ABSTRACT
A core element of echoing self-harmful contagions is fictional texts. Before the internet, many people found fictional texts to inspire self-harmful activities on television broadcasts or in a library. With the internet, there are now long lists of fictional texts shared by self-harmful communities, encouraging members to view these texts to find characters they can relate to or, in some cases, to find techniques that may help to support and hide dangerous behaviours. This chapter traces made-for-TV (later streaming) movies, often about a decent into anorexia, and TV show episodes where characters self-harm or starve. The protagonists in these stories, sometimes based on real people, tend to have common attributes. They are generally smart, White, female, teenagers who are driven to bad behaviours due to their perfectionist streaks and desire to achieve. Supporting stereotypical notions, these protagonists deny food for a sense of purity or cut to secretly express their abiding pain. Similar trends can be observed in books about self-harmful activities. While such texts are generally created to shock audiences, educate them about dangerous behaviours, or entertain them with dark and compelling narratives, self-harmful communities have increasingly removed them from this intended context. Instead, fictional or biographical texts become ‘how-to manuals’ and help contagious ideas to echo across the web.
