Suicide prevention groups condemn recent episode of 'The Office'

The comedy, a huge hit for NBC, recently came under fire from suicide prevention advocates regarding some of its antics from the special Halloween episode.

The American Association of Suicide Prevention, Mental Health America, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, among other mental health agencies, are in an uproar of a recently televised episode of NBC's The Office. Originally aired on October 29, the specific scene in which they are referring to takes place in the series' Halloween-centric episode in which one of the main characters, Michael Scott (portrayed by comedian Steve Carell) puts together a haunted house for children and then presents himself in a self-made noose just before falling off the box he was standing on. The scene includes violent thrashing and flailing as if he were indeed committing the act. After the scene is completed, Scott speaks of suicide not being the answer to the group of children who just entered the haunted house. "We try not to be zealots about this," said Robert Gebbia, the American Association for Suicide Prevention's executive director. "But this one ... kind of crossed the line." The various mental health associations protesting the series claim that the depiction of suicide in a jovial manner will influence some people to act as copycats. They are calling for more sensitivity from the entertainment industry in general for their cause. According to the Associated Press, the American Association for Suicide Prevention protested a GMC commercial two years ago depicting a robot leaping off a bridge and also a VW commercial depicting a man standing on a cliff and threatening to jump. "We're not trying to be censors or fall into the trap of wanting everything to be PC, politically correct," Gebbia said. "But on the other hand, it's offensive to some people who have lost relatives to suicide by hanging."