Abstract

CASTILLO-BOLIO, Lourdes Eugenia et al. When memories become opaque and only the pain glows: Sanitary approach of the suicidal phenomenon in The Virgin Suicides (1999) by Sofia Coppola. Rev Med Cine [online]. 2020, vol.16, n.4, pp.279-288.  Epub Jan 11, 2021. ISSN 1885-5210.  https://dx.doi.org/10.14201/rmc2020164279288.

In the 1970s, in the suburbs of a US city, five sisters between thirteen and seventeen years of age committed suicide, starting with Cecilia, the youngest of the Lisbon sisters. A wave of sadness plagued with questions invaded the minds of those who lived with them and of all those who witnessed how little by little they lost their joy, their motivations and their essence until they became inexpressive shadows of what they once were. Given the peculiarities described between the deaths of the sisters in the Suicide Virgins of Sofia Coppola 1999, the expectation may ask several questions related to proper health approach and the role of health personnel to optimally address mental health in adolescence and of preventive measures recommended in both, individual and collective levels. This article is offered as an analysis of the fictional suicidal behaviors reported in the film, as if in some way, the Lisbon sisters could be treated with the resources and knowledge that contemporary doctors have in present time through the healthcare system, without ignoring the conditions in which their tragic deaths occurred.

Keywords : suicide; adolescence; mental health; prevention; suicidal ideation.

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