of children, "Kids, just remember, suicide is not the answer. It is the easy way out." In an interview with TVGuide.com, Robert Gebbia, the AFSP's executive director, said, "We are not trying to be censors ... [but] the entertainment industry has to consider you wouldn't show footage of people making fun of someone dying from AIDS ... or breast cancer." He cited studies suggesting that depictions of suicide "can actually be dangerous" and can encourage "people who are vulnerable" to take their lives. Other groups joining in the protest were Mental Health America and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

For more go to:
www.showbizdata.com