MovieChat Forums > Christine (2016) Discussion > Why I liked this move so much...

Why I liked this move so much...

posted 8 years ago by EveryDayFriend
5 replies | jump to latest

There are a great many people who, with their morbid curiosity, will want to see this flick because of the devastating central event that happened to Christine Chubbuck. But there's more...

I was born in '59.
I was in broadcasting 1978-86.
I have been secretly fascinated with the horror stories of Christine Chubbuck, Jessica Savitch and even Christine Craft's journey in broadcasting. You could say I've been waiting years for Christine Chubbuck's story. This movie didn't disappoint.

There's SO much more to this movie that makes it a great Indie; especially if you happened to be in The Industry at that time.

So here we go... (((SPOILERS))) if you want to see it and haven't yet. But here's why I liked the movie so much.

Devoted to tech accuracy. Affectionados of vintage technology will love this movie as it fairly accurately brings us the unwieldy dinosaur video tech of the day. Right away in the movie, "the QUAD machine is here," as a huge crate is rolled into the building. The Ampex Quadruplex was the first successful analog video record/playback machine -- and they were monster-huge. The size of a jumbo refrigerator, it did the playback work of a 2.4 pound, 11" MacBook Air laptop today. To me, the movie-makers make a big statement about how much the business has changed --- of has it? We continue to be fascinated with "blood and guts" on air. This story takes place at a time when the reality of Viet Nam came into living rooms so the standards of what can air gets ramped up in its sensationalism. Also: as the station transitions from film-to-video, we see news reporting personnel running around with lengths of film to splice and throw together in time for the newscast. Wow. Memories. And the analog video camera and portapack she opens up on the coffee table is cool. As are the closeups of buttons on a Grass Valley switcher. Those huge RCA studio cameras.

Christine is portrayed (spot-on) as the typical driven female reporter who was fighting old morés of the time but under the constraints of a little hick, limping-along TV station's operation; i.e., a woman kicking her way into a male-dominated industry.

The 10-year-old cheap plastic flower arrangement on an interview set was always ridiculously present in a studio. It's a symbol of the sometimes weird priorities and what constitutes good or appropriate. Just like plastic flowers being present -- so to is the ridiculously ego-centric news anchor. Not Ron Burgundy. But the REAL thing. A guy who is charming but is an absolute ass just below the surface.

I forgot that original TV Weather-casters used WANDS to point at their maps (!) Heh!

We had all worked at a station owned by an absolutely clueless, wealthy person. S/He had as much knowledge nor showed as much interest or hands-on care for the people employed...as much as if s/he owned a car wash, shoe store or yogurt shop.

This is a great display of acting chops. Nobody is weak here. Tracy Letts is spectacular and spot-on as the News Director. J. Smith-Cameron as her mom is terrific. My heart dropped when Christine realizes the true motivations of the object-of-her affection.

The movie is long (2 hrs), but it's a nicely constructed story; great story-telling. I'm sure the actors were joyful with this opportunity in acting. Well written. Absolutely believable dialogue.

In real-life, Christine put-on puppet shows for kid patients at the local hospital. It's nicely used in the movie as an effective way to give more insight as to what the heck was going on with this gal.

The music. The music. The music. Meghan Currier ROCKS as Music Supervisor, bringing back obscure songs that played heavily on the radio that day.

The resurrection of vid with John Chancellor, Garrick Utley and Uncle Walter.

"T-A!" Transactional Analysis!!!! OMG! And then there was "EST" and "The Forum." Sheesh! I forgot all that BS of the day...

Police/Fire Scanner. I had spent a LOT of time listening to one of those 30 years ago, too -- almost praying for a fire or car accident so we had something for the news that night(!) Horrible, I know... But that's the desensitivity that can take over...and --

A quiet ruthlessness. Your co-workers aspire to get to a bigger market, but dare not speak of their reckless passion sometimes to get there. And the smugness when it's achieved.

The closing scene is powerful in its subtlety and a great way to leave us all hanging about what just happened. If you don't get it? That's because you're too young and can't identify with career-driven women. Single woman. Eating ice cream. Watching "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (we hear the iconic theme song; no video) in the dark. MTM Show trail-blazed for women in broadcasting. Something horrible has just happened. But the news industry just goes on. Life goes on. Driven news women go on...eating ice cream in the dark watching late-night syndicated programming; married to their job instead of a man..whose "children" are the news stories and her "family" is the TV News Room.

