MovieChat Forums > Pump Up the Volume (1990) Discussion > Issues about the kid who committed suici...

Issues about the kid who committed suicide in the movie

posted 17 years ago by amadhatter53
15 replies | jump to latest

I first saw this movie when it came out and have always loved it.

However there was something that bothered me then that still bothers me now. In the movie there are often scenes or voiceovers of news reporters talking about Harry. At once point, one of them said something along the lines of that Harry/Mark would be charged for the suicide death of Malcolm (the kid who committed suicide).

While suicide is technically illegal in the United States, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say YOU CAN'T BE CRIMINALLY CHARGED FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S SUICIDE (neither can they charge the offender, because they are generally dead); unless of course you were directly involved in it, like supplying the gun for instance.

Anyway, I just wanted to go on record that this was ridiculous. While there would be legal proceeding after Mark's arrest, none of them would even mention Malcolm because the suicide was completely unrelated to anything Mark did.

AMH

[–] novastar_6 17 years ago

Well I wouldn't be too sure about that...granted I agree there is NO way in the world you can drive someone to suicide, that's their own choice...there are people who want to see these people charged for being involved in it. Take for example that case from a few months ago about the 13 year old who hanged herself after who she thought was her 16 year old boyfriend on Myspace called her fat, a slut and that the world would be better off without her. Later on it was found out the 'boyfriend' was in fact neighbors that the girl used to know. It's been heavily debated whether they should be charged in connection to her suicide.

Granted that's a VERY different issue than from this movie, but when one person kills themself, their family always looks for a scapegoat to execute.

[–] XOmorgannewinchesterOX 17 years ago

I heard about that! I have been following that case for a while but it just kind of went away...Anyways, I think they should be charged! These were ADULTS doing this with their kids! These people must be so *beep* up. They're kids will probably grow up to be criminals. Did you hear what they did after the girl commited suicide? They started following the parents and saying horrible stuff about their daughter, how she deserved to die and they're happy she's dead and they don't think they did anything wrong at all. They also threw trash cans that were on fire on the family's porch after the family refused to give them back a foozball table that had been a gift. They is something WRONG with these people and they should be charged.

I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anybody?

[–] tsw453 17 years ago

Sadly there is a bit of a loophole with online harrassment. Turns out it isn't illegal to do that online. But if it makes you feel better they are being severely punished. Everyone in the neighborhood is taking matters into their own hands. The parent run some sort of advertising paper. Well people are going into the businesses and making threats if they don't pull their adds. So this family is losing their business. They also have people pull up to the front of their house and sit all hours of the day. I heard this family is rarely seen outside anymore. They have become secluded inside their home. So they have been punished on a pretty large scale. Well deserved to after hearing what the father said on the Free Beer and Hotwings show. He said the whole thing is being blown way out of proportion.

[–] GMEllis625 16 years ago

The 13 year old girl was Megan Meier, and there was (allegedly) a consipiracy to hurt and humiliate her through MySpace. On May 15, 2008 Lori Drew, the 49 year old mother of Megan's "frenemy" was indicted and charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress on Megan.

According to prosecutors, Drew created a fake MySpace page as a ruse to determine whether Megan was making derogatory remarks about her daughter, with whom Meier was feuding. The MySpace page was purportedly that of "Josh Evans," a 16-year-old boy who had taken a liking to Meier. Posing as "Evans," Drew and her unnamed co-conspirators, investigators allege, frequently corresponded with Meier, inviting the child at one point to touch the "snake" of "Evans." On October 16, 2006, "Evans" told Meier that the world would be a better place without her in it. Later that day, Meier hanged herself in a closet at her family's O'Fallon, Missouri home. When Drew learned of the suicide, the indictment charges, she caused the fake MySpace page to be deleted and directed a juvenile who knew of the hoax to "keep her mouth shut." A key witness in the federal probe was Ashley Grills, 19, who has admitted to helping Drew set up and maintain the phony MySpace account.

