Officials at a top suicide prevention group are failing to see the funny side of billboard ads for a new comedy that show people killing themselves.
Acclaimed indie movie Wristcutters: A Love Story follows a group of people who have taken their own lives as they take a trip through purgatory.
The film, starring Patrick Fugit and Shannyn Sossamon, has won a handful of top indie film prizes in America, but the director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is not a fan of the film or its marketing campaign.
In a letter to producers, Robert Gebbia says, “You don’t see people making fun of other causes of death, but you see it with suicide and mental illness.”
But producer Courtney Solomon isn’t planning to pull the ad campaign, stating, “The movie’s message is that love is better than suicide.
“Our job is to get people into the theatre 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.”
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