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* GoryDiscretionShot: Averted; the camera, as in real life, doesn't move away from Christine shooting herself.
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* GoryDiscretionShot: Averted; {{Averted}}; the camera, as in real life, doesn't move away from Christine shooting herself.herself.
** This trope is particularly unusual for a {{Biopic}} dealing with a person who famously committed suicide; most films of this nature [[SeriousBusiness tend to skip over the act of suicide]], for [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing fear of glamorisation or provoking copycat incidents]], but due to the nature of Chubbuck's suicide - that she wanted it to be broadcasted and televised - it seems somewhat proper that it should be depicted in graphic detail in the film, although the aftermath with all her devastated friends and relatives is depicted very soon afterward.
** This trope is particularly unusual for a {{Biopic}} dealing with a person who famously committed suicide; most films of this nature [[SeriousBusiness tend to skip over the act of suicide]], for [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing fear of glamorisation or provoking copycat incidents]], but due to the nature of Chubbuck's suicide - that she wanted it to be broadcasted and televised - it seems somewhat proper that it should be depicted in graphic detail in the film, although the aftermath with all her devastated friends and relatives is depicted very soon afterward.
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*Jerkass Has A Point: Nelson has a point about the coverage of the fire story Christine presents - she ignores getting images of a potentially impressive fire in favour of a close up on a man. Nelson is also pushing Christine over learning the new technology. His advice about her stories is good, just badly expressed given their already tense relationship.
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* KickTheDog: Nelson ''repeatedly'' does this to Christine. Granted he doesn't ''really'' mean to, but his behavior and how he treats Christine both times when she gets a "sensational story" (the fire story) and her substitute idea (the reenacting segments) really pushes her over the edge.
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* KickTheDog: Nelson ''repeatedly'' does this to Christine. Granted he doesn't ''really'' mean to, see Jerkass Has A Point, but his behavior and how he treats Christine both times when she gets a "sensational story" (the fire story) and her substitute idea (the reenacting segments) really pushes her over the edge.
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* RealityIsUnrealistic: According to those who saw the original broadcast, Christine was cool and emotionless and not hesitant before she committed suicide that fateful day.
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** Ironically, one of Christine's other coworkers appears to have a crush on her, but doesn't seem to notice. He even asks her out to lunch the day of her suicide, at which point her mind's already made up.
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** Ironically, one of Christine's other coworkers appears to have a crush on her, but she doesn't seem to notice. He even asks her out to lunch the day of her suicide, at which point her mind's already made up.
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** Ironically, the film ends with Jean singing along to the theme of the ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' -- a show that was extremely progressive in its time in showing a similarly single, childless woman around 30 dedicated to her career in television but also looking for love. ''That'' show was decidedly optimistic and hopeful, while Christine's story unfortunately doesn't get the same idealism.
* DemotedToExtra: The real Christine had a best friend named Andrea, not appearing in the film. Andrea was secretly dating the man she knew Christine had a crush on, and [[KickTheDog Christine was devastated]] when she found out about the relationship.[[note]]Andrea also didn't gain a gentle touch after the suicide, blasting Christine and accusing her of being selfish, pessimistic and obnoxiously self-defeating.[[/note]] The film includes a character named Andrea who George requests to be transferred with him, but she doesn't play much of a role in the narrative and does not have a close relationship to Christine.
* DemotedToExtra: The real Christine had a best friend named Andrea, not appearing in the film. Andrea was secretly dating the man she knew Christine had a crush on, and [[KickTheDog Christine was devastated]] when she found out about the relationship.[[note]]Andrea also didn't gain a gentle touch after the suicide, blasting Christine and accusing her of being selfish, pessimistic and obnoxiously self-defeating.[[/note]] The film includes a character named Andrea who George requests to be transferred with him, but she doesn't play much of a role in the narrative and does not have a close relationship to Christine.
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** Christine actually survives the attempt initially, but only briefly, and passes away shortly after.
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* DeliberateValuesDissonance: While a 30-year-old virgin would be fairly uncommon in today's society, it's not quite a social death knell, and a woman that age being unmarried has ceased turning heads. At the time in the film, Christine was already long considered a hopeless spinster, with her goal of making a family seen as approaching the impossible regardless of her medical condition -- no doubt contributing to her depression.
