Christine (2016)

Christine Chubbuck

On July 15, 1974, Florida news reporter Christine Chubbuck committed suicide live on the air during a morning broadcast. Christine, released in 2016, is based on the final months of Chubbuck’s life.

It is unfortunate that the signs of depression are not always obvious to outsiders. To her friends and coworkers, Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall) was a respected but introverted news reporter. Her focus in human interest stories were at odds with the times, as grittier, more sensational news stories began to pull in higher ratings. Even when Chubbuck tries to adapt and reports on a local house fire, she spends the entire time interviewing one of the victims and chooses not to capture footage of the actual fire, further infuriating her short-tempered and frustrated boss.

Few of Chubbuck’s coworkers were aware of the young reporter’s struggles outside of work. The discovery of a mass on one of Chubbuck’s ovaries reduced her odds of having children. Having recently relocated from Boston, Chubbuck lives with her mother, who has begun seeing someone. The closest Chubbuck gets to a relationship in the film is when a coworker takes her to dinner, followed by a group therapy session. Things come to a head when Chubbuck realizes she has been passed over for a promotion to a larger station. When Chubbuck confides to her therapy partner all she wants in life is to get married, have children, and do work she enjoys, her partner suggests she should lower her expectations.

To viewers, Chubbuck’s hurdles seem depressing, bot not worth taking her life over. Again, that’s the problem with depression and mental health; what to others may seem like major or even minor setbacks can seem like insurmountable obstacles to others.

The final moments of Chubbuck’s life are shocking and heart-breaking as she announces to her broadcast audience what is about to happen. One of her final acts was to leave behind notes for the next broadcaster to read, describing herself in third person as being rushed to a local hospital in critical condition.

During the film’s closing credits I found it impossible not to think about those I’ve known who ended their own lives prematurely. We can never truly know the extent to which others are suffering, but we can be kind, and we make ourselves available. We can do it for them. We can do it for Christine Chubbuck.

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