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@karasti said:
age is just a number, if you determine you feel old, then you will. My dad is 62 and still lives like he did 25 years ago. He just got back from taking my kids on vacation where they were body surfing and rock climbing. He refuses to get "old" so he doesn't. It's amazing how much our mindset about such things affects how our body feels. 63 for Robin wasn't old but it is sad to realize how much of his life he spent suffering and attempting to reach a balance. It does seem likely the Parkinson's diagnosis was just the last straw.
In thinking about Robin's death and other celebrities, it dawned on me that for him, we feel much sympathy for his suffering, how horrible it must have been. But when we think about other celebrities who died of overdose and addiction, we tend to be more critical of them. They weren't all that different than Robin, just perhaps their deaths weren't quite as purpose-driven as Robin's was. It always seems to me those who are drug addicted are suffering a lack of balance and mental illness in many ways, too, and are self-medicating. It's interesting how much less compassion we tend to have for them than someone who suffered the same demons but purposely took his own life as opposed to accidentally.
Not me. When the news that Phillip Seymour Hoffman died from an overdose came out, for example, I got pissed at all the things my friends were saying, like, "You know how I feel about this? What a f**king waste. You were a great actor, but you ended up being an idiot. I will make an effort not to miss you." To which I quipped, "Yeah, because getting off heroin is so easy. He's a total asshole for not having a desire nor the will power to be as awesome and smart as people who aren't struggling with addiction. lolwut"
I have sympathy for anyone struggling with things like drug addiction and depression, famous or otherwise. Part of that may be because I've had experience with both, giving me some insight into the hearts and minds of people who suffer from them. Even though these things can turn you into an unpleasant person to be around, or make you do things that end up hurting other people, the underlying unhappiness and suffering that drives such unskillful behaviour and/or make one's reality a real-life hell realm is always worthy of compassion, in my mind.
I think it's difficult for many people to have sympathy for those actors/entertainers who are always pleading for sympathy on a string of seemingly never-ending interview shows. I can see someone reacting, for example, to the Robin Williams situation and saying, "What the hell has he got to be depressed about? He's got $50,000,000."
I think most of us realize that money is not the sole (or even most important) source of happiness. But, I can also see the perspective of the waiter making minimum wage over long, hard hours and still not being able to fully support his family.
The problem is not being able to see beyond one's own little world.
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Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
edited August 2014
I just finished watching "The Fisher King", a Robin Williams movie I'd never heard about that was recommended in this thread. Beautiful movie, just beautiful.
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Stunning, wasn't it? And really sad, given the circumstance in which you felt compelled to view it....
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Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
edited August 2014
@federica That's how he lives on for me, and to be honest... how he's always been alive to me (not knowing him personally). I'm going to miss him on some level always, and be saddened in that place, but there's more of him left in the world to affect others than will be left of many of us. He's touched more lives than many of us will touch. It's "bittersweet", but I'm also glad for him on some level. I can personally wish he hadn't done what he did, but I didn't walk in his shoes or know his pain. Only his family has any right to have expected him not to do it; I can't judge him from my distance.
At least the face he showed the world was happy and inspiring, and slightly-to-moderately mad. :crazy:
That's how I'll remember him.
Red Skelton often said about himself, "I'm nuts, and I know it. But as long as I keep them laughing, they ain't gonna lock me up." I believed it about Red, and I think it was true about Robin, as well. They were both favorites of mine, but I wonder if they hadn't been famous and strangers, would we have felt comfortable around them when they were "always on".
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Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
edited August 2014
@vinlyn I'm sure he would've driven many people nuts if he acted like some of his characters, but I have no idea how he was in real life. I imagine something like his character in The Crazy Ones, which seemed to be "just Robin being Robin under an assumed name and an assumed career". That might not be so bad, if it were so.
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
He was apparently painfully shy. he went into 'voices' and ;characters' because they were his refuge. He didn't HAVE to be "himself." His time spent with Koko the Gorilla, is probably the time you would see what he really was like. I think he was probably at his most comfortable with her....
Just watched, never seen before, Patch Adams. What a wonderful film. What a medicinal clown http://patchadams.org/
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Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
edited August 2014
You know what, I think I skipped watching Patch Adams. I've watched Hook, Jumanji, Good Morning America, Good Will Hunting, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jack, Bicentennial Man, Dead Poets Society, Flubber, RV, Popeye, Aladdin (Genie), The Birdcage, Old Dogs, Insomnia, Man of the Year, License to Wed, The Final Cut, The Fisher King (recently), a ton of his stand-up specials... and somehow I missed one of his most famous movies! Gonna have to find that somewhere. I also can't quite recall if I watched What Dreams May Come.
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Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
edited August 2014
Patch Adams made me cry (and laugh). Philip Seymour Hoffman was also in that movie, so young looking and almost unrecognizable until he opens his mouth and that deep, unique voice comes out. He also came to a bad end, sadly.
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Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
Most felt angry — at themselves and the person who was dead. "They tended to see [suicide] as an angry act, a selfish act," Jamison said. "That's a really understandable reaction, but it's really off the mark."
Jamison began studying the subject, poring over suicide notes and talking with people who had attempted to end their lives. She wrote about the process in "Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide."
>
"Overwhelmingly, what people say is 'I just couldn't take it anymore,' " Jamison told me in an interview this week. "These are not just people who were weak and moaning and groaning. It's a level of pain that's simply unendurable."
What Dreams May Come has always been a haunting film, but even more so in light of his passing.
As genius as his comedy was, sometimes he almost seemed more at home in the darker roles.
