‘90 Day Jane’ A Hoax, Takes Down Site
My friend Dan drew my attention to a truly morbid yet fascinating blog from a girl who calls herself “90 Day Jane.” The premise of the site is that she will commit suicide in 90 days, and is blogging each day leading up to her supposed death. Like any curious person, I went to the site and read a few of the posts. I was struck by the “About Me” section of the page. Here it is:
I am going to kill myself in 90 days. What else should i say? This blog is not a cry for help or even to get attention. It’s simply a public record of my last 90 days in existence. I’m not depressed and nothing extremely horrible has lead me to this decision. But, does it really have to? I mean, as an atheist I feel life has no greater purpose. My generation has had no great depression, no great war and our biggest obstacle is beating Halo 3. So, if I feel like saying “game over”, why can’t I? Anyway, I hope you enjoy my thoughts as the clock runs out. Also, if blogspot takes this down before i’m gone just go to www.90dayjane.com. Please don’t attempt to “help” me. If you want to truly help, please send me ideas on how to do the deed. thx-Jane
Like any site you hear about from a friend, there are thousands of other “friends” out there telling their friends, and your friend is surely not the first friend to tell their friends. Usually by the time I hear about something, it’s already a hit. Looking at the number of comments on Jane’s posts, her site was a hit. So much so, that three of her last five daily posts touched on the tremendous response her site was getting. On Day 87, the fourth day of the blog, she wrote:
I didn’t expect this kind of response, or really any response at all. To be honest, i’m kind of freaked but I also feel a sense of responsibility to continue the blog. I started it to be a public record of my suicide, but i thought it would be after the fact. I also wanted to use this blog to help answer the question of “why” for anyone who knew me and also for myself. Your comments are certainly helping me do that- many of them in a good way.
In only a week of publishing, Jane received hundreds of comments on each of her posts, the type of response any blogger dreams of. The comments range from concern, doubt, contempt, empathy to outright abuse. My favorite that I read came on the eighth day when one commenter wrote, “Can you make it nine day Jane? Seriously. Attention whore. But either way, before you die, can you post pix of your clam?”
I discussed with Dan whether or not Jane truly intended to commit suicide or whether she was creating some sort of social experiment to see how truly evil people could be on the internet. As in, would people really call a girl who had 83 days to live an “attention whore?” Or ask to see pictures of her “clam”? And if this chick was seriously disturbed and was actually going to kill herself, how could I laugh at any of this? The whole thing was just captivating.
Most of me, however, believed it was a hoax, and late Tuesday night, right before I started writing this post, my suspicions were confirmed, by 90 Day Jane herself. Apparently overwhelmed by the attention paid to her site, Jane posted “Day 0: The Resolve” which let her readers know that she was, in fact, merely testing all of us, had no intentions of committing suicide and that the joke had gone too far. Phew, because I actually did giggle at the “clam” comment.
90 Day Jane cited a conflict between her “massive sense of responsibility to my art” and the readers of the blog. Here is an excerpt from her final post:
My closeness to this project must have made art seem like reality to many people. That is not a reaction that I expected nor can I morally justify. This is why my project, 90DayJane, will be taken down in the next few hours.
90DayJane was meant to mirror the tragic figure, Christine Chubbuck. Newscaster Christine Chubbuck committed suicide in 1974 by shooting herself in the head live on air. She was very vocal about her depression to those around her and gave every indication of her exact intentions leading up to the event. Sadly, no one reacted or helped Christine and those left behind could only ask “why”.
Her story both inspired and terrified me because I can truly empathize with her rage and even her isolation. I wondered how Christine’s life and subsequent suicide would play out in our time. Would the internet be yet another place of isolation to her or an escape?
Well, it was good while it lasted. And whether or not 90 Day Jane was merely, as Radar put it in a story Tuesday, a “viral marketing scheme for some amateur auteur’s inspiration” or an actual homage to Chubbuck, the experiment did yield a noteworthy result. 90 Day Jane proves that no matter how depressed, disturbed, or downtrodden a girl is, there will always be one, if not many internet commenters ready to pummel her with lewd sex jokes.
