When a TV show or film deals with a sensitive topic, such as mental health and suicide, there are always going to be a lot of outside eyes looking in to see that the discussion is responsible and caring. Well, without even one frame of “Expiration Date” being shown, there’s one mental health nonprofit group that believes Will Forte’s new Peacock series is a terrible idea.
According to a statement (via Variety), Bill Smith, the founder of the mental health advocacy group, Inseparable, has condemned the forthcoming series, “Expiration Date,” due to its premise alone. “Expiration Date” follows the story of a man that is ready to die by suicide and finds a life insurance package that will still give benefits if the person takes their own life. However, for that to take effect, the person can’t die by suicide within the first 12 months of the policy. So, the man decides to plan out the last year of his life before killing himself.
“What a wildly irresponsible and callous concept that will, no doubt, endanger countless viewers,” said Smith. “Glamorizing suicide leads to contagion, that is a fact. At a time when our country is already suffering a mental health crisis compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left Americans’ mental wellbeing at a two-decade low, the last thing we need is a reckless show hinged on the question of ‘will he or won’t he’ succumb to the devastation of depression — an all too real and painful experience for millions of Americans.”
Variety spoke with sources close to the production, and they are aware of the sensitive topic and are working with mental health consultants on the particulars of the series. However, it’s important to note that “Expiration Date” is just in development and has yet to be picked up by Peacock for a series order.
Of course, when someone speaks out about a project before it’s released, there are folks that would argue about having to wait and see how the film/TV show treats the subject before condemning it. In the case of “Expiration Date” and Smith’s group, Inseparable, the problem isn’t just with the eventual content of the series, but more about how the show could already spread a bad message without anyone watching it.
“It almost doesn’t matter what’s in the script,” the advocate explained. “People are already seeing that there’s going to be an entire series about a person who [believes] whether or not they’re going to decide to die by suicide is the only way out, and the damage that that is going to cause is already happening.”
This is far from the only time that a project has come under fire for its way of showing and dealing with mental health. Netflix was consistently experiencing criticism for the series “13 Reasons Why,” which was controversial with how it depicted suicide and the effects of that tragedy. Netflix eventually re-edited portions of the series and added disclaimers.
We’ll just have to wait and see how Peacock handles this sort of controversy and if “Expiration Date” will eventually make its way to the streaming service.