Robin Williams dead at the age of 63

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

And in other news, Robbie Williams, 40, is not dead.

So please stop. Please.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Robin Williams Was in Early Stages of Parkinson's Before Death, Wife Says

Robin spent so much of his life helping others. Whether he was entertaining millions on stage, film or television, our troops on the frontlines, or comforting a sick child — Robin wanted us to laugh and to feel less afraid.

Since his passing, all of us who loved Robin have found some solace in the tremendous outpouring of affection and admiration for him from the millions of people whose lives he touched. His greatest legacy, besides his three children, is the joy and happiness he offered to others, particularly to those fighting personal battles.
Robin’s sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson’s Disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly.

It is our hope in the wake of Robin’s tragic passing, that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid.

 

[bigdaddy]

I love that letter, can we please stop attacking a dead man and bugging his family media?

 

[Finn]

I just realized something. I had to watch TWO of his films in college- Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets' Society. Says a lot about him

 

[urbandefault]

Don't pass up the notion to check out Popeye. Not critically acclaimed (like that matters), but Williams amazingly embodied a cartoon character like no one I've never seen.

Just a thought regarding his overall uniqueness: if they were to make a movie about the life of Robin Williams, just who the hell would be able to play him?!

Rest peacefully, Sir.

This movie was pretty bad, but the actor wasn't awful.

http://youtu.be/IyvlV3cyDXA

(He also played Moe in The Three Stooges.)

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I watched Jumanji for the first time today. Also watched Hook. Bang-a-rang!

 

[Shaka Zulu]

First, we heard from a representative of the right-wing about Robin. Now, representatives of the far-left has made their statement about his life, saying that he was wrong for going over and entertaining the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and decrying his movies for not being 'socially conscious':

In terms of his acting, it is not Williams’ fault that he appeared in films during perhaps the weakest three decades of Hollywood’s existence. None of the films cited above is especially important. None of them is particularly telling about American life or society. Sadly, even if one considers the overall body of work of a number of the better directors—Robert Altman, Paul Mazursky, Peter Weir, Barry Levinson—the films featuring Williams are among their poorest or most problematic. They tend to be works, whether comic or not, that deal with various (and for the most part secondary) forms of eccentricity or alienation.
It is also not primarily Williams’ fault, and indeed at times it almost seems unfair for someone of his explosive and unsettling abilities, that very few of his films or performances displayed or pursued a consistent and genuine non-conformism. In fact, he was widely reproached at a certain point in his career for the sentimentality of a number of his films. Memorably, in John Waters’ black comedy, Cecil B. DeMented (2000), a band of underground cinema terrorists assault a suburban cinema where Patch Adams: The Director’s Cut is playing, a reference to the cloying 1998 film starring Williams as a medical student in the 1970's.

Whatever Williams may have thought he was doing, his numerous appearances before the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan helped lend credibility to those neo-colonial wars. In 2005, Williams told USA Today, “I’m there for (the troops), not for W,” referring to Bush. But military sites, official and unofficial, were singing his praises after his death, and that is not a healthy legacy.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Neither end of the political spectrum has any kind of shame, do they?

 

[Shaka Zulu]

^No, they sure as fuck don't. I knew that somebody on the left as extreme as Limbaugh is on the right would say something like this; all it took was just me typing 'Socialist commentary on Robin Williams's death' and I go this. Some of the comments by readers at the site were nasty too:

Daniel • 2 days ago
Let's face it - he was no Fela Kuti! Everything Williams did was purely commercial. And, in the U.S., what most of us would call mildly entertaining or JUST entertaining, Americans will call "comic genius". John Cleese in Fawlty Towers WAS "genius" - if you really have to use that word!

As for compassionate, how did he reach his 60s and still be blind to what the U.S. army has done - and still is doing! - to other people in other countries? Also, rape is a big problem in the military - some women are even murdered after being assaulted - yet nothing is ever done, and all Williams could do was support these - largely! - bunch of psychopaths.

A compassionate person, having starred in a movie about Vietnam, would have questioned the U.S. government's morality and justification for these wars. Did Williams NOT know about the illegal blanket bombing of Cambodia? Did Williams NOT bother to read anything except corporate news? He died 20+ years after the advent of the World Wide Web - there was no excuse!

"Consortiumnews", for example, started in 1995, and DemocracyNow, in 2000, both excellent U.S. "alternative" news Web sites. Danny Glover, an American actor, has appeared on DemocracyNow, but NOT Robin Williams. How can someone so rich end up so ignorant? To Robin Williams, the world clearly consisted of just one country: the U.S.

