General Question

Lovelocke's avatar

What would be someone's motive for having his suicide being witnessed in person, and what is that whitness supposed to learn from such an act?

Asked by Lovelocke (1609points) October 23rd, 2008

Before I begin, I will warn you that the content of this post is very adult, very graphic, and is in no way meant to be taken in jest. This is not a copy and paste, this is in fact an original posting from the hand and desk of Adrian Santiago, 24, of Arlington, Texas.

Last year, a man of age 60 contacted me over the internet. He informed me that he had been following my progress as a young filmmaker, and had come to take great interest in the hardships that prevented my advancement. In his original e-mail, he stated that he had something for me that he could trust with nobody else, and it’s something that had never been given to anyone of my chosen profession in history.

He also said I had no choice in the matter, and in fact, I actually owed it to him to accept this “gift” he spoke about.

This gentleman didn’t request an answer to his e-mail, and continued as if I had already accepted. As a matter of fact, he sent me $500 in cash via Paypal, as well as an e-ticket for an airplane ride to his hometown in New Mexico… the specifics of where, as well as his name, sadly, have to remain shrouded for reasons that will become clear as this story goes on.

I thought it best not to tell anyone where I was going, or even that I was leaving at all. Seven hours later, I had gone to the airport, flown across the Southwest United States, and found my way into this gentleman’s home… a small, simple structure that you wouldn’t find any other way than by invitation. It was here that he shook my hand, sat me down at a well-decorated dinner table, and set out a feast the likes of which would feed entire families, but was only intended for the two of us.

While we ate, the man told me about his life. That he and his family fought in every war they were invited to, for the simple reason that they could. He and his kin found a unique, purging release in being able to end many lives during those times of conflict. The way they saw things, they believed that the only way to end suffering on a global scale would be to eliminate all life capable of suffering.

The old man never spoke in detail, but instead, spoke with an indescribable focus: An expressionless tone that permitted no questions.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the man stopped his tale. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers, and began to tremble with frailty. Of course I was concerned, and I asked what the matter was… he told me that the poison “just kicked in”.

Though physically weakened, the drive of his tone was still strong, and I knew he wasn’t lying to me.

I asked him where the phone was, he said he didn’t have one. I asked him where the nearest hospital was, and he told me “In a town where people want to live forever”. I asked him what he wanted me to do to help, and he said “You can stop panicking and respect the last wish of a sinner.”

My blood ran cold. My face began to tingle indescribably. From the elbow to the tips of my fingers, I felt powerless over the situation. As if to tell me that it wasn’t my problem, he stood up on his own strength, walked over to the dusty, worn recliner in the corner of the room, and motioned me over to him.

He told me that in all of my movies, people die… and people talk about death with intent to threaten one another. He said that even here, in the same room with me, he can see that I was afraid of death because my first reaction was to scramble into action… to do everything I could to stop it from happening.

“That’s not what you’re here for, young man… you’re here to see the peace that comes with Death… you’re here to listen to my final word before my time is over. After this, maybe you’ll see why death isn’t as fearsome as you believe it is.”

I knelled beside him, at his request. He told me there was a large envelope on the nightstand in his bedroom… and that I was only to open it after he had died. To be frank, I was out of my mind… I felt that someone somewhere was calling the cops, and that I would be going to jail for doing nothing… or because they would think I killed him.

It happened a lot faster than I thought it would have. His chest began to react as if he was coughing, except he wasn’t. His eyes widened, he was looking straight ahead, unblinking…

He said “Fear…”, and then gave a large exhale. His eyes didn’t close, save for a few odd twitches on his face, he was still. There was nothing magical about it, there was no majesty behind it, he was just dead. I sat there for a few moments… no other sound seemed to exist for a few moments. I didn’t know what to say, or what to do with him… but I remembered the envelope.

Inside was $1,000 and a note that said “Don’t be a fool, take everything you brought in with you, leave me wherever I am, and go home. Stay quiet about it until you think the coast is clear, then write something about what you learned here. Don’t thank me for this, I was going to die anyway… my dying wish was that my death would mean more than my life.”

That’s all I’ve got. In case anybody noticed a drastic change in my persona from last year to this one, perhaps it’s the difference that one year has made… or perhaps it’s the difference one night has made.

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33 Answers

chyna's avatar

Wow, that just blew me away.
Other than this, have you written about it?

jlm11f's avatar

what’s the Q? this didn’t happen in your life? it happened in Adrian’s life yes? still don’t know what the Q is…

jvgr's avatar

To answer you question, no. It’s not right or wrong that this happened in your life. It’s how it affects your life and how you express it that can only be right or wrong.
What will you do?

deaddolly's avatar

I agree with jvgr: it’s what you do with it. It’s also a big burden for someone, a stranger, to place on you. It would make a great movie.

What do you want/think you should do?

Fantastic story, btw.

susanc's avatar

Who is Adrian, again? Are you him? I’m confused.

The old guy made it clear why he did this and why he asked (you) to be there.
What you’re supposed to learn from it will be made clear as you work on the
film. You might find you’ll have to change it as you go along. This is a process.
(Vague, right? but that’s the point.)

asmonet's avatar

Despite your statement at the beginning, I still have trouble believing this to be true.

To put it simply, the man was wacked in the head and you have nothing to learn but to not accept money or airplane tickets to strange men’s homes for feasts you did not see prepared and you are to run when someone says poison. Not stick around for the show.

The main reason I don’t believe it? You didn’t run when poison was mentioned. You hung out for more story time.

It’s not plausible that someone would hear poison and not GTFO.

Also your tags have a domain name in them. For porjectblack.com. A nonexistent site.

ALSO: A few weeks ago you started asking about how to promote sickness in an individual and asking what would be in someone’s suicide note. Sounds like a fascination you have personally.