[–] wolfinspirit 17 years ago

When something like this happens, emotions often drive people to look for scapegoats rather than trying to examine and face the REAL causes. In the movie, some adults made assumptions that Harry "caused" the other kid to commit suicide by talking to him about it. In truth, the other kid was going to do it anyway.

Harry didn't actually cause the problem. Granted he didn't help as much as he should have either - but he did not cause it. But alas, society doesn't want to see the real problems - much less deal with them.

The movie makes a strong point about teens (and others) "going through the motions" of pretending to be normal in very screwed up situations. It also talks about the need to speak out about the stuff that goes on. Be who you are. Dare to be different.

This is why I love this movie.

[–] SevenKal-ElGuiry 17 years ago

ya i love this movie for that very reason

I KNOW 2 things that are clear.I'm a great sinner,Christ is a great Savior.

[–] kkenneally 17 years ago

The charge is criminal solicitation. Because Malcolm had square parents who probably were oblivious of his pain, just like most of the kids in this movie, they will look for someone to blame. And, they will probably get some strong help on it like Cheryl's father (Miss Straight A Student who all of a sudden loses it). "Harry" was not the cause, nor was he the cure. But we did then and still live in a society where the burning questions is WHY. We have to have reasons for everything and someone has to be responsible.

[–] jayhn1111 17 years ago

Yeah it kind of reminds me of when that kid Johnny killed himself and the parents wanted to blame ozzy osbourne for it.

[–] TheCheshireCody 17 years ago

it's called incitement, and it can be prosecuted in many areas. For example, in New York, Section 2304 of the state penal law says: "A person who willfully, in any manner, advises, encourages, abets or assists another person in taking the latter's life, is guilty of manslaughter in the first degree."
(bold print quoted from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,871135,00.html - an old article, but the law is still on the books.)

Ozzy was brought to trial (twice), as was Judas Priest. Both were civil lawsuits, both acquitted, but they would have been thrown out of court at the start if there had not been a potential legal culpability. When the original film of M*A*S*H* came out, there was a huge controversy over the theme song. if you've only ever seen the TV show, you've only heard the instrumental version, whose proper title is "Suicide Is Painless." jack Kevorkian spent years in jail for assisting in suicides. While he was an active assistant in many, some of what he was charged with was simply telling someone it was all right to kill themselves.

What Harry should have done was play Malcolm that Big Fun song "Teenage Suicide: Don't Do It" that was so popular just the year before. God, I even remember signing a petition to have Big Fun play at our prom.....

___________________
...I was cured, all right.

[–] furrysmurf 17 years ago

"What Harry should have done was play Malcolm that Big Fun song "Teenage Suicide: Don't Do It" that was so popular just the year before. God, I even remember signing a petition to have Big Fun play at our prom....."

Or the song it was based on, Queen's bouncy, hilarious "Don't Try Suicide"

[–] crockett_john 8 years ago

Good cross-reference from another movie!

---
I blame autocorrect.

You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (66524060) 9 years ago

Isn't it possible that the creators of the movie wants people (mostly young) that watches it to understans that if you are (or want to become) successful, happy and get p*ssy you need to be an a-hole and perhaps do what he did. Since a truly good person could never succeed? Hollywood... J E W S

[–] MoviemanCin 8 years ago

I wouldn't be too sure about that, hatter. In today's overly litigious society NOTHING is your fault. It's always somebody's else's fault.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.

[–] crypticanomaly73 8 years ago

Technically speaking Harry was out of his depth and should have reported the kid to the authorities, that is what the law would want you to do. Of course the kid would have seen this as a huge breach of trust and still killed himself anyway.

But the law is an ass.

Sometimes a movie or tv show plot is so stupid that only the stupid can understand it.

[–] noone1647 8 years ago

There's a girl in Massachusetts on trial right now for encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide.

https://www.google.com/#q=massachusetts+girl+on+trial+for+boyfriend+committing+suicide