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* GoryDiscretionShot: Averted; the camera, as in real life, doesn't move away from Christine shooting herself.
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* NoSocialSkills: Christine tries hard to fit in, but her behavior frequently zig-zags between awkward and abrasive, earning her few points with those around her.
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* FriendToAllChildren: Christine adores children and [[TruthInTelevision volunteers her time doing puppet shows at the children's hospital]].
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* {{Adorkable}}: Early on when her depression wasn't at it's high peak, Christine is this. Very meek, dorky, and shy.
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* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Even with the awkward posture and abrasive manner of her subject, Rebecca Hall is still much more conventionally attractive than [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/80/Christine_Chubbuck.jpg Christine]].
* {{Adorkable}}: Early on when her depression wasn't atit's its high peak, Christine is this. Very meek, dorky, and shy.
* {{Adorkable}}: Early on when her depression wasn't at
** The real Christine had a brother who also lived with her mother in a sort of "adult commune," and she had no apparent conflict with her mother unlike in the film.
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* DownerEnding: See above.
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* DownerEnding: See above. Though the director chose to end the film on a very small positive note, with Jean singing along to ''Love is All Around,'' a self-care regime she'd recommended to Christine earlier.
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* MyBiologicalClockIsTicking: Deconstructed. All Christine wants is a husband and a baby, but her medical condition and lack of prospects make it a nigh impossible goal.
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* NatureAbhorsAVirgin: When Christine reveals at the therapy group that she's never even had sex, her partner is visibly taken aback and suggests she "manage [her] expectations" in her desire to have her own baby.
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** Ironically, one of Christine's other coworkers appears to have a crush on her, but doesn't seem to notice. He even asks her out to lunch the day of her suicide, at which point her mind's already made up.
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''Christine'' is a 2016 film directed by Antonio Campos and starring two unrelated people named Hall: Rebecca Hall and Creator/MichaelCHall.
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''Christine'' is a 2016 film directed by Antonio Campos and starring two unrelated people named Hall: Rebecca Hall Creator/RebeccaHall and Creator/MichaelCHall.
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Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall) is a field reporter at small-time television station WXLT in Sarasota, Florida in 1974. Christine is driven and passionate and cares about her work--which turns out to be a problem. Station manager Michael Nelson (Tracy Letts), desperate to turn around the sagging ratings of the station, is demanding more sensationalistic stories, much to the disgust of Christine, who wants to do more substantive news reporting. This leads to violent arguments with Nelson.
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Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall) (Creator/RebeccaHall) is a field reporter at small-time television station WXLT in Sarasota, Florida in 1974. Christine is driven and passionate and cares about her work--which turns out to be a problem. Station manager Michael Nelson (Tracy Letts), desperate to turn around the sagging ratings of the station, is demanding more sensationalistic stories, much to the disgust of Christine, who wants to do more substantive news reporting. This leads to violent arguments with Nelson.
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* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Nelson develops an obsession with getting high ratings for his station. His station goes ''nationwide'' following Christine's death.
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* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Christine commits suicide and is taken to the hospital, Nelson has this plastered on his face when reading Christine's suicide note and her thought-out plan. He also seems to endure this when he overhears the suicide tape once again.
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* DodgedNiceGuy: Turner to Christine.
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* DodgedNiceGuy: DoggedNiceGuy: Turner to Christine.
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* DodgedNiceGuy: Turner to Christine.
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* NoodleIncident: Peg mentions twice to Christine an incident at Boston that resulted with them leaving to Florida, due to Christine suffering one of her "moods".
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* TheReasonYouSuchSpeech: Due to her SanitySlippage, Christine delivers a pretty wrong one to Nelson when he rejects her proposal of doing reenactments and reveals Jean (Christine's friend) is already doing her own sensational story, causing her to accuse him of giving her hell because of [[LadyDrunk his wife's drinking problems]]. Nelson doesn't take it lightly and is incredibly ''enraged'' that she uses that against him.
