I haven't watched a lot of TV for a long time. Schedules are crazy & makes it difficult to keep up with particular shows. Thru the day, I get to skim some of my long time faves like Rachael Ray, Live with Kelly & Michael (still trying to figure out how Kelly & I aren't friends yet), The Queen Latifah Show, The Steve Harvey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show...
...but it's difficult to sit down & watch them. As a stay/sometimes-at-home-mama, my attention is still flagged down from family. That's how it is.
But it's even more difficult when it comes to evening shows. We get to catch bits & pieces of shows, but not a whole lot. That schedule thing still makes it difficult. However, we will DVR The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon...because...well...happiness! That's what he brings.
There's also a couple of shows the family can kind of geek out on together. We keep up with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. That show is SO good right now!! It totally helps it's steeped hardcore in the Marvel Universe...and we love Coulson, of course.
We also keep up on the show Sleepy Hollow. Do you? It's a brilliant show!! Between supernatural entities, folklore, and interesting twists on history...this show is smart and intense!
If you aren't fully aware, Ichabod Crane & Abigail Mills are working together as the biblical witnesses to stand up to the end of days. And, yes...the Headless Horseman is still around.
I'm not going to go into too much of the series here, but I want to touch on this week's episode. If you haven't watched it yet, I don't think I'll be giving away anything, but I want to touch this episode's subject matter...
Abby (Abigail Mills) & her sister, Jenny, had a tough childhood. Their mother was put into the local asylum & eventually took her own life. It's brought up several times throughout the series. And they came face-to-face with her situation.
The previews showed they were going to deal with their mother, but I wasn't prepared for what it really covered. At all.
There's a rise in the number of suicides that happen within the walls of the of the institution. And with so much supernatural weirdness going down in Sleepy Hollow, it ends up in Abby's care to look into.
If you remember MY OWN STRUGGLES, I was absolutely not prepared to deal with patients going thru the process of the suicides & attempts. One of the ways shown has been a fleeting thought of a back up plan of my own.
It was so hard to witness! All of this with some heart-breaking & touching mommy moments...I was so emotionally & physically drained from the whole thing. It really took it's toll on me.
However, after thinking about how much the episode shook me to the core so much...I realized something. Tom Mison, who beautifully plays Ichabod Crane, is an essential part of the show. It hit me that he was hardly in the episode. Ichabod comes down ill & is resting off the sickness while Abby, her sister, and a new-found ally take care of most of the episode. Ichabod is nowhere to be found while the suicides are happening & being investigated on site. It's when the situation is resolved that he shows back up feeling much better.
This struck me.
Since Ichabod is part of the duo who is supposed to be taking down the evil of the world in Sleepy Hollow, and then he can't be there for this one...makes me wonder if Tom Mison has had to closely deal with suicide somewhere in his life. Maybe lost someone to suicide...maybe he's attempted. Either way, his character was no where near the situation.
It makes me want to talk to Tom. I want to find out his personal ties to this situation. Because you don't pull a main character out of the story line unless you physically & emotionally cannot act thru the deep scars of something like this...especially if your character doesn't. I know a great actor should be able to...but this one runs deep & his character would supposed to be semi-disconnected to the act itself. If he cannot separate from it easily...something may have happened quite recently. At least recently for him. Maybe it had to be written in that he was ill & had to sleep it off while all of this was going on.
With that said, my friend, Jenn (who I HAVE MENTIONED BEFORE) has brought up the issue of anyone who is closely tied to losing someone to suicide or anyone who still struggles after a failed attempt has a difficult time when a suicide appears on the small or big screen. She brought up the idea that maybe a warning be shown at the beginning, beyond just the typical "viewer discretion advised," but to add a warning that the act of suicide will somehow be covered.
Even though it's discussed in "What Dreams May Come," the act is never shown. That's why I appreciate how the movie handles it. I don't think I ever really encountered seeing the act on screen. Well, I take that back...GLEE actually highlighted an attempt. I didn't handle it well at all. Another one I've come across was before my own attempt. But I'm only just now realizing that.
What I experienced watching the "Mama?" episode of Sleepy Hollow was more than I could bear. There was so much of it. And to have the processes put out there...was...too much.
I also hope that Tom Mison could be one to step up for this kind of change in the entertainment business, if he, indeed, has had close connections to suicide.
I've slept & feel better today. Last night was draining. Crushing. Even though I've been doing so well, that kind of trigger can take everything out of you in a finger snap's time.
How would you feel about that kind of addition to the warnings at the beginning of shows or movies? Would it help you to brace yourself knowing it was coming, or would it deter you from watching at all?
I think if the warning was there, I could brace for it, at least. It may depend on the form of suicide, too. But I realize that part of the information couldn't be given in the warning if it comes to be.
Now then...if you know someone who has been close to suicide in any way, and if you are watching anything with them, please be sensitive to their freak out if something like this surprises them on screen. It's hard. No matter how long it's been. We all still need the support.
Stay tuned...
God Bless, AM~Erica
