Robin Williams Dead from Apparent Suicide

[Revoltingest]

And most, if not all, of the characters he played were contrived by someone else.

More than many actors do, he owned the characters, & made them something out of
the ordinary. This is not to say that chameleons like Daniel Day Lewis aren't great too.
Both he & Williams are (were) great at what they do.

 

[YmirGF]

Quick question. Robin Williams' job is to act like someone else. How do you know that he was like you? How do you know what he was really like at all?

I don't expect you to understand, really. My persona, in real life, is so "over the top" that I tend to dominate everything around me via my unbridled humor...

When I first saw Williams, that is what I meant... I wasn't the only person like this. RF does not show HOW I say things, or put things... that is a LOT of the message, as it were.

All that said, the world will carry on... and we will smile, thinking of the impact this wonderful, troubled man had on our lives...

 

[Revoltingest]

I had no idea that you're a cut up.
You're always so somber & serious.

 

[YmirGF]

I had no idea that you're a cut up.
You're always so somber & serious.

I know... I read something I wrote on RF to a friend, using all the power I could muster... it was drop dead funny **** the way I read it, but the humor just didn't gush from the post... without the nascent, improvised, intonation.

Maybe I should label my posts with the character in mind...
Condescending aristocratic British voice...
Enlightened Indian voice...
Cranky Chinese voice...
Frenetic Japanese voice... so good, so fine...

 

[Revoltingest]

Alas, most people here think I'm serious, & that I actually believe what I post.

 

[Kerr]

Things like this truly show the mindset of the world. With all of the terrible things happening in the world, this (possibly the least terrible in the scheme of things) the one thing the world pays attention to.

Over a thousand dead palestinians? Nothing.
Displaced iraqi's hunted and oppressed? Nope. Nothing.
Robin Williams' death? Now people take notice.

I think we live in a society of mean spirited, salacious, idol worshipping hypocrites. The pressure that people exert continually drives talented folk to their early graves. Why do people bother crying over the deaths of people like Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Robin Williams and so many others when it was society's prying interest in their personal lives that compounded their existing problems? Shouldn't they be happy that they finally reached the final conclusion that they steered them towards?

I think its sad when people die in general, especially when suicide is involved. But it feels a bit closer when it someone you know of. Especially if they, like Robin Williams, made you smile.

 

[Mycroft]

A thousand Palestinians and Iraqis are just numbers to me.

And here to exemplify the mindset of society. You become disconnected from social concern due to the way we're conditioned by society. That the death of a single man, and that's all he was - a man - is somehow more important than the very real suffering of tens of millions of other fellow human beings around the world. Not just in Palestine, but in Sudan, Haiti, Iraq, Somalia and so on and so forth. That we are conditioned to the idea that their lives are less meaningful than the life of a man whose job was to pretend to be other people. That somehow 'celebrity' means something when, actually, it means nothing.

 

[Mycroft]

I think its sad when people die in general, especially when suicide is involved. But it feels a bit closer when it someone you know of. Especially if they, like Robin Williams, made you smile.

But you didn't know him. Anything about him. You enjoyed the fictional characters he played which, as another poster pointed out, are all the contrivances of another person entirely.

 

[Mycroft]

I don't expect you to understand, really. My persona, in real life, is so "over the top" that I tend to dominate everything around me via my unbridled humor...

When I first saw Williams, that is what I meant... I wasn't the only person like this. RF does not show HOW I say things, or put things... that is a LOT of the message, as it were.

All that said, the world will carry on... and we will smile, thinking of the impact this wonderful, troubled man had on our lives...

But you don't know that that's what he's really like, right? I mean, it could just be an act since he was, you know, an actor.

 

[Wirey]

And here to exemplify the mindset of society. You become disconnected from social concern due to the way we're conditioned by society. That the death of a single man, and that's all he was - a man - is somehow more important than the very real suffering of tens of millions of other fellow human beings around the world. Not just in Palestine, but in Sudan, Haiti, Iraq, Somalia and so on and so forth. That we are conditioned to the idea that their lives are less meaningful than the life of a man whose job was to pretend to be other people. That somehow 'celebrity' means something when, actually, it means nothing.

Do you speak English? Who said he was more important? I said I liked him and his death made me sad. From this you postulate the immediate collapse of Western civilization? What are you, 17?

Don't assume to know what others are thinking. And don't try to extrapolate one sentence responses into an entire philosophy.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

He was a great and very diverse actor. He was also one of the very few people that gave me hours of laughs as a kid, with things like Aladdin, and later as an adult, especially with his stand up comedy.

Death by asphyxia might not be a suicide.
Anyway, RIP, Mork.