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* TheReasonYouSuchSpeech: TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Due to her SanitySlippage, Christine delivers a pretty wrong one to Nelson when he rejects her proposal of doing reenactments and reveals Jean (Christine's friend) is already doing her own sensational story, causing her to accuse him of giving her hell because of [[LadyDrunk his wife's drinking problems]]. Nelson doesn't take it lightly and is incredibly ''enraged'' that she uses that against him.
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* TheReasonYouSuchSpeech: Due to her SanitySlippage, Christine delivers a pretty wrong one to Nelson when he rejects her proposal of doing reenactments and reveals Jean (Christine's friend) is already doing her own sensational story, causing her to accuse him of giving her hell because of [[LadyDrunk his wife's drinking problems]]. Nelson doesn't take it lightly and is incredibly ''enraged'' that she uses that against him.
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* KickTheDog: Nelson ''repeatedly'' does this to Christine. Granted he doesn't ''really'' mean to, but his behavior and how he treats Christine both times when she gets a "sensational story" (the fire story) and her substitute idea (the reenacting segments) really pushes her over the edge.
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* SanitySlippage: Christine undergoes this ''hard'' as the movie progresses, from feeling unnerved by the change of news stories at the station, her feelings towards George, and of course her own struggling depression that eventually pushes her into suicide.
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* SanitySlippage: Christine undergoes this ''hard'' as the movie progresses, from feeling unnerved by the change of news stories at the station, her feelings towards George, the fact if she doesn't get a ovary removed she won't be able to conceive, and of course her own struggling depression that eventually pushes her into suicide.
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* {{Adorkable}}: Early on when her depression wasn't at it's high peak, Christine is this. Very meek, dorky, and shy.
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* SelfDeprecation: Christine at times, but it really goes overboard when her depression grows.
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** Christine does get her "juicy" story of a man who was caught on a fire and puts it on her segment, which everyone was impressed by (along with the fact the man survived). Mike's response? ''Not a juicy story''. Suffice to say, Christine ''isn't'' happy.
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* SanitySlippage: Christine undergoes this ''hard'' as the movie progresses, from feeling unnerved by the change of news stories at the station, her feelings towards George, and of course her own struggling depression that eventually pushes her into suicide.
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* SanitySlippage: Christine undergoes this ''hard'' as the movie progresses, from feeling unnerved by the change of news stories at the station, her feelings towards George, and of course her own struggling depression that eventually pushes her into suicide.suicide.
* SuddenlyShouting: [[TheWoobie "OH, WHY WON'T ANYONE JUST LISTEN TO ME!?"]]
* SuddenlyShouting: [[TheWoobie "OH, WHY WON'T ANYONE JUST LISTEN TO ME!?"]]
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* DownerEnding: See above.
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* ForegoneConclusion: Those who know about Christine's suicide would know how the film is going to end.
* HopeSpot: After agreeing to a dinner with George, we finally get to see Christine being genuinely happy. But everything goes downhill quick once we learn that George's intention is not a romantic one.
* HopeSpot: After agreeing to a dinner with George, we finally get to see Christine being genuinely happy. But everything goes downhill quick once we learn that George's intention is not a romantic one.
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* TheStoner: Christine's mother Peg, who leads a hippie life and likes to smoke weed on the porch. This causes conflict with her uptight daughter.
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* TheStoner: Christine's mother Peg, who leads a hippie life and likes to smoke weed on the porch. This causes conflict with her uptight daughter.daughter.
* SanitySlippage: Christine undergoes this ''hard'' as the movie progresses, from feeling unnerved by the change of news stories at the station, her feelings towards George, and of course her own struggling depression that eventually pushes her into suicide.
* SanitySlippage: Christine undergoes this ''hard'' as the movie progresses, from feeling unnerved by the change of news stories at the station, her feelings towards George, and of course her own struggling depression that eventually pushes her into suicide.
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** In the movie Chubbuck is putting off the surgery to remove her ovary. In real life she had the ovary removed a year before her suicide, although the problem with bearing children is thought to have contributed to her depression.