Most of us are going to die unknown, and with nothing written about us, so no complaints because I didn't write a fawning obituary. If I had my way, I'd have no articles published at all about the deaths of famous people, except that they died. The rich get plenty of attention in life - and plenty of rewards, too! It is scientists and mathematicians who have given us the modern world - they are the true "geniuses" - NOT actors!

How many people cared about the janitor, Kenneth Johannemann, for example, who committed suicide as a result of being evicted from his apartment? He rescued a man from one of the World Trade Center Towers, and got the one finger salute as a reward.

PS Why is WSWS using Disqus?

Daniel-Nick Barrickman • 8 hours ago
Nothing crude about it at all. Sorry for living in the real world. I'm NOT the one publicising his death as a tragedy to the world - don't blame me for the media's distorted perspective. People are dying all the time and it is NOT reported.

In Britain, the destruction of the welfare system has led to thousands of deaths, including a blind man hanging himself, a depressed man stabbing himself in the heart, and a disabled woman throwing herself in front of a lorry (in her suicide note, she explicitly blamed the government for pushing her to this point) - and that's just the very tip of the iceberg - yet there's no outpouring of sympathy, no media coverage, nothing about how the world has lost some wonderful, sensitive, caring people.

Fox News called "our troops" a bunch of psychopaths, did they? If you're a sensitive person, you can't escape the evil of war - but Robin Williams somehow managed to blank all the suffering from his mind, except, of course, the suffering of "our troops" - bar the female ones who were raped/murdered by "our troops".

This is why I'm a bit of a centrist these days, and the only political blog I can stand is The People's View.

 

[Random_Spock]

Neither end of the political spectrum has any kind of shame, do they?

Yea . It's really shameless of them.

In terms of his acting, it is not Williams’ fault that he appeared in films during perhaps the weakest three decades of Hollywood’s existence. None of the films cited above is especially important.

His movies inspired other people and made them happy (comedy wise). Since when isn't that a good thing or something that makes a movie strong or important?

 

[Shaka Zulu]

^To a doctrinaire Marxist, that's not enough; it has to tear down the class structure, or make you laugh while helping to tear down the class structure and make people question society. And entertain you as well.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

This is one of the nicest tributes I've seen
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6csfDT5ovps[/yt]

simple and touching.

 

[RJDiogenes]

First, we heard from a representative of the right-wing about Robin. Now, representatives of the far-left has made their statement about his life,

If it's one thing I hate, it's the Right Wing and the Left Wing.

 

[Maurice]

Sadly, there are assholes in every sect and faction. Welcome to the human race.

 

[Timewalker]

In addition to his talent, he was by all accounts a genuinely nice, kind and generous man. I don't ever remember reading a bad word about him on a personal level.

Indeed. The following is a beautiful video of Robin Williams interacting with Koko the Gorilla, who understands thousands of English words and communicates in American Sign Language.

The article I read about Williams and Koko is here.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GorgFtCqPEs[/yt]

 

[Beagleman]

That was beautiful and heartbreaking!

 

[publiusr]

First, we heard from a representative of the right-wing about Robin. Now, representatives of the far-left has made their statement about his life,

Here is the time to call out the riot gear. They make me sick

If you cannot laugh at Robin Williams' comedy genius, you are not human.

And that was so special about Robin--his gift of humor went beyond humanity...

The article I read about Williams and Koko is here.

"In the above video, notice that Robin made Koko smile — something she hadn’t done for over 6 months, ever since her lifelong gorilla companion, Michael, passed away at the age of 27."
http://www.koko.org/koko-tribute-robin-williams

"Koko looks somber after it sinks in"


We all have our cages...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arthur-chu/robin-williams-pagliacci_b_5679660.html

Guys, if you ever meet me in an afterlife-
---please remind me to punch God dead in the face over this one.

 

[Jax]

This is one of the nicest tributes I've seen


simple and touching.

Was about to post this myself

 

[BeatleJWOL]

First, we heard from a representative of the right-wing about Robin. Now, representatives of the far-left has made their statement about his life,

If it's one thing I hate, it's the Right Wing and the Left Wing.

Just imagine if two people, one who follows either site, were to meet.

Anyway, back to the thread.

 

[CaptainCanada]

This is one of the nicest tributes I've seen


simple and touching.

That's the best use anyone's yet made of something from the movie Jack.