You want to mourn Mork more than ...say a double amputee veteran returning from Afghanistan because he made you laugh. Or a person who was diagnosed with depression and tried to end their life due to being homeless as a child to a drug addicted mother and being raped repeatedly by her mom's drug dealer? Yeah, this second person "turned it around" with help from me. I do not think anyone gets a special pass in life. We all feel pain.

That's the bottom line here.

I say B.S. to your need to make special dispensation for the rich and famous. I agree only with you in that all life is precious. But that's it. The rest of your post is just making excuses for behavior that needs none, on behalf of someone who did, in fact, have it all. You see, we are all responsible for our own actions in life. Even up to our last moment on Earth.Some people need to learn the concept of "Personal Responsibility". We are all equal in that regard. Do not confuse success with responsibility. You are confusing the two in a weak straw man argument. Fail.

Thanks for bringing this back on track, Nostatic.
RIP.

Mr Nostatus it is a sad thing for a man who brought so much joy to so many to wind up taking his own life. However life is full of struggle and loss for every human being, by taking his own life Mr Williams didn't stick it out with the team of human kind until the natural end. As such he let the team of human kind who grin and bear it down. This checking out of the hotel California did not make ones struggle in life any easier but adds to the list of losses and pain therein of people who fell by the wayside.

Anytime that I will ever see a piece of Mr Williams work it will not be a joyful experience but be overshadowed with the sad knowledge and memory that he took his own life.

On the contrary, his pulling the rip cord might help others to reach out for help, and can serve as a reminder that no matter what our station or status in life, there is only now and those around us.

Those who are left to soldier on create their own perspective. It can be negative or hopeful. Or perhaps most appropriately, a little from column A, a little from column B. Yin/yang rules the day - same as it ever was.

Interesting that you keep referencing veterans. As it turns out, RW served that audience admirably:

Why The Troops Loved Robin Williams

https://www.facebook.com/theUSO

I wonder if those vets that he entertained overseas would judge him as harshly as you do.

There was a similar thread for some other celebrity recently...might've been Hoffman...

The point was made (don't recall by who) that it's not so much that celebrities are valued more but that more people 'know' the celebrity so more people have a reaction to it.

I thought it a good point.

Nostatic,

Here's a bit of my personal experience dealing with depression/ suicide and substance abuse. I don't really think anyone will care about it, but hey. Maybe it'll help someone who is dealing with someone in a similar situation.

The girl I referenced was my ex GF. After we split up, she fell into a pattern of addiction and ended up in jail. She wrote to me and asked me to pray for her. What I decided to do was to change her life. I found her dad, who abandoned her and her mom when she was 7. I put him in touch with her. I got her out of jail and into a year long substance abuse program, which she is part of today, 4 years later. She was suicidal for about 5 months, which was scary. She tried to kill herself twice. The pain tricks the mind into thinking that there is no other way to end the pain. I helped her by not only paying for her program, but replacing all of her clothing that was stolen while she was in jail by a guy that she met in AA, after we parted ways. She forgave her dad. She forgave herself. She found God. She stopped using excuses for making bad choices.

So do not lecture me about empathy. Let me lecture not just "you" but those who need a crutch to take personal responsibility.

My theory on RW is that he never was allowed to hit bottom. He never was forced to learn how to deal with his pain. People around him would tell him how good he was, but obviously this is not what he needed. Depression is something that will kill you if you let it. Deciding for your loved ones that they are better off without you is the ultimate selfish act that there is. People with depression really don't want sympathy. They just want to get better. They must acquire the skill and ability to deal with their pain. Feel sorry for him? No. Feel sorry for his daughter? Hell yes. He took the coward's way out.

Such ignorance.

I met him, more than once.
On film sets. In Vancouver.
He seemed like a kind and gentle person.
Pedalled (his ti road bike) to set, quite often, riding to the top of Mount Seymour.
He loved bicycles.

He was well liked in Vancouver. Never heard anyone (in film production) say a bad word about him.

It's complete ignorance. Nothing "true" about it.

I'd imagine he had thought about doing this for a long, long time. I'd imagine he quit the game because he felt he had nothing left to contribute and was really tired. I can see how it looks like selfish cowardliness to some and feel for those he left behind but the guy made a lot of his time on this side and seems to have decided he'd done his time.

He's finally at ease now. Many are sad now but hopefully soon find real peace with his final choice by recognizing his vast body of work and accomplishments (choices as well) while here. RIP RW. You provided millions of people with joy while you were among us.

His life in pictures....

Robin Williams dies at the age of 63 | Gallery | Wonderwall

Post of the year right there.

Suicide, particularly of a public figure, is an interesting Rorsach test of sorts. It elicits a real variety of reactions.

When I first read Rusnak's posts, I thought of what an empathy lacking simple minded person he must be and felt sympathy. Then I remembered that suicide makes a lot of people angry. Rightfully so, in many cases. It is the ultimate selfish act but I do not necessarily say that in a condemning way- who has more of a right to say whether I live or die than me?

