The Quebec Suicide Prevention Association (AQPS) has developed a first guide for creators to advise them on how to deal with a character who takes their own life in their work. We learn that certain terms should be avoided, as well as certain ways of presenting suicide. This approach is of course based on a good intention, namely to avoid a knock-on effect. But to what extent can we limit artistic creation without interpreting this as a certain form of censorship?
“Where do we draw the line indeed? This is a concern that we had as soon as we started working on this guide,” recognizes Marie Hautval, knowledge broker at the AQPS. “But afterward, our goal was above all to create a reflex in the creator. A bit in the same way that a creator will find out about a historical character before making a biographical film about him. What we want is for a creator to learn about suicide before talking about it. We don’t want to tell creators what to do. In the end, they always have the last word,” she adds.
As a “knowledge broker”, Marie Hautval bridged the gap between the various studies on the ripple effect and the development of this guide available on the AQPS website.
It particularly emphasizes that when a character commits suicide in a series, film, play or novel, it is “preferable to avoid describing the act or the method used”. The guide cites various studies which tend to demonstrate that exposure to a way of committing suicide can inspire people in distress to take action in this way.
The document also recommends avoiding certain expressions when talking about suicide, such as “choice” or “solution”. The qualifiers “successful” or “failed” when talking about an attempt should also be avoided, according to the AQPS, which asks creators to avoid any romanticism or glorification of suicide.
We don’t want to tell creators what to do. In the end, they always have the last word.
If certain studies question the effectiveness of trauma warnings, the AQPS still maintains that they can be useful in warning a fragile person that the issue of suicide will be addressed in a work.
“Many people who have already been affected by suicide or who have already had suicidal thoughts have told us that trauma warnings have been beneficial for them. It allowed them not to look at works that would have exposed them to trauma,” argues Marie Hautval.
Avoiding the ripple effect
The ripple effect has been repeatedly documented when it comes to media coverage of suicide. In Quebec, for example, people spoke of a “Girouard effect” to describe the worrying increase in suicides and distress calls in the weeks following the death of star journalist Gaétan Girouard in 1999. The media reported were then focused a lot on the manner in which Gaétan Girouard had taken his own life. Since then, the press has avoided revealing the details or circumstances of a suicide as much as possible, focusing on the negative effects of the tragedy on those around it.
“There was really a before and an after Gaétan Girouard. The media have really been made aware of the mistakes not to be made,” rejoices Hugo Fournier, president and CEO of the AQPS.
The scientific literature is not as clear-cut on the ripple effect that a work of fiction in which suicide is addressed head-on can generate. Why then create a guide specifically targeting the cultural environment?
“We did not produce this guide because we believe that suicide is not treated correctly in Quebec currently. We made this guide because we think that a work can dissuade someone from taking the act if suicide is treated in the right way,” reasons Mr. Fournier.