“”90 Day Jane proves that no matter how depressed, disturbed, or downtrodden a girl is, there will always be one, if not many internet commenters ready to pummel her with lewd sex jokes.”" - this sums up most of the responses, some really fucking weird people out there. I do this this was a massive idea, It was all my college spoke about in the last week.
What a relief? Lets hope that this pompous and ridiculous claim of “art” from an irresponsible fool does not cause those with more susceptable mindsets to follow suit.
why are you the only one who noticed this post?
[…] Day Jane, as it turns out was nothing more than a macabre art project. Subscribe to comments Share This Tags: 90 day […]
I am glad she took it down, but like another commenter here, I was more disturbed by the asshats that responded to her. Such cruelty is beyond my comprehension
[…] is stating occured. For reasons that will be really, really clear in a moment, I’ll place Flumesday’s article , which evidently included part of 90 Day Jane’s final post, here for you, then we’ll […]
i bet this won’t put any ideas into depressed (dramatic & self-centered) teens.
Called it. How tacky. She clearly had no clue about the mindset and behaviour of people who actually are suicidal, which is pretty offensive.
“My closeness to this project must have made art seem like reality to many people.”
*dies laughing*
Way to overestimate the intelligence of the human race.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8636613675
Her personal Myspace started getting spammed, and she was receiving death treats.
This probably had more to do with her deleting the blog than anything else.
Never forgive.
Never forget.
Regarding the few people who post lewd things or encourage her to “just do it” : There are always people like that, even in real life. Whenever there’s someone perched on a ledge about to leap to their death, in that crowd will always be a few who yell “jump.” Why? I don’t know. But the internet seems to mirror the real world in this regard. There are many good, intelligent, empathetic posts, just as the world is filled with good, intelligent empathetic people. And then there are a small group of bottom-feeders.
I am pretty disgusted at the pretentious lying b.s. she calls ‘art.’ I love how she blames readers and not herself (who she SHOULD be blaming) for taking it too seriously. Also, she has NO idea the isolation and rage of Chubbuck, obviously “Jane” didn’t do her homework to see that there were a lot of other problems going on with Chubbuck that a stupid little girl like “Jane” could never in a million years begin to fathom. After all this, one could hope that she truly does commit suicide.
She tells the ‘new’ adress isn’t her action.
i truley think YOU “Jane” are a child… this is obviously a pathetic attepmt to get attention! you may say this isn’t an act of depression.. well if not that then just a cry from a selfcentered girl who didn’t get what she wanted!!! you know think about the people you will hurt, before you take your life to be like all the others that take their life for an easy way out… you know if you couldn’t handle the world then why is your bitch ass still here ??? think about it. i’m not saying go ahead kill yourself but if you truely wanted to kill yourself if you were that devoted why the fuck wait 90 days?? to try and find someone to persuade you?? or pitty you?? people do this everyday it’s nothing new!! -Boner
it was truly beautiful, and a wonderful piece of art. those who do not think so need to take several step backwards before looking at it again.
while i am very glad to hear her suicide is a hoax, i’m more offended by the response of people saying “jane” is “immature” and “obviously just out for attention”- not those of the “just do it” variety.
she had two choices: she could have ended it all or she could have show us pix of her clam. why didn’t she do either? was she depressed or was something wrong with her, like she was a tard, maybe? i want to see her clam!
What a shame, let’s get her back on the bandwagon:
http://kill90dayjane.blogspot.com/
So Flumes! Can we get a look at your clam?
