During our discussion on Friday we tried to hone in on what it meant for an image to be “offending,” using the guidelines of Mitchell. I would like to call attention to his quote on page 131 stating, “Offending images are radically unstable entities whose capacity for harm depends on complex social contexts.” The importance of this statement cannot be magnified enough, in my opinion. A recent article-gone-viral has cluttered my Facebook feed and I find myself relating it to the topic at hand (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10/08/this-woman-will-die-november-1-but-is-her-choice-to-end-her-life-a-suicide/).
In short, the article is outlining a woman’s plan to end her life “on her own terms” due to her brain tumor instead of undergoing treatment. In and of itself, the article is not offensive, but rather factual. It is people’s perception of her, rather, that is discouraging; she is being glamorized, along with her euphemism for suicide. The amount of times people have praised her for her “bravery” has started to become disturbing. It is her own personal choice, of course, but in no way should the media send the message that it is a commendable decision, or that she is a hero for doing so. In this instance, I am offended where many people are clearly not. They are embracing the image, or idea, of this woman being a strong-willed individual, while I am seeing a personal choice transformed into a courageous story that tells young people (or people of any age, really) that suicide is admirable. Although it is not a physical representation of the issue at hand, it is a strong enough concept to form a corresponding image in one’s mind. An image that should not be promoted; an image that the article did not intend to be promoted. One last note: many other spin-off articles and supports are saying that she is choosing to die “dignified,” which just signals to me that having cancer is somehow undignified or shameful–overall an insulting notion.
Visual Communication Fall 2014 