RIP Robin Williams

[TheRumGone]

without any disrespect towards RW, the issues he dealt with, or anyone mourning him, it's a foreign experience to me to be personally emotionally affected by the death of a celebrity. i've never understood it.

 

i am abstractly sad, but that's all -- the posts on here and on social media about being distraught, in tears, sitting stunned, etc. don't really connect with me. 

 

i know what you are saying but....

 

it's weird. i have memories of watching robins stand up with my friends, smoking pot, and really connecting with each other through laughter. it's one of those moments that was facilitated BY robin's performance.

 

watching good will hunting with my dad and him opening up to me about his hard family life when he was a kid.

 

all of these things were facilitated through these performers and i suspect a lot of people have had similar experiences to that.

 

I get that i don't know this person, and there is definitely an over-the-top reaction that frash was talking about. but for me these actors/performers whatever you wanna call them were apart of my life and apart of memories that were made. it is insanely weird to think about it like that but it's true for a ton of people.  ill never forget when james gandolfini died it was the first time in my life where i actually felt physically emotional by a celebrities death because of all the times i shared with my family on christmas morning/afternoon watching an entire season of the sopranos and all of us bonding. It's that kind of thing with robin.

 

i grew up watching aladdin and mrs doubtfire with my sister and our friends. and us singing along to songs and all of that. it's very, very strange and i recognize that but memories were helped formed from these people that i have never met or know personally. And i think that is kind of the power of celebrity, good or bad.

[Brooklyn Bully]

without any disrespect towards RW, the issues he dealt with, or anyone mourning him, it's a foreign experience to me to be personally emotionally affected by the death of a celebrity. i've never understood it.

 

i am abstractly sad, but that's all -- the posts on here and on social media about being distraught, in tears, sitting stunned, etc. don't really connect with me. 

 

You may, like me, have a form of autism. Seriously. They used to call it Aspergers but that has been removed from every book. One way it effects me is I lack empathy. Like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory. It sucks RW died, but like you said, it doesn't bother me one bit. And there's nothing wrong with it nor people that say it made them cry. We're just wired differently.

[TheRumGone]

What's really fuged up is these other celebs tweeting out as fast as they can pictures of them with robin. Its insanely narcissistic and they'll just forget about him tomorrow.

Everything is so hyper sensitized to the point where nothing seems genuine anymore. It's just a me me me me me me thing. Look how I feel about this and it doesn't come across as genuine. Like it's some PR thing.

[Brooklyn Bully]

The world would be a better place with Twitter and Instagram.

[PhillyB]

You may, like me, have a form of autism. Seriously. They used to call it Aspergers but that has been removed from every book. One way it effects me is I lack empathy. Like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory. It sucks RW died, but like you said, it doesn't bother me one bit. And there's nothing wrong with it nor people that say it made them cry. We're just wired differently.

 

i don't lack empathy, i'm just not emotionally affected by the deaths of public figures in tangible ways. abstract sadness is just as much empathy as orthodox sadness is.

[rayzor]

without any disrespect towards RW, the issues he dealt with, or anyone mourning him, it's a foreign experience to me to be personally emotionally affected by the death of a celebrity. i've never understood it.

i am abstractly sad, but that's all -- the posts on here and on social media about being distraught, in tears, sitting stunned, etc. don't really connect with me.

it's a wierd conflux of emotions for me. i have a daughter thats getting ready to be born tomorrow and it's got me all out of whack anyway in unexpected ways. i'm happy and excited, but also kind of on edge and little things have been triggering emotional responses that aren't the norm. yes...for the moment i'm a bit emotional. don't judge me.

then theres the fact that i have had friends who battled depression amd other mental illnesses who have ended their lives and i've because of a job i used to have i was there wwhen a few unsuccessful attempts were made and so when i hear about anyone committing suicide it brings back hard memories.

and then there's just remembering all the roles he played over the years on tv and in movies that i really enjoyed and since they've been pretty well spread out over the course of the past 30something years they bring back a lot of memories of what was going on during those shows and remembering where i was and who i was with and the movies themselves weren't just memorable, they had an effect on us.