It kinda sounds like you’re asking us to think of a moral to the end of a barely thought out short story.

fireside's avatar

well, i actually found the site but haven’t watched anything on it yet.

For the question as it is now stated, I would first be concerned about any fingerprints or DNA evidence that may have been left at the house. If Adrian hadn’t been fingerprinted before, the chances are high that writing about it might alert the authorities to an unsolved case in their area.

A feast for a small village, or however it was worded, with two place settings and one dead body would be a huge red flag.
The guy’s intention could be one of many:

-He wanted to get Adrian in trouble

-He wanted to become immortalized by having a filmmaker he admired recreate his last moments

-He thought that Adrian’s conception of Death was all wrong and wanted him to see in person that, ”There was nothing magical about it, there was no majesty behind it, he was just dead.

As other’s said, the answer to the originally stated question is no, it isn’t wrong unless he was trying to frame Adrian. What is important is what Adrian learns from the experience.

asmonet's avatar

Ah, the site is showing up now. Dunno why it wasn’t before. I’m even more convinced now.

jvgr's avatar

asmonet: good work. I didn’t notice the tag

asmonet's avatar

@jvgr: It’s all very fishy, and the reactions are pretty much completely ingenuous.

I should be a detective.

AstroChuck's avatar

asmonet said everything for me. The first asmonet, that is.
How is it that there are two asmonets, anyway?

asmonet's avatar

You mean my avatar changed? I changed it between posts, refresh!

AstroChuck's avatar

Oh. Now they are all the same. I’ve never seen fluther do that before. Both the avatar and lurve amounts were different.

AstroChuck's avatar

And by the way, there’s no H in witness.

asmonet's avatar

Sometimes, I have 0 Lurve for no reason at all. I’ve decided to ignore it. But, that’s the real me, right before I did my hair fire engine red.

Tantigirl's avatar

I really don’t understand the “tremble with frailty” bit either. Never heard it before, doesn’t make sense to me.

Check out this link please, it says it all, and asmonet is 100% correct. http://www.myspace.com/projectblackstudios

Lovelocke's avatar

I wouldn’t say it’s in my best interest to “prove” this happened to you… the only thing I can do is be vague about the “details”, but vivid in the description. Some people believe that Elvis is still alive… even though you are told he is dead. The same applies here, I think: You can believe what you want, but the purpose of this was to gather speculation of “the act”, not so much “what would I have done if I were put in that unimaginable scenario”.

In other words, I’m sorry if you can’t “think” of what to do if placed where I was… that’s kind of the reason why I’m asking for your opinion, because I don’t know what to personally think either.

asmonet's avatar

Oh, please.

It’s clearly an imaginable scenario, you imagined it.
And I did say what I would have done, NONE of the things you ‘did’. So apparently, I can think. I feel no need to explain how I know what I would have done with examples from my life, and argue my point.

I think everyone here can see this is basically on par with a high school Creative Writing class project.

And I’d knock it off with the shameless self-promotion at every opportunity. The links, while it may be an aspect of who you are… a little mystery gets people far more intrigued than a plug.

Impress people with who you are, the interest in your work will follow.

Tantigirl's avatar

@asmonet, very well put. Nobody could have said it better than you just did.

AstroChuck's avatar

Agreed. You go, girl!
(shaking head from side to side)

asmonet's avatar

Your avatar makes every single thing you say that much better Chuck.

::bows::

AstroChuck's avatar

Ah, it only you could see my beautiful deep blue eyes.
(-blushing)

augustlan's avatar

How can you guys be sure this didn’t happen? I mean, I’m inclined to come to the same conclusion, but I always give the benefit of the doubt…

jlm11f's avatar

I think it would be better if instead of questioning the actual incident (whether it happened or not), we should just answer the actual Q of what a person’s possible motive could be for making someone go through this. (of course, this means you have to assume it happened, just take it as a hypothetical scenario).

scamp's avatar

I think this is a load of crap made up to promote your site. asmonet Is right on target and said it a little more polite than I did, but the sentiment is the same. I have no idea why this thread is still here.

asmonet's avatar

Don’t present fiction as reality. If he’d asked us for help or ideas I would not have thought twice about providing constructive criticism. However, he didn’t. And I won’t respond to something being presented as a lie, instead of a work of fiction.

fireside's avatar

What I think is funny is the words “This is not a copy and paste”

Since the same exact words appear on the website, I would guess that one of them was copied and pasted.

Lovelocke's avatar

…so, basically, you were so far up your own ass that you couldn’t take “The True Story of The Three Little Pigs” seriously because of the title? This thread was meant to promote chatter due to the impending madness of Halloween, but you “thought it to death” in a meager attempt to become as cool as this guy is

If you were awaiting a round of applause I suggest you stand in the middle of two mirrors and give yourself one… because I’m certain you’ve pleased EVERYONE that you see.

scamp's avatar

Read your last sentence and follow your own advice. The pitiful attempt at self- promotion was more than obvious here. I tried to see things from your point of view, but I can’t get my head up my own ass.

asmonet's avatar

I don’t respond well to aggressive personalities or behavior. Scamp said all that needs to be said.

I just don’t understand the post’s reasoning or the way it was chosen to be presented. Nor do I understand why you are so upset people didn’t take it the way you intended. You’re too attached but that’s a different issue.

I’m done with this. Good luck with your filmmaking, if you have anything else to say that’s negative keep it to yourself – I for one will not respond to it.

poofandmook's avatar

did the old man have any lawnmowers, perchance?

scamp's avatar

Not a copy and paste, huh? I think we’ve got you pegged now.

fireside's avatar

I was definitely thinking i was about to read some kind of rape scene and almost didn’t read to the end

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