Empathy is the important quality that allows some of us to understand someone else's experience that is not like our own. People with empathy make the world a better place but they are being fought every inch of the way by people without empathy, across the globe.

I'm not going to try to explain depression or other psychological illness to people who have no interest in understanding the human condition. But I will tell you that you have no clue and would appear a lot smarter by staying mute.

Yes, rusnak, "mental illness" (including "depression" HAHAHA!) is hogwash, nothing more than a pitiful excuse for not "manning up" and taking responsibility for one's life!!! :mad:

And yes, rusnak, "mentally ill" people are, by and large, cowards!!! :mad:

Ohhhh, rusnak, you are a truly enlightened individual of great intellectual and emotional depth. :rolleyes:

RIP Robin Williams.

Good (archival) interview with him on the Marc Maron podcast this morning. A side of him I had really never seen.

No quite the contrary, although that is not at all germane to the discussion.

Clinical depression is a disease of chemical imbalance and cannot be "gotten over" any more than a diabetic can "get over" his illness.

I am happy for your friend that was able to deal with all the misfortune in her life, but that may well be an apples to oranges comparison.

I had a friend that once told me that "the only thing you can control in the world is your mind"...I didn't have the heart to tell him just how ignorant that statement was.

thank you for taking the time to post an intelligent response re: depression. Anyone who thinks real depression is a "choice" and all you have to do to get out of it is "get a grip" is clueless.

Hitting Bottom? NO! Responsibility..not really

Everybody is dealt a hand of cards in life, and sometimes that hand has a lot of pain and sadness in it. There is no promise of happiness in life. That pain is part and parcel of who you are and you can not run from it. You can not be somebody else. If you come to terms with that pain then you can have peace of mind and an carry on with your life and you might even find some happiness.

When Mr Williams was "ON" with his gregarious persona (which he used to hide the pain), nobody saw the sadness or pain behind the mask. After awhile everybody expected him to be "on" which was something that he could not escape.

One day one thinks that Mr Williams came to the realization that he did not have the will or ability to turn off the switch of being a funny guy of always being on. To turn off the switch just to be himself which was full of sadness. Since he could not bear to wear the mask of being a funny guy anymore and could not turn it off. So the only way out was to cease being, to end it all.


To whit Sandy a week and a half before she died of Cancer at 68 said while clenching her fist and softly hitting the sofa, "Ted I am dying, and it is not fair." Which means that she appreciated what a precious gift life is, and she knew it was being cut short. The last cogent thing Sandy said to me in a barely audible voice was, "Ted I am so sick." After that Sandy was in another world/place before she died.

So in the end one does think that Mr Williams did take the easy way out

Rest in Peace - I am shocked by this news. I missed it until the paper this morning. I enjoyed his movies since he moved out of the egg in Boulder. He could free-associate like no other. Has anyone mentioned how hairy he was?? Liked his biking. Had a soft spot in his heart for kids - i.e. Patch Adams - the movie about being a fun kids doctor.

He regularly visited kids in the UCSF hospital. My son got his visit at Christmas time 2005 - ghostly sick in the ICU after surgery. Only Robin could get away with his words to me in a Popeye voice after wishing my son Merry Christmas - "Not much of a talker, is he?" Five days later my son was back at it playing again - until getting his stem cell transplant a few months later.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1407868558.jpg

“He could make everybody happy but himself.” -Garry Marshall

I read that he went and cheered up his good friend Christopher Reeve in the hospital after his accident. And that it was the first time that he had laughed since the accident.

What was even more touching was that during Juilliard when the two were enrolled there, Robin Williams said that he was literally broke and that Christopher Reeve would share his meals with him.

He will be missed.

RIP good sir. Thanks for all the laughs. You will defiantly will be missed.

From Huffpost: Apparently, the Academy Awards rejected the bid for "Aladdin" in the Best Adapted Screenplay category because so much of Williams role ended up being improvised. According to producer and director John Musker, Williams ended up improvising about 70 impressions to be used in the film as well. In a Reddit AMA, Williams explained:

I can't do that. You can't do that. Pretty much no one else could do that. The sheer genius required to execute such a feat is no doubt driven by a madness that is barely kept under control.

Every day people perform heroic acts. Most of them are small and receive no notice. But often that is because those acts *can* be performed by others. Some things are only attainable by a select few, and society generally celebrates those people - for better, or for worse.

http://nostatic.com/photos/rw-tweet.png

I may have missed this in reading others posts on Robin Williams' passing - but for those of you who wish (many of you are already aware) there are some greats clips of him on 'youtube' with Johnny Carson & David Letterman that are hilarious.

Thanks for the many many laughs Robin - R.I.P.

JB

Did you know any of those veterans? Probably not at all. Did you know Robin Williams, probably very well. Just because a veteran commits suiside should not make it any more different than some actor, they are all human beings, but because that actor has had such a big influence on the entire country, it's a bit above the others in the news. A cook in the army is a cook in the army.

