Fun Stuff > CHATTER
Robin Williams dead at 63
ThinksTooMuch:
Robin Williams was an intrinsic part of my childhood. And in middle school, he, through the character of John Keating helped me find the will to survive the most isolating time of my life. At the time, our family had just moved to a new city. I am introverted by nature, and I went from a private elementary with a class of 20 to a public school and a class of 360. The environment was a complete shock and I retreated into my mental bubble so completely it took me nearly three years before I even tried to make a friend there. Williams didn't get me through that, my brother did, but Dead Poet's Society is where I got the courage to face the world again. I met my first lifelong (so far) friend I met shortly after my first viewing. Carpe diem, it's so cliche but it is also true, and Bubbly (we are polar opposites personality-wise) is the kind of person I would have ignored or driven away a few months earlier. I don't think anyone other than Williams could've made me, a teenager lost in my own mind, actually make the effort to pay attention to the world around me.
This is not near eloquent enough. He lived a damn good life, and while I am sad he has gone, I will continue to return to his works when I need inspiration. I was incredibly blessed to share this world with him. I hope he has found his peace.
Carl-E:
I heard this morning that his wife said he had recently been diagnosed with the onset of Parkinson's.
That's not an excuse, of course, but certainly may have been a major factor, triggering a major depressive episode. Depression doesn't mix well with life changes and challenges.
Also heard that the tweet (from Disney, I think?) with the picture of Genie and Aladdin hugging that said "You're free now, genie" has caused a lot of problems.
Suicide is not freedom.
GarandMarine:
It's freedom in it's own way. It's not a good choice, but I think we safely say that those who choose to go willingly into the long night don't do it because they aren't in incredible pain, be it from a terminal illness that has left their body ravaged or the kind of life long, crippling struggle Mr. Williams faced with his depression, bi polar (alleged) and various addictions. We can all look and say "Well if he survived all that still smiling...". Throwing something like Parkinson's on top of that, that would rob a man often described as "pure energy" of everything that made him the vital, quick, beloved entertainer that he was... he'd even lose his ability to tell jokes over time.
In that light, perhaps we can be a bit more understanding of Robin's choice to bow and take his curtain call before he could not do so on his own two feet, and smile for the applause that was his due.
Thrillho:
--- Quote from: Carl-E on 14 Aug 2014, 23:05 ---I heard this morning that his wife said he had recently been diagnosed with the onset of Parkinson's.
That's not an excuse, of course, but certainly may have been a major factor, triggering a major depressive episode. Depression doesn't mix well with life changes and challenges.
Also heard that the tweet (from Disney, I think?) with the picture of Genie and Aladdin hugging that said "You're free now, genie" has caused a lot of problems.
Suicide is not freedom.
--- End quote ---
Freedom from pain? Freedom from an existence which might itself be agony? I think it could be considered so.
LTK:
The problem is that it glorifies suicide, and makes it seem like a courageous way to take control of the end of your life, when it really isn't. There's a reason we don't treat suicidal people the way we do people who ask for euthanasia at the end of their life. If someone is suicidal it is because they are mentally ill, and the last thing that person can do is make rational decisions about their own life. Pretending that a suicidal person must have a good reason to want to die is, well, life-threatening.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version