Why Intrude?

Posted on September 25, 2007 in Journalists & Pundits Suicide The Orange

Here’s a report about a suicide involving two young people from Orange County — one of them a young man in obsessive love and the other the young woman who just wanted to go on with her life. On another blog, I saw mocking remarks to the effect that this article attacked the young woman. I disagree. What I see was an explication of genuine feelings of anger, confusion and grief without blame. This is part of the territory of suicide. The support from her family is described as “much-needed” — as it is. One feels pity for both parties.

I’m not a fan of intrusions into this kind of affair and consequently I see problems in the reportage which invariably surface when a newspaper invades the private life of a victim. The young man in question was obviously mentally ill and the young woman found his reaction to her sharing intimacies with other men (since they were not officially going together) perplexing and maddening. Even though the article avoids blaming her, I have to wonder just why it had to be printed except for its sensationalist value.

May this never happen to you, regardless of which side of the coin you are on. (And may you never commit suicide.)