That was my first thought when I heard. What if it wasn't a suicide? Rough play? Foul play? From what I read, he didn't do something like hang himself.

 

[Revoltingest]

He was a great and very diverse actor. He was also one of the very few people that gave me hours of laughs as a kid, with things like Aladdin, and later as an adult, especially with his stand up comedy.
That was my first thought when I heard. What if it wasn't a suicide? Rough play? Foul play? From what I read, he didn't do something like hang himself.

I was thinking of....
Erotic asphyxiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As eewww as this is, I'd prefer that be an accident than pain so severe that was driven to suicide.

 

[Revoltingest]

In the news...
Radar Online | Robin Williams Had

Robin Williams‘ tragic death at age 63 came as a shock to the world who knew him only as a lovable comic figure. But a source close to the Mrs. Doubtfire star tells RadarOnline.com that in addition to his addiction struggle, the actor recently confided to a family friend that he had “serious money troubles,” and was worried about his family’s financial security.
According to a family friend who had spoken to Williams recently, “All he could talk about were serious money troubles. There were clearly other issues going on and Robin sounded distant during the telephone conversation. Robin was known for being so generous to his friends and family during the height of his success, and would help anyone out that needed it.”
“There was also frustration that Robin expressed at having to take television and movie roles he didn’t want to take, but had to for the paycheck,” the source said, referencing his recently announced decision to film Mrs. Doubtfire 2. “Doing sequels was never Robin’s thing, and he wasn’t that excited at having to reprise the role of Mrs. Doubtfire, which was scheduled to start filming later this year.”

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I was thinking of....
Erotic asphyxiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As eewww as this is, I'd prefer that be an accident than pain so severe that was driven to suicide.

While I don't find it eewww, deaths from erotic asphyxiation are often deemed to be suicide. The reports of what I have read, of finding him unresponsive, just do not sound like a "regular" suicide of choking yourself to death.

 

[Kerr]

But you didn't know him. Anything about him.

I didnt claim to know him, I said I know of him . Happen to be a sentimental person who cares about others, so thats enough for me to be sad. And as I said, I would find it sad even if it was a complete stranger who died. I dont like when people die.

You enjoyed the fictional characters he played which, as another poster pointed out, are all the contrivances of another person entirely.

Writing a character and acting one both takes talent. But to be honest, I dont remember much from the movies he played in. It was a long time ago I watched them. Dont know if it makes sense, its just how it is.

 

[Kerr]

And here to exemplify the mindset of society. You become disconnected from social concern due to the way we're conditioned by society. That the death of a single man, and that's all he was - a man - is somehow more important than the very real suffering of tens of millions of other fellow human beings around the world. Not just in Palestine, but in Sudan, Haiti, Iraq, Somalia and so on and so forth. That we are conditioned to the idea that their lives are less meaningful than the life of a man whose job was to pretend to be other people. That somehow 'celebrity' means something when, actually, it means nothing.

Of course he isnt more important then them. At least I dont think so. His death just seems more... there... then when you hear this or that many people where killed in this or that conflict in some distant country. Numbers are harder to relate to then faces I guess. But its tragic in either case.

A suggestion. Rather then bringing this topic up in this thread, if you want to discuss it, why dont you start a new one?

EDIT:

My suggestion was because I feel like this thread should be about the death of a man, so a debate about this doesnt feel... appropriate. Who the man in question is doesnt matter. As I said, I am sentimental.

 

[Skwim]

Update.

"Comedian and actor Robin Williams, 63, died from "asphyxia due to hanging," according to preliminary findings announced at a press conference on Tuesday by Lt. Keith Boyd of the Marin County's Sheriff's Office.

Williams was discovered on Monday shortly before noon by his personal assistant who became concerned when the actor did not respond to several knocks on the door, Boyd said. Williams’ wife, Susan Schneider, last saw her husband alive around 10:30 p.m. when she went to bed."
source​

 

[Revoltingest]

Ugh....
Officials: Robin Williams apparently hanged himself - CNN.com

The autopsy completed Tuesday morning showed "no indication of a struggle or physical altercation," which was consistent with the death being a suicide, Boyd said.
The personal assistant found Williams "slightly suspended in a seated position" with a belt around his neck, he said.
Williams' left wrist had cuts when he was found dead in a bedroom at his home, Boyd said. A pocket knife was found near his body, and a red material consistent with dried blood was found on the knife, Boyd said. He said tests will be conducted to determine whether the substance is blood.

 

[SkepticThinker]

I'm always devastated to hear that a fellow human being felt there was nothing left for him but to end it all. So sad.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I guessed it was autoerotic asphyxiation from the start.