Why do people put pistols in their mouth to kill themselves?

I’m remembering a scene from Fight Club and Possessor where the main characters put pistols in their mouth in an attempt to “kill themselves” (plus other movies I’ve seen).

In Fight Club, Tyler misses (I guess on purpose), and in Possessor, the main character needs to do it after completing a contract (to leave the body she possessed).

In Possessor, the angle suggests she might miss her brain entirely.

I can understand something like a shotgun; it’s not exactly something you can hold to your temple, but why put a pistol in your mouth?

Is it more effective somehow? Does it hit a part of your brain where firing from the side might otherwise leave you alive, yet disabled?

I’m sure you could argue it’s just more dramatic from a movie critic perspective, but I’m sure people have really done this, and it maybe be a case of art imitating life, but I believe it would be the other way around.

  • @[email protected]
    22•2 days ago

    You’re aiming for the medulla oblongata, the part of the brain that controls all the autonomic function like respiration and cardiac function. It’s right at the top of the spinal column. Hit that, and it’s lights out instantly. The easiest way to thin about the location is by putting a stick in your mouth and trying to touch you uvula, and then angled very slightly up from there, basically right through the soft palette.

    That’s why a gun in the mouth is so often used in films and TV; it’s essentially correct.