0
Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
I watched What Dreams May Come yesterday and it was... breath-taking. Today I watched something much more whimsical (I'm on a Robin Williams movie spree), "Toys" from 1992. It must've taken them forever to choreograph that movie! It reminded me so much of later computer-animated movies, with that level of detail.
I watched the first half of "What Dreams May Come" again last night, and will finish up tonight. Kinda difficult watching it, while still marveling at the man who shines through the acting.
" ....Don't feel like you have to go it alone. Meditation does not preclude or diminish the power of therapeutic methods. They are powerful in their own right. There are trained people out there who can work with you to navigate your suffering. Do not be scared to seek help."
He talks about his own bouts with depression after his successful Buddhist book, and touches a little on meditation can't be the cure all....
Comments
Not me. When the news that Phillip Seymour Hoffman died from an overdose came out, for example, I got pissed at all the things my friends were saying, like, "You know how I feel about this? What a f**king waste. You were a great actor, but you ended up being an idiot. I will make an effort not to miss you." To which I quipped, "Yeah, because getting off heroin is so easy. He's a total asshole for not having a desire nor the will power to be as awesome and smart as people who aren't struggling with addiction. lolwut"
I have sympathy for anyone struggling with things like drug addiction and depression, famous or otherwise. Part of that may be because I've had experience with both, giving me some insight into the hearts and minds of people who suffer from them. Even though these things can turn you into an unpleasant person to be around, or make you do things that end up hurting other people, the underlying unhappiness and suffering that drives such unskillful behaviour and/or make one's reality a real-life hell realm is always worthy of compassion, in my mind.
I think it's difficult for many people to have sympathy for those actors/entertainers who are always pleading for sympathy on a string of seemingly never-ending interview shows. I can see someone reacting, for example, to the Robin Williams situation and saying, "What the hell has he got to be depressed about? He's got $50,000,000."
I think most of us realize that money is not the sole (or even most important) source of happiness. But, I can also see the perspective of the waiter making minimum wage over long, hard hours and still not being able to fully support his family.
The problem is not being able to see beyond one's own little world.
I just finished watching "The Fisher King", a Robin Williams movie I'd never heard about that was recommended in this thread. Beautiful movie, just beautiful.
Stunning, wasn't it? And really sad, given the circumstance in which you felt compelled to view it....
@federica That's how he lives on for me, and to be honest... how he's always been alive to me (not knowing him personally). I'm going to miss him on some level always, and be saddened in that place, but there's more of him left in the world to affect others than will be left of many of us. He's touched more lives than many of us will touch. It's "bittersweet", but I'm also glad for him on some level. I can personally wish he hadn't done what he did, but I didn't walk in his shoes or know his pain. Only his family has any right to have expected him not to do it; I can't judge him from my distance.
At least the face he showed the world was happy and inspiring, and slightly-to-moderately mad. :crazy:
That's how I'll remember him.
Red Skelton often said about himself, "I'm nuts, and I know it. But as long as I keep them laughing, they ain't gonna lock me up." I believed it about Red, and I think it was true about Robin, as well. They were both favorites of mine, but I wonder if they hadn't been famous and strangers, would we have felt comfortable around them when they were "always on".
@vinlyn I'm sure he would've driven many people nuts if he acted like some of his characters, but I have no idea how he was in real life. I imagine something like his character in The Crazy Ones, which seemed to be "just Robin being Robin under an assumed name and an assumed career". That might not be so bad, if it were so.
He was apparently painfully shy. he went into 'voices' and ;characters' because they were his refuge. He didn't HAVE to be "himself." His time spent with Koko the Gorilla, is probably the time you would see what he really was like. I think he was probably at his most comfortable with her....
Just watched, never seen before, Patch Adams. What a wonderful film. What a medicinal clown
http://patchadams.org/
You know what, I think I skipped watching Patch Adams. I've watched Hook, Jumanji, Good Morning America, Good Will Hunting, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jack, Bicentennial Man, Dead Poets Society, Flubber, RV, Popeye, Aladdin (Genie), The Birdcage, Old Dogs, Insomnia, Man of the Year, License to Wed, The Final Cut, The Fisher King (recently), a ton of his stand-up specials... and somehow I missed one of his most famous movies! Gonna have to find that somewhere. I also can't quite recall if I watched What Dreams May Come.
Patch Adams made me cry (and laugh). Philip Seymour Hoffman was also in that movie, so young looking and almost unrecognizable until he opens his mouth and that deep, unique voice comes out. He also came to a bad end, sadly.
>
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-new-banks-robin-williams-suicide-20140816-column.html
Insightful article.
What Dreams May Come has always been a haunting film, but even more so in light of his passing.
As genius as his comedy was, sometimes he almost seemed more at home in the darker roles.
I watched What Dreams May Come yesterday and it was... breath-taking. Today I watched something much more whimsical (I'm on a Robin Williams movie spree), "Toys" from 1992. It must've taken them forever to choreograph that movie! It reminded me so much of later computer-animated movies, with that level of detail.
I watched the first half of "What Dreams May Come" again last night, and will finish up tonight. Kinda difficult watching it, while still marveling at the man who shines through the acting.
My guy Lodro Rinzler wrote a piece....
Meditation Isn't Enough: A Buddhist Perspective on Suicide
The Buddhist Channel, Aug 20, 2014
http://buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=7,11976,0,0,1,0
" ....Don't feel like you have to go it alone. Meditation does not preclude or diminish the power of therapeutic methods. They are powerful in their own right. There are trained people out there who can work with you to navigate your suffering. Do not be scared to seek help."
He talks about his own bouts with depression after his successful Buddhist book, and touches a little on meditation can't be the cure all....
I can't decide if I love Koko or Robin more. Bless both of their hearts. Such sad news.