RIP Robin Williams

Suddenly reminded of Indy 500 voice Sid Collins ("Stay tuned for the greatest spectacle in racing") punching his own ticket after learning he had ALS.

 

The Parkinson's diagnosis will make this easier for some to accept. Some view suicide as the ultimate selfish act, but if he had a serious disease, that will be seen very differently.

Obviously, still sad that he's gone, but this will make it easier for some to understand why he did what he did.

 

Which rekindles the modern debate: Should you be allowed to choose when your life ends?

 

No idea how to answer that one.

There's part of me that says, "Well, if you suffer from what could be a debilitating disease, then you should have that right, but what if that disease is depression?"

I have a very close friend who suffers from depression and has made a few suicide attempts, but he did so when he was off his medicine. When he's on his meds he's fine.

It's a tough one.

 

Still hard to process

 

(crickets)

 

As someone whose father suffered from Parkinson's disease, I have trouble jumping on that fact as a reason for Williams to commit suicide, especially if he was in the early stages of the condition.

Especially early on, Parkinson's is not typically that awful, and while each case is different -- see an early-onset example like Michael J. Fox -- it usually strikes when people are older, and it could take, literally, the rest of a person's life before it really becomes debilitating. Or, that might never happen before he or she passes away from some other cause. (My dad died of his cancer, not his Parkinson's, which he lived with for more than 12 years. The cancer beat him in 10).

 

I would agree with this about 99.4% of the time.

As a pre-teen, I had a bit of a suicidal stretch as my family broke apart and I had two parents who spoke through attorneys. Only child. Few friends.

Yet, somewhere around 12 or 13, I realized, through the reactions of others, that I was damn funny. A biting, cynical funny. I could charm my parents in front of their friends at social occasions - talking about politics or history - and, even better for me, I could "work a blue room" on the school bus and keep the damn bullies (who were older and sometimes carried brass knuckles) from beating the shit out of me everyday on the bus ride home. Some days, with my humor, I could limit the beatings to, maybe, just Tuesday and Friday.

Throughout high school, I was a solid student but it was my humor that led to teachers writing recommendations for college admissions on my behalf.

I never slid into formal comedy because of the instability of "the life" and, for a time, I had a good thing in the journalism world. Still do. Yet, whenever I hear of a comedian who kills himself or herself, I can understand why. Being funny is often the shield, the barrier, that "second skin". It's the face of our "stranger".

 

Yes.

I believe so.

This is a major shift for me, as I was from the pro-life camp under most circumstances/life is precious and should never be taken.

I've seen far too many people suffer, second by second, in their final weeks and months with terminal disease. I believe that dying with dignity on "their terms" is not selfish.

 

I completely agree with you, but it's also easy to understand how someone whose life is on stage would take a Parkinson's diagnosis a lot harder than a normal person. I had a relative who had Parkinson's for 20+ years and it didn't become really noticeable until a year or two before he died.

I'm guessing the Parkinson's diagnosis was the final "excuse" Williams may have been looking for.

 

Does Bill Murray come close to this sort of public response and critical appreciation when he passes?

 

Probably not. He's enough of a recluse and has pissed enough people off that I don't think it would reach the level it did for Williams.

It's been a long time since a celebrity death got this kind of a reaction. I think you might have to go all the way back to Cobain. I've read in some places that it might be the biggest reaction since Lennon. It's tough to compare something that happened pre-Internet to something now, but I might argue that Williams has caused the biggest reaction of the Internet Era.

Princess Diana would be higher than any of the others mentioned, but that's a little different than a regular celebrity.