Mumba film ‘suicide’ scene prompts protest

TEEN idol Samantha Mumba’s pursuit of movie stardom has run into trouble over a controversial teen ‘suicide’ scene in her latest movie, the romantic zombie comedy, Boy Eats Girl.

Geraldine Clare, chief executive of Aware, the support group for sufferers of depression, has written to Justice Minister Michael McDowell to protest the awarding of a 15A certificate to the Stephen Bradley film, starring Mumba.

In the film, a young male character, played by David Leon, tormented by his peers and broken up with his girlfriend, retires to his bedroom, where a combination of alcohol and experimenting with strangulation leads to his death.

Ms Clare, in her letter to Mr McDowell, states “the graphic depiction of the methodology used was unnecessary and could lead to copycat suicides among young people”.

“It would be possible to convey the nature of the death in the storyline without such explicit portrayal.”

The film, due in cinemas tomorrow, first hit the rocks when Irish Film Censor John Kelleher refused to award the film a certificate of release unless the scene was removed or re-shot.

Mr Kelleher showed the film to a focus group - which included Ms Clare - but following the overturning of his decision by the appeals board, he declined to comment further to The Irish Examiner.

However, producer Ed Guiney, whose other films include I Went Down, Disco Pigs and The Magdalene Sisters, yesterday said: “David’s character is playacting, just messing, with no serious intention of taking his life, it is just an accident.

“We appealed the decision,” said Mr Guiney.

“The Censorship Appeals Board came back saying anyone in the country can see this film, accompanied by an adult if under 15.”

In July, Brendan McCarthy, head of production and development at Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board (BSE/IFB), wrote a letter in support of the film’s pursuit of a certificate of release to the appeals board, dated July 25, the day the appeals board made their decision.

BSÉ/IFB, who provided some backing for the film, said in a statement yesterday: “BSÉ/IFB is proud of its association with Boy Eats Girl and has supported both the development and production of this project.

“The production team behind the film understood their responsibility in making a teen zombie film with a romantic and humorous context. The scene in question depicts an accident where a teenager inadvertently dies, who is then subsequently brought back to life as a zombie.”

But Ms Clare said yesterday: “It is splitting hairs - the scene would correspond to circumstances that can be a forerunner to a suicide in many instances that we would know of anecdotally.

“It is not useful to get into the nuances and subtleties that are brought to bear by mature adult opinions.

“We are concerned about vulnerable young people, against the current backdrop of escalating suicide rates, where suicide seems to be considered as an option in experiences of emotional difficulty, and the capacity of discernment is low, and peer and hero influence very high.”

The issue of suicide has moved to the forefront of the political agenda following a Government decision to launch an initiative to deal with the problem.

Ireland has the second-highest level of youth suicide in the world.

Males accounted for 80% of the 457 suicides in Ireland last year.