Movies: Christine

Quite a time for me personally to be revisiting this film, which came out in 2016 when I first saw it at my local independent cinema. Perhaps that is indicative of the fact that it has always stuck with me, not least for its observation of depression. Whilst it is based on a true story, of which I was aware of and which garnered my interest in seeing it initially, it is not the tragic event that is solely focussed on, or in any way exploited, but more a showcasing of the events that led to it.

Christine Chubbuck was a television reporter in the 1970s, climbing the ladder in her profession, but frustrated at the content she was delivering at the appeasement of her boss and the network she was employed by. Among warring with her boss over their almost ghoulish demand for coverage of death and disaster, working as a woman in a man’s world and all too aware of the years moving by in which to fulfil her personal life, Christine is suffering terrible depression.

We see numerous people surrounding her every day, from a close friend, work colleagues, one of which is her object of unreciprocated affection and her mother who she is living with.  However, despite what appears to be an abundance of company, Christine is personally very much alone.

She also has some physical medical issues pertaining to her not being able to have children, which she so desperately craves. Coupled with her stifled love life, she is a career woman making strides in her profession, when actually she would prefer to settle and know love.

Rebecca Hall plays Christine very well, encompassing this sense of a woman not quite fitting in, a perpetual dark cloud seeming to follow her, which is expressed with a permanent hint of sadness adorning her face and an exhausted, monotonous tone in her voice. She displays a certain social ineptness to boot, but whilst she is pleasant enough and assertive to a point, she just can’t quite seem to get where she needs, or wants to be.

At home, she is living with her mother, who seems to have much more of a social life than Christine and whilst she has cared for Christine and is familiar with her daughter’s plight, she can’t quite put up with it anymore. Short of eye rolling, Christine’s mother queries at one point: “Christine, this isn’t the start of one of your moods, is it?” belittling Christine’s illness to her having a mere moment, and at a time her daughter clearly needs her mother, she prioritises living care freely, going out and dating a younger man.

When attending a group therapy meeting, Christine inadvertently addresses her woes when talking with a stranger using a technique involving repeating the phrase “Yes, but” in response to the worries Christine is holding. It not only allows Christine to assess the core depths of what’s troubling her, but highlights an aspect of what depression is. Christine talks in the negative, excusing why she can’t have what she desires, but the deeper that repeated phrase pushes her, the clearer it becomes there really is no rhyme, or reason to her problems, except the state of her mind.

She almost makes progress, having an engineered, intimate talk with a network executive, and she gets to spend a lot more time with the object of her affection, where a possible romance might be brewing. Yet when her boss ultimately puts his foot down and Christine becomes aware that the new, younger sports reporter has grabbed the attention of her potential boyfriend, all once again seems hopeless and unsalvageable.

Christine’s depression, her lack of true support and understanding from those around her, has led her to decide to take her own life and in the most shocking way possible. This film, as mentioned, was based on the true story of Christine Chubbuck who took her life by shooting herself in the head live on television. The film doesn’t shy away from showcasing this, but whilst it might seem unnecessarily graphic, it does allow for the impact of her death on those who failed her to be explored. The majority of the film shows them as kind, caring and friendly towards Christine, but it was never enough and no one was ever truly willing, or able to help her. Whether this behaviour and attitude was Christine’s depression riddled mind telling her she wasn’t worthy enough, or if it is an indication of the lack of mental health awareness and understanding at this period in time, it is clear Christine’s life had lessons to be learned from and not just her death.