On August 26, 2007 we were all shocked to learn that one of our favorite leading comedians, Owen Wilson, was admitted to the hospital after attempting to commit suicide. Wilson, who is best known for big-screen films such as the 2005 hit movie, “Wedding Crashers,” was taken to St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica after being found in his California home by his brother, Luke Wilson. According to MTV news, Wilson was later moved to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills.
Though Owen has never publicly said what caused him to take such a drastic step, ABC News reports that Owen has been struggling with a drug and depression problem for some time. Rumors of a break-up with “You, Me and Dupree” co-star, Kate Hudson, are also rumored to have contributed to the actor’s attempt to take his life.
Although Wilson’s suicide attempt was quickly circulated among mainstream media, overall coverage on the story seemed to express sympathy for the actor and only briefly went into the details of what had occurred. Most headlines, such as those from People magazine and MTV.com, simply addressed the fact that Wilson had indeed been hospitalized after attempting suicide, and all were accompanied by flattering pictures of the actor. While some journalists did take the angle of Wilson’s supposed drug abuse, this was not the focus among the overall media.
Quotes were typically taken from friends, Wilson’s publicist, and hospital officials.
“I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time,” Wilson’s publicist relayed on his behalf. This quote was almost universally used among all media outlets and gave the stories a sense of authenticity and sympathy.
Maybe it was because Wilson hadn’t been a “media disaster,” such as the Lindsay Lohans and Britney Spears’ of our time, or maybe journalists just get a good laugh at Wilson’s films like the rest of us, because overall it seemed that no one criticized Wilson or showed pleasure in his unfortunate state during this time. Articles were mainly very brief and only emphasized the facts of what had occured, framing the situation in a very serious tone.
I found blog coverage to greatly coincide with the angle that mainstream media had taken. Blogs such as Perez Hilton, Defamer, Faded Youth Blog, and others all briefly went over the known facts of the situation and expressed their sympathy for the actor. Accompanying photos were also all very flattering and headlines simply got to the point, rather than making “smart” remarks about what had happened as they so often do with celebrity tragedies.
Overall Wilson’s suicide attempt seemed to be being framed in the same way in both mainstream media and blogs. It is very clear that Wilson is well-liked and that everyone wanted to respect him and his privacy during this time. I think the only difference would be that bloggers were able to express their shock and concern more so than mainstream media, but this is typically the case (or should be) with all news stories.
I feel that Wilson’s publicist did a very good job dealing with this unexpected situation. She promptly gave a comment about the situation and didn’t try to cover anything up. Even though it was short, it sounded very genuine and I feel that everyone probably believed and accepted it right away. I feel that if I had been his publicist at the time, that I would have done things in the same way.
Although a couple of Wilson’s films were cancelled due to his unfortunate incident, he is already coming back to our theatres in “Drillbit Taylor,” this weekend and is currently on location in Miami filming “Marley and Me.” Overall it doesn’t seem like this crisis hurt Wilson’s career and everyone is just happy that he made it through such a difficult time.
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Mainstream media sources:
www.people.com
www.mtv.com
www.usweekly.com
www.foxnews.com
www.abcnews.com
www.time.com
www.nypost.com
Blogs:
www.perezhilton.com
www.fadedyouthblog.com
www.popsugar.com
www.defamer.com