i think the reason for some sadness is just that even though we didn't personally know him, his presence and the presence of many performers played an important role in our lives. their performances not only impacted, but played a role in the developing of who we are. certain lines and stories from movies, just like books and even music, inspired certain thoughts and in some cases motivated us in the paths we took and perspectives we have on life. in most cases, though, those performances were simply events that our lives for a brief moment centered around as children and teenagers and beyond.

the attachment to actors like williams and a sense of mourning comes from the fact that they put a face to those events and to those moments of inspiration and emotion. he was here. he had been here for a long time and his life impacted us and now he's gone and left this world in a sad way.

whether we should be attached to them to the degree that we mourn a little when they die doesn't really matter. i think it's natural for a lot of people to feel that because while we don't know the individual personally, we know the character and the story they were a part of that drew us in and connected with us on personal levels. they became a part of us and who we are much like real people who we come in contact with throughout our lives. i think it's only natural to be effected in some way.

[PhillyB]

it's a wierd conflux of emotions for me. i have a daughter thats getting ready to be born tomorrow and it's got me all out of whack anyway in unexpected ways. i'm happy and excited, but also kind of on edge and little things have been triggering emotional responses that aren't the norm. yes...for the moment i'm a bit emotional. don't judge me.

 

i get deeply emotional over random triggers that are far more abstract and strange than a well-known celebrity death… no judgement here

[TheRumGone]

i get deeply emotional over random triggers that are far more abstract and strange than a well-known celebrity death… no judgement here

Have you ever watched a movie or listened to a song or read a book that deeply impacted your life?

[rayzor]

btw, i don't feel like this for every celebrity that i "grewu up" with. this is pretty rare for me (not that i'm emotionally distraught amd crying or anything).

[TheRumGone]

It's similar to why the reaction to John Lennon or Jimi Hendrix or jonny winter's recent death had a profound impact on people. People remembered times of happiness, joy, pain, sadness and how those people made them forget about it, or made them pinpoint that feeling and helped them move on , or how they deeply connected with another person because of it. They bore their souls to us and in return we felt something or like Rayzor said actually changed the path for the better . People inspire people.

I think the age of twitter/Facebook has brought about disingenuousness but those feelings are still there in some.

[rayzor]

i get deeply emotional over random triggers that are far more abstract and strange than a well-known celebrity death… no judgement here

it seems that as i get older i'm turning into more of a sap. random things in nature, in people i see living their own lives, lines or movements in music, certain photographs and paintings, and many other unexepected things will from time to time smack me with joy or sadness. i think it's just being more in tune with your surroundings and feeling a part of them. i think it helps us really live and get the most of what life has to offer.

[TheRumGone]

it seems that as i get older i'm turning into more of a sap. random things in nature, in people i see living their own lives, lines or movements in music, certain photographs and paintings, and many other unexepected things will from time to time smack me with joy or sadness. i think it's just being more in tune with your surroundings and feeling a part of them. i think it helps us really live and get the most of what life has to offer.

 

that has nothing to do with getting older imo

 

i'm conscious of things like this everyday.

 

[rayzor]

It's similar to why the reaction to John Lennon or Jimi Hendrix or jonny winter's recent death had a profound impact on people. People remembered times of happiness, joy, pain, sadness and how those people made them forget about it, or made them pinpoint that feeling and helped them move on , or how they deeply connected with another person because of it. They bore their souls to us and in return we felt something or like Rayzor said actually changed the path for the better . People inspire people.

I think the age of twitter/Facebook has brought about disingenuousness but those feelings are still there in some.

totally agreed about twitter and facebook. people look to others to see how they are "supposed" to respond things. its group think on a large scale. people don't know how to think for themselves. i think it takes away individuality. life becomes something you try to get approval from the masses for and you have to become like everyone else to get that.

[TheRumGone]

totally agreed about twitter and facebook. people look to others to see how they are "supposed" to respond things. its group think on a large scale. people don't know how to think for themselves. i think it takes away individuality. life becomes something you try to get approval from the masses for and you have to become like everyone else to get that.

 

bingo. feeds into narcissism. this site has a bit of that though but at the same time some anonymity. its human nature to want to feel like you belong.

 

oh and good luck tomorrow with the baby. my sister is due for her second one in october.  hopefully i don't have my first until i'm in my 30s. pleeeeease god pleeease. lol