The Papageno Program provides expertise and resources to writers and screenwriters to more accurately address the topic of suicide. It aims to achieve this without censorship but with a sense of responsibility. We spoke with Nathalie Pauwels, who is in charge of its national implementation.
- For more information on mental health week, visit fr.webedia-group.com
For the past decade, the Papageno Program has been actively working in suicide prevention, educating media professionals, artists, and content creators about the unintentional biases that can surround the depiction of suicide.
Named after a character from Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, the Papageno effect seeks to change how suicide is portrayed in the media and fiction to mitigate harmful impacts and promote a beneficial approach in its prevention. This involves choosing the right words to foster hope, celebrate life, and encourage seeking help rather than romanticizing death.
During the Mental Health Awareness Week, AlloCiné discussed with Nathalie Pauwels, who leads the national rollout of the Program.
AlloCiné: What is the mission of the Papageno Program?
Nathalie Pauwels: When dealing with a suicide scene in fiction, certain precautions are necessary. This isn’t just my opinion or that of the Papageno Program—it’s a recommendation from the WHO due to the possible imitative effect of suicide. This means that viewers or readers in a suicidal crisis might replicate the same act. The risk, if these precautions are not taken, is conveying the message that suicide is a normal response to difficult situations, or even trivializing or romanticizing it. In reality, it’s not the person who should disappear, but their suffering. The Papageno Program guides writers and playwrights in this process.
What is the main bias you’ve noticed in depictions of suicide?
Suicide is often portrayed in scenarios because it’s seen as a form of freedom. In reality, it represents a bondage to suffering. It’s perceived as a choice, whereas it is actually the absence of choice. This portrayal of suicide is distorted, but it creates a lot of room for sensationalism, which is why it’s often used.
Moreover, in depicting a suicide scene, authors often explicitly describe a lethal method. For individuals in a suicidal crisis, this might concrete their thoughts into action. Take the series 13 Reasons Why, for example, where the suicide scene had to be reworked precisely because of this risk. The revised version evokes much more emotion without showing the method used. Thus, the message is conveyed without the inciting effect.
Ultimately, these precautions recommended by the WHO are very helpful because they allow writers to approach suicide more accurately and authentically. They even add more veracity to a scene that is sometimes central to the storyline.
What are some common misconceptions about these portrayals?
People often misunderstand that to raise awareness, one should not depict something overly negative. Studies, including those on social marketing impacts like traffic safety or smoking cessation campaigns, show that negative portrayals ultimately generate shock and shame, which do not change behavior.
In suicide prevention, the current trend is to display suffering and then a suicide scene to convey the message: “Don’t do this.” However, this approach often has the opposite effect, leading those shocked by what they see to consider suicide. This way of thinking about shock campaigns has been shown to be ineffective. In theater and films, the impact is the same. The idea should be: “This person is experiencing suffering, and eventually, they find a way out.” That creates a preventative effect.
I’m aware that fiction writers are not suicide preventers. However, by making them aware of the risks their work might pose, they often reconsider their scenarios. It remains their story, but it becomes more accurate and less likely to incite imitative actions. Even though we promote the national suicide prevention hotline, it’s crucial to work on both preventing incitement and promoting resources for help. And that’s complex.
You mentioned “13 Reasons Why”: It seems that there’s a greater awareness in Anglo-Saxon countries, but not yet in France…
It’s true that these precautions are well implemented in Anglo-Saxon countries where the International Association for Suicide Prevention actively supports screenwriters. In French fiction, we haven’t fully grasped the issue yet. Suicide is often used to bring sensationalism to a storyline. The connections between a cause and the suicidal act are often overly simplified, like “She leaves me; I’ll kill myself.” There’s also a lack of warnings at the beginning or end of shows, with a help number like 3114, which is the national suicide prevention hotline in France.
It’s true that this isn’t widely implemented in France yet. However, if French fiction writers could consider these aspects during the writing process, questioning the necessity and purpose of a suicide scene… It’s true that we’re not always obliged to use suicide to write off a central character in a film. There are other ways. If they could also pay attention to how they describe the suicide without mentioning the lethal method, and offer a resource for help at the end… All these things together could increase the likelihood that individuals in crisis might reach out for help.
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A passionate journalist, Iris Lennox covers social and cultural news across the U.S.