God. If we ever had the ability to turn back time this is when we would do it .
Such a huge loss.

TABS, as with most/ all of your posts, I really want to say that I agree, but this is such a stream of consciousness, scattershot post, I really can't say that you have a point to agree with. RW had a lot of pain in his life. That is my Captain Obvious statement. He dealt with it poorly. Ok - what I am saying is that he didn't reach the turnaround point. He just veered off and crashed and burned. A lot of people hit bottom. They lose everything, and then their recovery starts. Addiction, narcism, histrionic behavior, etc are all reactions to pain of some sort, and they make depression harder to deal with.

Wow--how cool! How's your boy now?

Terry

I understand the sadness people have over Williams punching his ticket too early. I loved his comic ability. He was a master of the toughest form of comedy: ad lib. A great cut from the same cloth as Jonathan Winters. It takes far more talent to do what he did rather than just stand there and curse and tell dirty jokes.

Unfortunately, many people (not pointing to anyone on this board) mourn the loss of what Robin Williams did for them rather than sadness for his torment and tragic end. That isn't empathy at all but veiled selfishness. The comparison of Williams to veterans doesn't comment on Williams at all. It shines a bright light on you and I.

Williams was comic genius but didn't show the valor of a hero to be admired. He earned respect for his skill. He never earned the honor a hero deserves. Society worships celebrity rather than integrity. When Mother Teresa died she was a short bi-line drowned out by a flood of celebrity worship for Princess Di.

I have a hard time understanding great personal mourning for someone I never met and never knew. A musician made great music or a comedian made me laugh but I don't really know them. As such, I am mourning my loss of what they did for me. Selfishness.

Will I miss Robin Williams? Hell yes. He was a skilled actor and comedian.

Maybe the wrong person succeeded.

Rush Limbaugh says ‘leftist ways’ killed Robin Williams - The Margin - MarketWatch

Rush is an idiot who epitomizes the kind of person who feeds off of the bad things in the world for personal gain. Right up there with Jesse Jackson....

Carrion eater.

Vulture.

Scum bag of a depth, breadth and foulness that only a few on this list can even hope to achieve...all though a few seem to trying very hard.

Rush makes me embarrassed to hold social, fiscal and religious conservative views.

Dennis

i don't think depression severe enough to incite a suicide is a left or right thing.

rush knows better and that's what makes it so heinous. He's just digging for scraps to fill air time and he doesn't care that he is interrupting a national wake to do it. his desire to be involved in every conversation trumps his ability to stop dumb **** from coming out of his mouth.

This was posted on FB by a friend of mine. I could not have said it better. My Father committed suicide when I was an infant. It is tragic and sad and I hate the fact that I didn't get to know him but I don't blame him or think he was a coward. He was someone who was sick and didn't know how to get help. Hopefully 50 years later help is more available and accessible. Peace to Robin Williams and all of those struggling.

At the risk of over posting, why are people being so vile about suicide in the wake of Robin Williams' death? Calling those who take their own lives selfish and cowardly? I can't imagine the depths one must reach to get to the point of actually taking one's life. I hope never to know what that is like. But I have to believe that for someone to take their life, they have come to the conclusion that there is no alternative. They have reached a point they feel they can no longer go on. And it doesn't matter why. What does matter is that it is sad and tragic, and, yes, those who are left behind will mourn. And we may never understand. And we may always wonder if we couldn't have done more to help. But in the end, hopefully there is peace and forgiveness and love. So let's not judge. Let's be compassionate. Let's be grateful for every moment we have with our loved ones. And let's hope we never feel that our only option is to take our own life.

I think an unwillingness to empathize is pretty damn selfish too... the ole my way of highway mentality. The greater a person feels the better the art he produces. As has been pointed out, so many great artists have been the tortured souls...

A lack of understanding here makes the discussion pointless..

Comprehend words?
 

I missed the request I made to be a pretty snowflake or the part where I might have been whining. Guess you are as obtuse as you have portrayed herein. Empathy is not whining; ones lack of empathy can underscore in the intelligent anyway, a certain arrogance or selfishness. In the less intelligent, likely a by-product of lower levels of awareness. Where do you fit?

Have you any idea in Robin's case, how long he fought the drive to commit suicide? If indeed it was a daily, or weekly thing throughout his life, I'd say he fought well and hard.... Knowing a friend who has suceeded in this battle makes you not an expert on all such battles. I think you probably know that...

That puzzles me to. I seems the selfish ones are those who want a person who lives with great emotional pain to stay around to entertain them regardless of his pain.

Imagine if you had a friend who was really smart. So smart that during any argument or intellectual discussion you would have no hope of winning the argument.

Now imagine that friend gets sick and his powerful brain turns on him.
That person wouldn't stand a chance.

I have no idea really, but I imagine that depression and suicide are probably like that.
Something in the brain has gone haywire. Why else would an intelligent person with a survival instinct genetically built it, decide not to survive?

I just can't understand this sort of action otherwise.