To Die For Reflection

Gus Van Sant’s mystery mockumentary, To Die For, spotlights the eager weather analyst, Suzanne Stone (Maretto), and documents her career and personal journey as she attempts to make her way into the television and film community. To summarize, Suzanne Stone, recently married to Larry Maretto, is a dedicated and overly-eager woman, who utilizes her beauty and charm to constantly get her way in attempts to enter into the entertainment industry, even if that means misleading her three student friends, Jimmy, Russel and Lydia, to committing a crime. As stated above, Suzanne, is obsessed with “making it” on screen. Contradictory to her ultimate actions throughout the narrative of the film, Suzanne states, “You really are not anyone in America if you are not on TV… On TV is where we learn about who we really are. Because what’s the point of doing anything worthwhile if nobody’s watching? And if people are watching, it makes you a better person.” Ultimately, Suzanne “makes it” on television as she gets investigated for the suspected murder of her innocent husband, Larry. Suzanne, throughout her interviews, basks in the spotlight as she discusses her husband’s falsified death via television and lies as to why she believes he was murdered; she blames his death on her two male student’s delinquency and claims they introduced him into the drug world, which ultimately killed him. Although Suzanne’s story and image were aired after her lay-husband’s death, does this equate her with being a celebrity? Or being on television for the right reasons? In what way could Suzanne even attempt to justify that her television debut made her a “better person”? Suzanne’s student Lydia, questions Suzanne and her television theory by asking: “Suzanne used to say that you're not really anybody in America unless you're on TV... 'cause what's the point of doing anything worthwhile if there's nobody watching? So, when people are watching, it makes you a better person. So, if everybody was on TV all the time, everybody would be better people. But, if everybody was on TV all the time, there wouldn't be anybody left to watch, and that's where I get confused.” To Die For, released in 1995, examines grander philosophical questions regarding media, television debuts and the concept of celebrity. Is media, considered a helpful or harmful medium, today? Is being placed on screen the only way to be seen or heard? Does the media world then only attract negative attention, negative stories and negative individuals? Does everyone have these same intentions regarding the media and the news? At what point is it going too far to “make it on television?” Is appearing on screen worth killing someone or dying for? Today, this plethora of questions is paramount to think about as humans are utilizing screens and differing forms of media for almost all aspects of his or her daily lives. Additionally, in 2017, the media community has recently been dealing with how to decipher what is truthful and what is a lie, and with what is “fake” news verse what is “real” news, etc.