Don’t believe one optimistic word from any public figure about the economy or humanity in general. They are all part of the problem. Its like a game of Monopoly. In America, the richest 1% now hold 1/2 OF ALL UNITED STATES WEALTH. Unlike ‘lesser’ estimates, this includes all stocks, bonds, cash, and material assets held by America’s richest 1%. Even that filthy pig Oprah acknowledged that it was at about 50% in 2006. Naturally, she put her own ‘humanitarian’ spin on it. Calling attention to her own ‘good will’. WHAT A DISGUSTING HYPOCRITE SLOB. THE RICHEST 1% HAVE LITERALLY MADE WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. Don’t fall for all of their ‘humanitarian’ CRAP. ITS A SHAM. THESE PEOPLE ARE CAUSING THE SAME PROBLEMS THEY PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT. Ask any professor of economics. Money does not grow on trees. The government can’t just print up more on a whim. At any given time, there is a relative limit to the wealth within ANY economy of ANY size. So when too much wealth accumulates at the top, the middle class slip further into debt and the lower class further into poverty. A similar rule applies worldwide. The world’s richest 1% now own over 40% of ALL WORLD WEALTH. This is EVEN AFTER you account for all of this ‘good will’ ‘humanitarian’ BS from celebrities and executives. ITS A SHAM. As they get richer and richer, less wealth is left circulating beneath them. This is the single greatest underlying cause for the current US recession. The middle class can no longer afford to sustain their share of the economy. Their wealth has been gradually transfered to the richest 1%. One way or another, we suffer because of their incredible greed. We are talking about TRILLIONS of dollars. Transfered FROM US TO THEM. Over a period of about 27 years. Thats Reaganomics for you. The wealth does not ‘trickle down’ as we were told it would. It just accumulates at the top. Shrinking the middle class and expanding the lower class. Causing a domino effect of socio-economic problems. But the rich will never stop. They will never settle for a reasonable share of ANYTHING. They will do whatever it takes to get even richer. Leaving even less of the pie for the other 99% of us to share. At the same time, they throw back a few tax deductable crumbs and call themselves ‘humanitarians’. IT CAN’T WORK THIS WAY. This is going to end just like a game of Monopoly. The current US recession will drag on for years and lead into the worst US depression of all time. The richest 1% will live like royalty while the rest of us fight over jobs, food, and gasoline. Crime, poverty, and suicide will skyrocket. So don’t fall for all of this PR CRAP from Hollywood, Pro Sports, and Wall Street PIGS. ITS A SHAM. Remember: They are filthy rich EVEN AFTER their tax deductable contributions. Greedy pigs. Now, we are headed for the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time. SEND A “THANK YOU” NOTE TO YOUR FAVORITE MILLIONAIRE. ITS THEIR FAULT. I’m not discounting other factors like China, sub-prime, or gas prices. But all of those factors combined still pale in comparison to that HUGE transfer of wealth to the rich. Anyway, those other factors are all related and further aggrivated because of GREED. If it weren’t for the OBSCENE distribution of wealth within our country, there never would have been such a market for sub-prime to begin with. Which by the way, was another trick whipped up by greedy bankers and executives. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. The credit industry has been ENDORSED by people like Oprah, Ellen, Dr Phil, and many other celebrities. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. So don’t fall for their ‘humanitarian’ BS. ITS A SHAM. NOTHING BUT TAX DEDUCTABLE PR CRAP. Bottom line: The richest 1% will soon tank the largest economy in the world. It will be like nothing we’ve ever seen before. and thats just the beginning. Greed will eventually tank every major economy in the world. Causing millions to suffer and die. Oprah, Angelina, Brad, Bono, and Bill are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem. EXTREME WEALTH HAS MADE WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. WITHOUT WORLD PROSPERITY, THERE WILL NEVER BE WORLD PEACE OR ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL. Of course, the rich will throw a fit and call me a madman. Of course, their ignorant fans will do the same. You have to expect that. But I speak the truth. If you don’t believe me, then copy this entry and run it by any professor of economics or socio-economics. Then tell a friend. Call the local radio station. Re-post this entry or put it in your own words. Be one of the first to predict the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time and explain its cause. WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.
aw… i was hoping it was true
Thank god she didn’t do it! I would have lost ten bucks!