Robin WIlliams

[Taceus Jiwede]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had the best twitter tribute so far.

Genie, you're free

Awww.  That is very sweet.  It hurts my heart and is very fitting of the man I think.

[Xev]

[eabrace]

I'm not surprised he played video games

Not just video games. He also played D&D and had several Warhammer 40k armies even though he'd never played the game.

[Xev]

Again, imagine D&D'ing with Robin Williams.. There was a friend I worked with way back that was a DM and our small group had some flat out hilarious weekend adventures until sun up, gorging on things like pizza and soda or other fast food/convenience store feasts.  I will never again hear the words 'plinth' or 'dais' without wanting to laugh..

I never felt any good at D&D at the time we played. My mind was already firmly planted into computer D&D where there were fairly strict rules instead of everyone's imagination being the game engine.

Robin as DM.. Ha.  : )

Online we all had access to him. Imagine that. I wonder how many people knew who his toons were and how often he teamed and what he did when he teamed and all this good stuff.

[FatherXmas]

I have mixed feelings about this. Hopefully, it will be one of his actual characters or, at worst, his character from The Fisher King or something, and not some uncanny valley caricature of the guy. I know WoW has tributes to people who have left us, but I haven't gone to investigate them for fear of what I might find.

Somebody was asking for something similar in GW2.  But that game doesn't have the same degree of pop/geek cultural references that WoW or CoH has/had.  Although it did have a Galaxy Quest reference easily found, until they destroyed the city it was in and an Asura (the mad science race) does talk about needing to recalabrate the retro encabulator of a portal gate due to sinusoidal fluctuations in the tremmy pipes.

[Little David]

Robin Williams was one of my most favorite actors growing up as a kid. I've enjoyed both his silly and serious roles. His stand-up routines were amazing. Finding out he'd committed suicide left me stunned ... absolutely stunned.

More recent news has come out: about his financial troubles, and that he had started exhibiting symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Knowing this ... well, it makes it even harder for me to find meaningful words to say.

So many stories in the wake of his death spoke of his generousness and his kindness, how he was always ready to help others in need. I wish it were possible for us to return the favor, and help ease his troubles before this happened.

[ukaserex]

This depression thing...it's depressing. The human mind is so incredible, so complex. Everything we know about how our minds work tell us more about how much we don't know.

I think about it..why did this guy do this? Was he of "sound mind"? Can anyone who does this be of a sound mind? Is there even such a thing as a sound mind? I found out a few days later that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, and that along with depression was a pretty unsavory prognosis. Was he trying to be noble? Trying to spare his family from the challenges his care would present? Was he scared? Too many voices from the number of drugs his body had been craving? Does it really matter now? Maybe. More questions than answers. Are depressed people now going to commit suicide because Robin Williams did? <shrug>

As a performer, most remember Robin Williams for his comedy - but the man was more genius than clown. He went to Juilliard, if memory serves. That feat impresses me more than any of his comedy performances. I call them performances, because he didn't really have a "routine".

When I was in college, one of the perks of a volunteer job I had was to be able to go to our local comedy lounge for free. (as long as I got my 2 drink minimum, lol) I've seen hundreds of comedians. I usually went on a Wednesday night, and if they were any good, I'd see them again with a date on Friday or Saturday. Imagine my surprise when I learned that they all told the same jokes, the same way, all week long. Not sure what I was expecting, why I thought they'd do something different each night. Cracking jokes for an hour isn't easy. Cracking different jokes the next night for an hour would be even harder.

Robin Williams - well, I never saw him live in person, but from what I could see on tv, this guy never said the same thing twice. He certainly never said it the same way. He bounced around like a pinball in a machine before it goes tilt. He didn't have a routine, as far as I could tell. He'd just go out and ..be. Taking a response from some random person in the crowd, there was no telling which way he'd go. I certainly don't know, but my guess is he didn't know himself.