Rebecca Hall is awesome. She convincingly is a woman not knowing how she's barely-holding-it-together as her Mom observes tells her she's in the throes of her BPD ("It Boston again..."). It's unfortunate, but this is likely too small of an Indie movie and Hall, with other very deserving cast members, will probably go unnoticed by the Academy.

Likewise, Maria Dizzia's character is a terrific component, as there are, indeed, people in the new industry who are motivated to bring you the news, try to do it well and are primarily motivated the need to do this, rather than being "famous" or on-the-air.

Christine's role is keenly portrayed as was later suspected by family: she suffered undiagnosed bi-polar disorder. While it is never said (it cannot be, because no one knew of it), the confusion of the behavior and desperation of those around her is nicely done. Bi-Polar Disorder is not character flaw or conscious behavioral decision. It painfully...just...happens. And the broadcasting industry is peppered with MANY people who suffer some sort of mania and a great-many having the desire for recognition/fame.

The suicide? Accurate, from all accounts I've read. And the movie-makers give you the courtesy of seeing it one more time via video playback in its crude pixelated form...so you can comprehend better what's just happened.

This movie was done...just...right. Features of her story are changed (e.g.., the deputy sheriff who supposedly showed her the right way to position a handgun to effectively kill yourself or how she chose a day she knew her grandparents would NOT be watching her show), but its essence is here. Having lived that time in broadcasting, I was not offended with inaccuracies. It pays beautiful homage.

Thanks for reading this just now. Do you agree? Did something else HIT you about this...aside from the reason that gave her fame?

[–] medoner 8 years ago

I really enjoyed reading your post and am pleased to see the accuracy surrounding the central character is also spot on. I was not even alive when Christine killed herself but have been aware of her story for some time.

This is a morbid question but I've not read much about this online: Once Christine shoots herself (I guess I mean in the movie), what happens? Does anyone rush over to her? Do they wait for paramedics or what?

It's such a shocking thing to witness that the horrifying act you would have just seen probably wouldn't have registered for quite some time. It wouldn't be as horrific until you realize what has happened if that makes sense.

[–] EveryDayFriend 8 years ago

Hi medoner...

Thanks. I'm glad you took time to read.
RE: the shooting. I'll detail you. Spoilers.

It's done comparatively tastefully. She's shown in a long shot. It inaccurately showed her keeping the .38 in a bag holding her puppets; she supposedly had a brown paper bag under the desk. The percussion of the gun is accurately a "pop" than a "boom." There's a small spray of blood that, timing-wise, corresponds with what would've happened. There's a "second take" that shows the same shot on a video monitor; grainier -- and as would've been likely seen by those in the control room. This POV is a "medium shot" of her at the desk.

It happens FAST -- which is what witnesses say happened, too.She did it so fast that at first, no one knew what just happened. Unlike in the movie, accounts say the (very smart) technical director (i.e., the person who punches the buttons as to what is seen from the studio on-air) immediately faded to black. IMO, that's the instincts of a skilled "T.D." at the controls. Other accounts say it wasn't the studio control room, but the Master Control operator who took to black (and then played a Public Service Announcement). This kind of decision-making isn't shown, but you do see a "take to black" happen.

IMO, the movie shows things staying "live" a little too long. It went faster to get "off-air." Regardless, the movie has the character "Mike," (in real life, Mike Simmons) storm into the studio from the studio control room bellowing something like "OK, Christine, what kind of stunt are you pulling..." This isn't real. And it's highly unlikely a news director would leave his desk to watch a show like "Suncoast Digest" -- a daily interview show. IMO, the News Director may have had a TV on "live" and then ran to the studio. In the move, "Mike" is in the Studio Control Room.

In real accounts, a studio camera operator, "Jean" (who's the "jean" in the movie, too), also thought it was a hoax. You see her reaction of puzzlement/disbelieve, as she's looking thru the studio cam. BTW: studio Camera Operators are viewing thru a 5-6 inch black-and-white screen, so it would've looked pretty "unreal" to any studio cam operator. But they show Christine's slump to the desk (accurate) only the slightest of twitching, before her body falls to the floor behind the anchors desk and out of view. Then it's a medium-to-long shot directly overhead that shows her on the floor behind the anchor desk and on her side with a growing pool of blood haloing her head.

As described in reality, the character shoots herself behind the right here. This was what she learned as an effective kill shot, as per an interview she did earlier with a Deputy Sheriff when she was doing a series on teen suicides. In the aftermath of the real situation, a TV reporter had tracked down the deputy. That guy confirmed this as he wept (i.e., the Deputy felt somehow responsible).