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** In the movie Chubbuck is putting off the surgery to remove her right ovary. In real life she had the ovary removed a year before her suicide, although the problem with bearing children is thought to have contributed to her depression.depression; doctors had told her the other ovary would likely need to be removed in a couple of years, rendering her infertile. She desperately wanted a husband and children, but was a 29-year-old virgin with no romantic prospects whose biological clock was ticking much faster than most women's.
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Although it's true that Christine's family has been protective of her memory and the suicide footage has never been shown, the circumstances of her death are well known. There was an article that ran in the newspapers the next day from a Sarasota reporter who watched the incident live, and there was also Sally Quinn's article for which she was allowed to watch the footage.
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** Christine is shown killing herself during the evening news broadcast. In fact, the real Christine Chubbuck had a mid-morning chat show, ''Suncoast Digest''. Just before the show aired Chubbuck confused the crew by asking for a news digest to read from the anchor desk, instead of going straight to the interview as was regular practice. Her guest was still waiting in the interview set when Chubbuck killed herself after reading eight minutes of news.
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** Christine is shown killing herself during the evening news broadcast. In fact, the real Christine Chubbuck had a committed suicide during her own mid-morning chat show, ''Suncoast Digest''. Just before the show aired Chubbuck confused the crew by asking for a news digest to read from the anchor desk, instead of going straight to the interview as was regular practice. Her guest was still waiting in the interview set when Chubbuck killed herself after reading eight minutes of news.
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** All these issues however can be contributed (''especially'' Chubbuck's time as a reporter) to most of Chubbuck's life being scrubbed clean due to her family attempted to protect her past, most notably the suicide footage.
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* MoodWhiplash: A much more darker kind. Just as Christine goes into the quote as stated above, she quickly pulls her gun and shoots herself. It throws off not just the characters around her, but the audience as well.
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* MoodWhiplash: A much more darker kind. Just as Christine goes into the quote as stated above, she quickly pulls her gun and shoots herself. It throws off not just the characters around her, but the audience as well.
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-> "So, now, in keeping with WZRB policy, presenting the most immediate and complete reports of local 'blood and guts', TV 30 presents what is believed to be a television first. In living color, and exclusive coverage of an attempted suicide."
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-> "So, now, in keeping with WZRB policy, presenting the most immediate and complete reports of local 'blood and guts', TV 30 presents what is believed to be a television first. In living color, and an exclusive coverage of an attempted suicide."
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** All these issues however can be contributed (''especially'' Chubbuck's time as a reporter) to most of Chubbuck's life being scrubbed clean due to her family attempted to protect her past, most notably the suicide footage.
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* MoodWhiplash: A much more darker kind. Just as Christine goes into the quote as stated above, she quickly pulls her gun and shoots herself. It throws off not just the characters around her, but the audience as well.
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-> "So, now, in keeping with WZRB policy, presenting the most immediate and complete reports of local 'blood and guts, TV 30 presents what is believed to be a television first. In living color, and exclusive coverage of an attempted suicide."
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-> "So, now, in keeping with WZRB policy, presenting the most immediate and complete reports of local 'blood and guts, guts', TV 30 presents what is believed to be a television first. In living color, and exclusive coverage of an attempted suicide."
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/christine_406510204_large.jpg]]
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/christine_406510204_large.jpg]]
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-> "So, now, in keeping with WZRB policy, presenting the most immediate and complete reports of local 'blood and guts, TV 30 presents what is believed to be a television first. In living color, and exclusive coverage of an attempted suicide."
-->- '''Christine Chubbuck''' (actual quote, reproduced in movie)
-->- '''Christine Chubbuck''' (actual quote, reproduced in movie)
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/christine_406510204_large.jpg]]
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''Christine'' is a 2016 film directed by Antonio Campos and starring two unrelated people named Hall: Rebecca Hall and Creator/MichaelCHall.
Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall) is a field reporter at small-time television station WXLT in Sarasota, Florida in 1974. Christine is driven and passionate and cares about her work--which turns out to be a problem. Station manager Michael Nelson (Tracy Letts), desperate to turn around the sagging ratings of the station, is demanding more sensationalistic stories, much to the disgust of Christine, who wants to do more substantive news reporting. This leads to violent arguments with Nelson.