My one hope is that perhaps from this, people might be more inclined to connect in person, in addition to facebook and other social media sites, and that people would be more willing to get involved in the lives of strangers and make them friends. Easy in theory, but really awkward when I think about it in reality. Our society just doesn't really go for that getting involved bit. It's too much opportunity for discomfort. But, by pushing on that edge of discomfort, that's where we grow.

[Joshex]

everyone finds thier own way to deal with things like this, Indeed him as genie was probably the most prominent role I remember him a during my childhood.

I always wish I could solve real life problems as simply as programming problems, or.. maybe a tad more simple. but thats not how things work I guess, even worse things have happened lately, some really demented internet folk (I know that says alot coming from me lol) have verbally attacked his daughter Zelda in twitter over her fathers views on this sort of situation.

The world really must be ending soon, everything is going nuts even the weather. hmmmmmmmm....


now I'd even venture to say that robin got out while the getting is still good. there are alot worse ways to die, man kind just has to find them.

[dwturducken]

So, this showed up today. Or yesterday. Not the point. It actually looks kind of cool, in concept, if it is anything remotely like what Justin is theorizing.

[Microcosm]

That's the problem with depression.  It's easy to hide.  Clinically depressed people don't answer the question, "How are you?" with "I'm feeling depressed."  They smile and tell you that they're feeling fine.

This is 100% true. Partially because there is a stigma around it, and partially because people who don't deal with it simply can't fathom what it really is. Real depression is not "oh I feel bummed about my day" or "life is just not turning out the way I hoped", it's a soul-crushing blackness. I've heard many 'educated' people go on about how those who deal with depression need to just buck up and start looking at things positively, which is a truly ignorant thing to say. Please, if you know someone who deals with this stuff, just be there for them. That's what they need.

Regarding Williams's death, I never really feel the loss of famous people personally, but this time I did. Not because of his comedy or his acting (though Hook is still one of my favorite movies), but because he always reminded me of my grandfather whom I miss dearly. Now I miss them both.

[healix]

[Joshex]

Removed giant wall of text rambling, which showed that Joshex is excruciatingly ignorant of the medical diagnosis of 'clinical depression'

~Agge

[Lightslinger]

It goes without saying, but please do not listen to a -word- of that if you're struggling with depression.

[Taceus Jiwede]

It goes without saying, but please do not listen to a -word- of that if you're struggling with depression.

I would say as a rule of thumb don't listen to a word of most things he posts.  I have never suffered from clinical or recurring depression.  Only depression when things in life got really, really bad, and sometimes those things would take years to be able to be dealt with.  But I don't think that is the same as clinical depression, I don't think most people who haven't experienced it would know what its like.  And from the sounds of Robin Williams he had it pretty bad and pretty frequently.  It's just a shame the world couldn't show that they cared more and that they loved him even if they had never met him.

Healix love the Eeyore post, very touching.

[Aggelakis]

Removed Joshex's incredibly ignorant and frankly, pretty offensive post which amounted to telling clinical depressives to "just get over it" (because if that was possible, don't you think they'd do that?)

[Ironwolf]

Depression can have a lot of sources. My first wife (who passed away in 1996) had a chemical imbalance in her nrain that once it was diagnosed changed her entire character to someone who is happy and content and a joy to be married to. Earlier it had at times been hell.

They can't just get over it, in fact they say to themselves often - why can't I just get past this? Once illness or some other issue affects you - your entire view of reality is changed. I had in 1 year, my wife die, my grandmother who was my favorite person in the universe besides my wife - die, my father nearly die from a heart attack. It was one after another and copletely out of my control. I spiraled into depression and I saw it for what it was and just kept going.

I would also smile and say - I am fine if you asked and make a joke with a smile that slide off my face the minute you turned away. It took me 3 years to work out of it. All you can do is keep moving forward and sooner or later either life happens to you and something or someone fills that void - or you tire of the race.

Robin was haunted and his demons were real to him. The brillance that made him a wonder as a comedian when turn on himslef in doubt and fear must have been terrifying.

Imagine this type of power turned against you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clGhMK4AtvU

He when in doubt and fear was his own worst enemy.