There's no Deputy Sheriff in the movie; rather, a kind of eccentric guy who does gun dealing on-the-side. He tells the character Christine how a .38 is good for women and it's what his own mother carries.

It was done quite accurately, IMO, and didn't sensationalize as, say, for instance, Keanu Reeves' slo-mo scene in "The Devil's Advocate." It's done very respectfully. There is no portrayal of what actually happned after that; i.e., people watching at home called Emergency personnel and as did people at the station. There is, however, the reaction of her mother -- who is a substantial role in the movie and someone whom you care about as a concerned mother who senses a mentally ill daughter -- and her reaction is very realistic, too. It's disbelief and "OMG-what-just-happened" incredulity.

In the movie It shows "Mike," seconds after the shooting, looking on the anchor desk and grabbing a now blood-spattered script she was reading. The screenwriter follows news accounts of what happened, i.e., she had, indeed, written the script that read read on-air; i.e., "..keeping in Channel 40's .tradition of blood and guts" mission statement (that's now famous). AND...it briefly shows how she had actually written copy to read by someone else regarding which hospital she was taken to and her medical condition as "critical." She made an accurate prediction. But she didn't know that she would live 14 hours, which is what happens. That's all true. The girl had very thoughtfully decided how to do this suicide on-air and suggests what copy should be read afterwards. Of course, it was a national story.

As per Wiki, the minister at her ashes committal to the Gulf of Mexico said this:

"We suffer at our sense of loss, we are frightened by her rage, we are guilty in the face of her rejection, we are hurt by her choice of isolation and we are confused by her message."

News Director Mike Simmons would tell newspaper media later...that it wasn't the station's "editorial policy" of broadcasting "blood-and-guts" that got to Christine and motivated her decision. He instead said "... she was a 29-year-old girl who wanted to be married and who wasn’t." IMHO, as with so many other suicides, it was depression that motivated her.

It's interesting to note: people commit suicide every day. Covering a suicide continues to be "taboo" in broadcast news -- UNLESS -- the event jeopardizes other people's safety/life or was extremely public in how it was done. But the day-to-day event of suicide just isn't covered in the news and obituaries often say "died suddenly.'

Mental illness continues to be an ephemeral and little-understood condition of the human condition. This movie does a good job of presenting how someone suffering severe depression can appear to you. Especially...how a seemingly "OK" woman who just keeps saying she's experiencing "stress"...is actual a woman who's on-the-brink...

The movie does NOT include what happened in real life; i.e., Christine on a couple of occasion made reference to blowing herself away on-air. Everyone coped with that my reacting that she was "just joking."

[–] medoner 8 years ago

Thank you for answering!

It's such a strange thing to happen in many ways. Like how to process what you've seen, the initial thoughts of what you are seeing, then realizing omg this is real. It's something that does not occur in every day life. It's quite a fascinating story for some reason I am quite unsure why.

[–] treccles 8 years ago

News Director Mike Simmons would tell newspaper media later...that it wasn't the station's "editorial policy" of broadcasting "blood-and-guts" that got to Christine and motivated her decision. He instead said "... she was a 29-year-old girl who wanted to be married and who wasn’t." IMHO, as with so many other suicides, it was depression that motivated her.

Mike Simmons's quote ruined my day. I recoiled at how insulting it was for him to reduce all of Christine's issues to "she wanted to be married and wasn't" (never mind calling her a "girl").

But I realized I was looking at it through my 2016 eyes, not my 1974 eyes. And in 1974, a woman hitting 30 without being married, even with a career, was indeed a "problem" in the eyes of most Americans.

For about 100 years, the median age of first marriage for women fluctuated between 20 and 22, and then in 1990 jumped to over 23, and just 25 years after that it's now 27. This is a huge change.

I'd kind of forgotten about the pressure for women to be married, since it's pretty much non-existent these days, and it only makes me more sympathetic to Christine because she had failed that societal expectation, plus she herself said she wanted to have children, and wanting children when you're pushing 30 and unmarried was a very big problem in 1974.

I still don't think it was the main motivator for what she did, but I almost kind of maybe understand why someone might have thought that back then (although I'll note that it also conveniently shifted the blame off a policy of "If it bleeds, it leads").

[–] TheKeel (102) 6 years ago

Seeing your post for the 1st time after watching the movie for my 3rd time! Enjoyed every word you wrote. There's some chat elsewhere in this board about Christine being a weak title for the movie. I agree but have never been able to come up with a better one (other than "Chubbuck"). I'd be interested to hear if you have any ideas about this!