Talk:Suicide of Evelyn McHale

What were the details of her parents' divorce?

Is it possible to investigate the records of her parents' divorce? What exactly were the tendencies of her mother that seemed so bad, they caused a suicide? 172.10.237.153 (talk) 00:57, 4 July 2017 (UTC)

I believe this sentence summarizes the mother's issues: "Her mother suffered from undiagnosed and untreated depression. This led to a challenging marriage, and ultimately a divorce.[5] — Preceding unsigned comment added by ChiHistoryeditor (talk • contribs) 20:38, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

Is there any record of whose car she landed upon? Thankfully, such an impact would seem to be a rarity. Just curious. PastorDan (talk) 12:30, 13 December 2021 (UTC)

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Missing pop culture reference

The character Amanda Hunsacker in the opening of Lethal Weapon (1987). 2601:282:1D00:23C0:9801:1DCE:A9A3:7E4 (talk) 04:38, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

How did she clear all the setback shoulders?

There's some details not discussed in the article. How did she get past the prison-like security-fence that arches high above and deep into the interior of the space above the 86th floor balcony. Surely that could not have been easy, and if a security-guard was only 10 feet away, impossible that he would not prevent her action. Do we have a date for the installation of those tall curved bars? Also, how is it possible that she landed on a parked car, which means she jumped in a manner to get past not only all of the building's setback shoulders (which I've read most of the suicides end up, on a roof) but also got past the sidewalk? Finally, was anybody else injured? (Maybe the article details that and I missed it once I realized there wasn't going to be an explanation of how she got over that fence and cleared the setback shoulders.)2600:1700:6759:B000:E894:BFCC:705D:880 (talk) 01:08, 28 March 2025 (UTC)Christopher Lawrence Simpson

Suicide note: strike-thrus

Why does her note contain several sentences that have been struck-thru, with no explanation given. Either they were in the note or they weren't. 73.241.173.236 (talk) 16:07, 14 October 2025 (UTC)

Requested move 30 May 2026

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. per consensus, WP:BIO1E – robertsky (talk) 04:20, 14 June 2026 (UTC)

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Evelyn McHale → Suicide of Evelyn McHale – Per WP:BIO1E, This article goes less into detail about her life than Christine Chubbuck's yet that article is titled Suicide of Christine Chubbuck ILoveSmallEdits (talk) 22:21, 30 May 2026 (UTC) — Relisting. Jeffrey34555 (talk) 23:09, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Please do not change the title of this page to the one suggested. This young woman should not be defined by her last dark moment. You only contribute to the tragedy by doing so. Because someone has an issue with the title of another Wikipedia page is not a valid reason to change this one. ~2026-33176-13 (talk) 21:21, 3 June 2026 (UTC)

• Support per WP:BIO1E. The article is about her final moment irrespective of if it is moved or not. orangesclub 🍊 18:36, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

  The article is about more than her cause of death. The current title is suffucient. It is the title of Christine Chubbuck’s article that needs changing. She too was more than the reason for her death. ~2026-33484-61 (talk) 00:36, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

  Oppose. The proposed move is a structural mismatch. The page is not merely an event summary, it is a multi-faceted look at a biography, a historical piece of media (the LIFE magazine photo by Robert Wiles) and its subsequent, multi-decades pop culture legacy. Retaining the person’s name as the title, remains the most neutral and comprehensive “ common name” for the collective subject matter.R Clams (talk) 01:27, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Support. Changing the name of the article still keeps all the historical pieces intact and does not diminish the integrity of this person. Earth Mountain (talk) 03:20, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

Oppose: Renaming this article violates Wikipedia's core naming and neutrality policies. This page is a comprehensive biographical entry, not an article exclusively about a single tragic event.

The current title remains the most appropriate for the following policy-based reasons:

Biographical Scope: A vast majority of the article covers her life story, her professional background, and her lasting cultural legacy in the arts. Reducing an individual's entire existence soley to the manner of their death strips the subject of dignity and violates our Neutral Point of View policy (WP:NPOV).

Standard Naming Conventions: Under Wikipedia's biographical standards, standard practice dictates using the person's name as the article title. Exceptions are strictly reserved for events or disasters (e.g. "The Falling Man"), whereas this article covers the broader legacy of a specific, named historical figure.

Broader Cultural Legacy: The iconic photograph is a part of her story, but it does not represent the entirety of it. The article's current structure ensures we honor the person behind the photograph, focusing on her life, the circumstances of the iconic image, and its subsequent influence on pop culture and art.

The existing article title is accurate, respectful, and appropriately encyclopedic. The title should remain under Evelyn McHale.

R Clams (talk) 01:45, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose, there's enough coverage about McHale that it's not just noteable for the suicide.--Ortizesp (talk) 13:38, 9 June 2026 (UTC)
• Support. This is literally the only reason for her notability. Yes, there's stuff in the article about her background. Of course there is. But she wouldn't have been notable in any way if she hadn't committed suicide and her body then photographed. Sad but true. -- Necrothesp (talk) 09:11, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  Oppose Wikipedia has an expicit guidline regarding whether an article should be about a person or the event they are known for. McHale meets the standard for a biographical title because the article contains a substantial history of her life, and her post-mortem impact on popular culture (WP:PVE).

  The proposed title "The Suicide of Evelyn McHale" is a severe misnomer because the physical act of the suicide occupies only a tiny fraction of the text. The bulk of the article is a biographical overview and a cultural critique of Robert Wiles' photograph.

  Wikipedia dictates that articles should be titled based on what a general reader would type into a search engine. (WP:COMMONNAME). People search for "Evelyn McHale" to look up the woman in the photo. Forcing them to search for "Suicide of . . ." creates an unnecessary academic barrier.

  Half of the article is biographical is its content. If the article is renamed , "The Suicide of . . ." editors will eventually try to strip away her childhood history, family background, and career details to make the article strictly fit the new title. Keeping her name as the article title preserves the encyclopedic integrity of her life story.

  R Clams (talk) 14:38, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.