This is a beautifully written piece that captures all the questions and confusion and sadness that people feel after someone commits suicide. It's made even more powerful by the little bits of tape that Jake has left over from his friend Phil - the phone message and the little clip of him talking about what he thinks life is. I lost a friend to suicide, too, and could completely relate to Jake's quest to figure things out, to go and interview someone who had also jumped off the bridge - to try to get into his friend Phil's mind. I think this piece is timeless and is of value to lots of people - suicide is always mysterious - and usually it's not talked about. So I would encourage stations to air this piece just to get people talking and to get suicide "out of the closet."
And Jake's delivery struck me as perfect. He sounds sad but not morose, and he does throw humor in there - like when he mimics the cop, Ron, on the bridge. Nice job.
I had to come back to this and listen again because the story was pitched just so. In fact this is the most evocative piece of audio I've heard in a long time. Intimate and engaging, Four Seconds nonetheless has a point to make which doesn't loose itself in the actual loss and grieving. If you want to consider suicide and the part it plays in our lives --- and our deaths -- then this narrative will enrich your comprehension because in the telling it reaches beyond mere sterility and the seeming confusion to the warped logic of self destruction that we can so often be prone to.
But then, like some backdrop laid out as a highlight aspects of our collective social lives, the functional role of the Golden Gate Bridge is a marker of how much our society can house such absolute despair despite the massive creations some of us may use as tools to help kill ourselves.
A close friend, a brilliant, 33-year-old doctor, throws himself off the Golden Gate Bridge. He leaves no explanation and has never hinted at being suicidal, although his brother, another close friend of the producer's, killed himself a few years earlier. How to make sense of this loss? Jake Warga doesn't try too hard, and that's one of the many virtues of this affecting audio essay.
Warga succinctly describes his friendship with Phil; he passes on some interesting and amusing facts about the Golden Gate, "the world's most popular suicide destination." He tells a funny story about crying on the bridge after Phil's death and being approached by a law enforcement officer ("call me Ron") who clearly thinks Warga is preparing to jump and has come to talk him down.
The piece's biggest virtue is Warga's writing. Looking at Phils body in the morgue, Jake sees the face of his father and of Phil's late brother. "The dead all have a way of showing up at once," he says dryly.
A longish piece for an audio essay, but a very good one.
This is a beautiful, sad, piece. It's intuitive and instinctively crafted.
As I listened, when the essay reached the point where I thought "This is where I would add music," suddenly there was music...and it felt absolutely right.
Anyone who has ever had to pick themselves up after the death - especially the suicide - of a friend or loved one, will identify with the need to explore each detail and nuance.
The interview with one of the few surviving Golden Gate jumpers is fascinating and very revealing, and I was mesmerized during Warga's description of his silent, healing, moments immersed in the water.
Comments for Four Seconds: Suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge
Produced by Jake Warga
Other pieces by Jake Warga
Rating Summary
5 comments
Sasha Kae
Posted on July 17, 2006 at 10:12 PM | Permalink
Review of Four Seconds: Suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge
Wow... what a beautiful insight into such a personal account of suicide. Everyone should take the time to listen to this piece. Thank you!
Ashley Gross
Posted on July 16, 2006 at 03:20 PM | Permalink
Review of Four Seconds: Suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge
This is a beautifully written piece that captures all the questions and confusion and sadness that people feel after someone commits suicide. It's made even more powerful by the little bits of tape that Jake has left over from his friend Phil - the phone message and the little clip of him talking about what he thinks life is. I lost a friend to suicide, too, and could completely relate to Jake's quest to figure things out, to go and interview someone who had also jumped off the bridge - to try to get into his friend Phil's mind. I think this piece is timeless and is of value to lots of people - suicide is always mysterious - and usually it's not talked about. So I would encourage stations to air this piece just to get people talking and to get suicide "out of the closet."
And Jake's delivery struck me as perfect. He sounds sad but not morose, and he does throw humor in there - like when he mimics the cop, Ron, on the bridge. Nice job.
Dave Riley
Posted on May 21, 2006 at 01:13 AM | Permalink
Review of Four Seconds: Suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge
I had to come back to this and listen again because the story was pitched just so. In fact this is the most evocative piece of audio I've heard in a long time. Intimate and engaging, Four Seconds nonetheless has a point to make which doesn't loose itself in the actual loss and grieving. If you want to consider suicide and the part it plays in our lives --- and our deaths -- then this narrative will enrich your comprehension because in the telling it reaches beyond mere sterility and the seeming confusion to the warped logic of self destruction that we can so often be prone to.
But then, like some backdrop laid out as a highlight aspects of our collective social lives, the functional role of the Golden Gate Bridge is a marker of how much our society can house such absolute despair despite the massive creations some of us may use as tools to help kill ourselves.
John Biewen
Posted on February 11, 2006 at 12:30 PM | Permalink
Review of Four Seconds: Suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge
A close friend, a brilliant, 33-year-old doctor, throws himself off the Golden Gate Bridge. He leaves no explanation and has never hinted at being suicidal, although his brother, another close friend of the producer's, killed himself a few years earlier. How to make sense of this loss? Jake Warga doesn't try too hard, and that's one of the many virtues of this affecting audio essay.
Warga succinctly describes his friendship with Phil; he passes on some interesting and amusing facts about the Golden Gate, "the world's most popular suicide destination." He tells a funny story about crying on the bridge after Phil's death and being approached by a law enforcement officer ("call me Ron") who clearly thinks Warga is preparing to jump and has come to talk him down.
The piece's biggest virtue is Warga's writing. Looking at Phils body in the morgue, Jake sees the face of his father and of Phil's late brother. "The dead all have a way of showing up at once," he says dryly.
A longish piece for an audio essay, but a very good one.
Cheryl-Anne Millsap
Posted on December 05, 2005 at 09:14 AM | Permalink
Review of Four Seconds: Suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge
This is a beautiful, sad, piece. It's intuitive and instinctively crafted.
As I listened, when the essay reached the point where I thought "This is where I would add music," suddenly there was music...and it felt absolutely right.
Anyone who has ever had to pick themselves up after the death - especially the suicide - of a friend or loved one, will identify with the need to explore each detail and nuance.
The interview with one of the few surviving Golden Gate jumpers is fascinating and very revealing, and I was mesmerized during Warga's description of his silent, healing, moments immersed in the water.
A truly beautiful piece.