Obsessed With Film

Posted by Ray DeRousse

(Originally published on The Rec)

After Dark, the adult horror/controversial film arm of Lionsgate, continues to plumb the depths of depravity to promote its films.

You may remember from this article right here how After Dark recently shocked the sensitive citizens of Los Angeles with an ad campaign showing brutal torture and murder for their upcoming shitbomb “Captivity.”

Well, they’re at it again.

This time it’s for a pleasant kid’s film called “Wristcutters : A Love Story.” The film, which supposedly follows a star-crossed pair of lovers who discover in purgatory that love is a better answer than suicide (doesn’t anybody listen to the Beatles for such inspiration???), has been called an anti-suicide film by those who have viewed it.

Of course that hasn’t stopped After Dark from doling out the sleaze in the marketing campaign. According to CNN, the film’s marketing has outraged anti-suicide groups. In particular, they cite posters featuring kids jumping from bridges, and electrocuting or hanging themselves. One suicide counselor said this:

“You don’t see people making fun of other causes of death, but you see it with suicide and mental illness,” Robert Gebbia, executive director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), wrote in a letter to the film’s backers.

Even though, as I mention in my article cited above, I am not in favor of censorship of posters and the like, I think this is a disturbing trend shown by After Dark in the marketing of their movies. While the “Captivity” poster definitely captures the spirit and general thrust of the film it’s advertising, showing suicides as a way of gratuitously advertising for an anti-suicide film is preposterous.

Especially galling is this blatant lie by Courtney Solomon, co-owner of After Dark:

“The movie takes place in purgatory, and its message is that love is better than suicide,” Solomon said, adding that the film may even help prevent suicide. “Our job is to get people into the theater in a way that’s accessible to them. There are many different ways to skin a cat. God forbid someone was considering committing suicide. This film may change their opinion.”

Go fuck yourself, Courtney. Seriously.

The purpose of this advertising campaign is just what Courtney said: get people into the theater. But to mask their intentions by claiming that they are trying to teach love instead of self-inflicted violence?? That somehow, if they are swayed into the theater by an ad that glorifies suicide, they will be motivated to stay alive?? That’s utter horseshit.

I understand that movie companies need to recoup tremendous costs in order to put out a movie, and sometimes drastic measures are needed to ensure that profits are made. But unless the ad for “Wristcutters” involves Courtney Solomon leaping from a bridge to her untimely but much-deserved death, then such a campaign is WRONG WRONG WRONG.

Note to After Dark : Get a conscience or a brain.

categories - Movie News

Further Reading

• Is this poster really that bad?

• Villainous Visage: Physical Trauma Does the Trick

• What’s Happening in M.Night’s The Happening?

• 09/06 - The Dark Knight

• 14/06 - The Dark Knight

1 Comment »

1. [...] You may remember the other day we spoke about it. [...]

   Pingback by Obsessed With Film » Is this poster really that bad? | March 29, 2007

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