Chubbuck has a variety of personal problems as well. A closed-off personality makes it difficult for others to approach her, which is part of the reason why she's still a virgin at age 29. An ovarian cyst is causing her excruciating pain, but may inhibit her ability to have children if she has it removed. And she is in unrequited love with WXLT's handsome, affable anchor George Ryan (Michael C. Hall). Worst of all, she has "moods", namely depression, and is no longer taking her medication. All these issues lead to a moment of crisis that causes Christine to make a tragic decision.
Based on the infamous true story of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Chubbuck Christine Chubbuck]], a WXLT reporter who committed suicide live on the air on July 15, 1974.
----
!!Tropes:
* AndStarring: "And John Cullum as Bob Anderson".
* BadBadActing: Christine doing some acting as she shows Nelson her proposal for dramatic reenactments of crimes.
* BasedOnATrueStory: "Based on true events"
** Christine is shown killing herself during the evening news broadcast. In fact, the real Christine Chubbuck had a mid-morning chat show, ''Suncoast Digest''. Just before the show aired Chubbuck confused the crew by asking for a news digest to read from the anchor desk, instead of going straight to the interview as was regular practice. Her guest was still waiting in the interview set when Chubbuck killed herself after reading eight minutes of news.
** In the movie Chubbuck is putting off the surgery to remove her ovary. In real life she had the ovary removed a year before her suicide, although the problem with bearing children is thought to have contributed to her depression.
* CallBack: Early in the film Jean tells Christine that when she's down, she likes to eat ice cream and sing. The end of the film has Jean eating ice cream and singing along to the theme of ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow''.
* CallForward: Christine proposes an idea to film people living their real lives at home, something that sounds a lot like RealityTV. Nelson dismisses the idea, saying "they already tried that with ''An American Family''", the PBS show that is in fact considered the UrExample of reality television.
* CallingParentsByTheirName: Christine is calling her mother "Mom" at the start of the film but is calling her "Peg" as her depression worsens.
* CannotSpitItOut: Christine has a desperate crush on George but can never bring herself to say it, not when he's halfway coming on to her at the 4th of July party and not when they're out to dinner.
* ChekhovsGun: An actual gun, as Christine interviews a gun dealer who repairs guns for the cops and also sells them. The revolver she looks at is the one she later uses to kill herself.
* CloseOnTitle: The title appears right before the credits roll.
* CoincidentalBroadcast: All the broadcasts are news stories designed to let the viewer know about the passage of time. The last scene has Jean turn on the TV to hear the beginning of a report about Ford's pardon of Nixon, dating the time to two months after Christine's death.
* DrivenToSuicide: In a horrible public way.
* FakeOutOpening: The first scene shows Christine apparently interviewing UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. In fact she's interviewing no one, just getting some footage recorded so she can see how she looks on the screen.
* IfItBleedsItLeads: Quoted word-for-word by Nelson as he urges his staff to get juicier news stories.
* JapaneseRanguage: A throwaway gag in which the weather guy is complaining about a Japanese technician telling him that the circuits on the weather map computer are "flied".
* JustFriends: The sad thing is that George really does sincerely want to be Christine's friend, taking her out to a nice dinner and then to a group therapy class that he clearly hopes will help Christine. But when she realizes that he doesn't have any romantic interest in her and is in fact dating Andrea the sexy sports reporter, it's another trigger that drives her to suicide.
* LadyDrunk: Nelson's wife, who is staggering and dropping her wine glass at the 4th of July party.
* MononymousBiopicTitle
* ObliviousToLove: While he at least seems a little intrigued by his fiery co-worker, George completely misses Christine's crush on him.
* PinkMist: There's a splatter of blood on the news set wall behind Christine after she shoots herself.
* TheStoner: Christine's mother Peg, who leads a hippie life and likes to smoke weed on the porch. This causes conflict with her uptight daughter.
Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall) is a field reporter at small-time television station WXLT in Sarasota, Florida in 1974. Christine is driven and passionate and cares about her work--which turns out to be a problem. Station manager Michael Nelson (Tracy Letts), desperate to turn around the sagging ratings of the station, is demanding more sensationalistic stories, much to the disgust of Christine, who wants to do more substantive news reporting. This leads to violent arguments with Nelson.
Chubbuck has a variety of personal problems as well. A closed-off personality makes it difficult for others to approach her, which is part of the reason why she's still a virgin at age 29. An ovarian cyst is causing her excruciating pain, but may inhibit her ability to have children if she has it removed. And she is in unrequited love with WXLT's handsome, affable anchor George Ryan (Michael C. Hall). Worst of all, she has "moods", namely depression, and is no longer taking her medication. All these issues lead to a moment of crisis that causes Christine to make a tragic decision.
Based on the infamous true story of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Chubbuck Christine Chubbuck]], a WXLT reporter who committed suicide live on the air on July 15, 1974.
----
!!Tropes:
* AndStarring: "And John Cullum as Bob Anderson".
* BadBadActing: Christine doing some acting as she shows Nelson her proposal for dramatic reenactments of crimes.
* BasedOnATrueStory: "Based on true events"
** Christine is shown killing herself during the evening news broadcast. In fact, the real Christine Chubbuck had a mid-morning chat show, ''Suncoast Digest''. Just before the show aired Chubbuck confused the crew by asking for a news digest to read from the anchor desk, instead of going straight to the interview as was regular practice. Her guest was still waiting in the interview set when Chubbuck killed herself after reading eight minutes of news.
** In the movie Chubbuck is putting off the surgery to remove her ovary. In real life she had the ovary removed a year before her suicide, although the problem with bearing children is thought to have contributed to her depression.
* CallBack: Early in the film Jean tells Christine that when she's down, she likes to eat ice cream and sing. The end of the film has Jean eating ice cream and singing along to the theme of ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow''.
* CallForward: Christine proposes an idea to film people living their real lives at home, something that sounds a lot like RealityTV. Nelson dismisses the idea, saying "they already tried that with ''An American Family''", the PBS show that is in fact considered the UrExample of reality television.
* CallingParentsByTheirName: Christine is calling her mother "Mom" at the start of the film but is calling her "Peg" as her depression worsens.
* CannotSpitItOut: Christine has a desperate crush on George but can never bring herself to say it, not when he's halfway coming on to her at the 4th of July party and not when they're out to dinner.
* ChekhovsGun: An actual gun, as Christine interviews a gun dealer who repairs guns for the cops and also sells them. The revolver she looks at is the one she later uses to kill herself.
* CloseOnTitle: The title appears right before the credits roll.
* CoincidentalBroadcast: All the broadcasts are news stories designed to let the viewer know about the passage of time. The last scene has Jean turn on the TV to hear the beginning of a report about Ford's pardon of Nixon, dating the time to two months after Christine's death.
* DrivenToSuicide: In a horrible public way.
* FakeOutOpening: The first scene shows Christine apparently interviewing UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. In fact she's interviewing no one, just getting some footage recorded so she can see how she looks on the screen.
* IfItBleedsItLeads: Quoted word-for-word by Nelson as he urges his staff to get juicier news stories.
* JapaneseRanguage: A throwaway gag in which the weather guy is complaining about a Japanese technician telling him that the circuits on the weather map computer are "flied".
* JustFriends: The sad thing is that George really does sincerely want to be Christine's friend, taking her out to a nice dinner and then to a group therapy class that he clearly hopes will help Christine. But when she realizes that he doesn't have any romantic interest in her and is in fact dating Andrea the sexy sports reporter, it's another trigger that drives her to suicide.
* LadyDrunk: Nelson's wife, who is staggering and dropping her wine glass at the 4th of July party.
* MononymousBiopicTitle
* ObliviousToLove: While he at least seems a little intrigued by his fiery co-worker, George completely misses Christine's crush on him.
* PinkMist: There's a splatter of blood on the news set wall behind Christine after she shoots herself.
* TheStoner: Christine's mother Peg, who leads a hippie life and likes to smoke weed on the porch. This causes conflict with her uptight daughter.
