RIP Robin Williams

RIP to one of the great comedians of our time. He will be missed. My heart sunk a little just hearing the news.

My childhood!

a great loss for all. RIP RW.

what's with all the douchy people on the RIP threads. Geez >.>.

RIP Robin Williams. You were an amazing and genuine person. Growing up I always watched your films and saw you kind of like a father figure. The ideal father or friend. You are missed :(

For some relevance about depression and what it is like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUHcc7ipGt0&feature=youtu.be

More than a few of my favorite comedians have devoted large portions of their acts to pointing out this fact. You can't be humorous without being broken, apparently.

I guess I'm the only person not shocked by this? I'd known he had fought depression for years. Virtually every comedian (and most other entertainers) implodes eventually.

Genuine ethical question: if we acknowledge that people are generally funniest when they're severely damaged, should we stop laughing? It's a lot like the steroids debate in professional sports: do we let people intentionally destroy themselves for our entertainment? At least the Aztecs were up-front about their habit of human sacrifice.

I guess I can't blame someone making it to age 63 and finally calling it quits. It's one thing when a 15-year-old gargles a bullet, but after over half a century on this planet and too much pain, it seems disrespectful to reality and a person's struggles to criticize their choice. Besides, who's to say he didn't receive a diagnosis of terminal cancer or something a month ago and decided to check out early?

Put on World's Greatest Dad in his honor... way too soon. I forgot how that movie starts. Now I'm nauseous trying not to think about how he did it.

Wow, this is really tragic news. It's hard to believe he's actually gone. Very sad day for his family and all of his adoring fans. He'll definitely be missed. :(

It is crazy how much his passing effected people, myself included.

Somebody came in my office looking so somber and said "Robin Williams died..." I immediately felt feelings which is a rare phenomenon when it comes to celebrities but he seemed like such a genuine person. He was legitimately funny and very believable when being "dramatic", turning most of the roles he played into an endearing and iconic character.

I remember after we watched Patch Adams my sister decided she would open a center to help people. 15 years and a Master's Degree later, she is putting that dream in motion.

It's amazing to think of how many of his movies are in my tops across genres... What Dreams May Come is one of my overall favorite movies and it helped me at a time, dealing with loss. Because of that, I wont be watching it tonight... lol tonight is Death to Smoochie!

Rest In Peace.

Being one who suffers from the depression from time to time, is it to soon to say he took the cowards way out? I realize he was looked up to by millions, including myself, but still, at what point does the reality of it supersede him simply being famous? At what point is there going to be a true discussion of the problem rather than overlooking it with remembering him in movies?

Problem you're missing is this isn't the time for that in this thread. This is a thread for a simple memorial and people to come together because he did mean a lot to people.

It's brought up lots of awareness and I see it sprawled all over my newsfeed. Depression isn't something to be over looked and I don't think anyone in here is intentionally doing that.

I hate when people say "I suffer from depression" then go on a self riotous rant about how someone is a coward because they chose a different (and unfortunate) path with their problems. Congratulations on winning your battle, he was not as fortunate. Do not belittle him (or ANYONE) for that.

Use google and you'll find plenty of things that are bringing up awareness of depresion and how serious it is.

But don't bring that negativity and trash in here...

My childhood, teenage years and adolescence...

While I didn't know much about the man himself, I have seen a lot of the movies and series he played in and loved the roles he played in almost all of them.
He always seemed to be a happy man, but behind that big smile... so sad...

There seems to be more than a casual correlation in the human brain between creativity and psychological symptomology. I know people who have these conditions for whom medications are even more frightening than the conditions because while the particulars of the disease process themselves are bad, they feel the medications suppress their creativity as well and to lose that is pain enough that it causes a depression that no medicine is going to touch.

It's a difficult situation for all involved, to be sure.

A very insipiring man was lost...

He was very human: able to laugh, cry, live and dream... fail, succeed and able to see his own flaws. He was aware of his own fragility but in the end, the hole in his heart was too big to fill up with what life has to offering him.

Depression is a mental illness, and millions of people are fighting agaisnt it everyday of their life, like any other disease. It is different from a temporary mental condition that is brought upon you because something happened to you in your life and you weren't ready/able to fight back at that precise time (death, separation, burnout).

I will always remember this man; the actor for the way he made me laugh as a child, and cry as an adult with movies like "dead poets society" and "good will hunting" .... but most of all, I will always remember how much, no matter what people will say, he fought against a terrible demon and even tho he didn't "win", he surely tried his best everyday of his life to give the very best of himself, no matter what was torturing him from inside.

"... When a miror has been broken, shattered pieces scattered on the ground
Glimpses of new life, are reflected all around
Window of beginning let shine the light of a new dawn
Let my silent, empty soul be filled and reborn(...) "

("itsumo nando demo", Spirited away)

Hope he finally found the place where his dreams can live.

As someone who loosely fits into the above definition, I'd say no. It's not that people destroy themselves to be funny, it's just that their perspective tends to be pessimistic, or perhaps more realistic. The two go hand in hand, but its not a conscious choice that's made in order to become funny. It is not a performance enhancer. It's simply a tenant of character.

"No Words." -Billy Crystal

To me that says a ton right there.

R.I.P. Robin Williams.

12TH AUG 2014 | 13,268 NOTES My family has always been private about our time spent together. It was our way of keeping one thing that was ours, with a man we shared with an entire world. But now that’s gone, and I feel stripped bare. My last day with him was his birthday, and I will be forever grateful that my brothers and I got to spend that time alone with him, sharing gifts and laughter. He was always warm, even in his darkest moments. While I’ll never, ever understand how he could be loved so deeply and not find it in his heart to stay, there’s minor comfort in knowing our grief and loss, in some small way, is shared with millions. It doesn’t help the pain, but at least it’s a burden countless others now know we carry, and so many have offered to help lighten the load. Thank you for that. To those he touched who are sending kind words, know that one of his favorite things in the world was to make you all laugh. As for those who are sending negativity, know that some small, giggling part of him is sending a flock of pigeons to your house to poop on your car. Right after you’ve had it washed. After all, he loved to laugh too… Dad was, is and always will be one of the kindest, most generous, gentlest souls I’ve ever known, and while there are few things I know for certain right now, one of them is that not just my world, but the entire world is forever a little darker, less colorful and less full of laughter in his absence. We’ll just have to work twice as hard to fill it back up again. —My only statement. My brothers’ are also online. Thank you for all your kindness, and goodbye for awhile guys. xo —Zelda Williams

Ethical?.

What did his ex-wives do to deserve that kind of divorce settlement?

So the full story has come out thanks to his widow:

Robin Williams was battling Parkinson's, widow says

R.I.P Robin Williams.. Gone but NEVER forgotten.

Tribute to Robin Williams

Frankly I think I may have Parkinson's disease too, so I think I understand where he's coming from...

Honestly now that the rational people have had time to take in the news since this came out, it sheds some light on why he took his life.

Well if that was the main, or mostly the main reason he took his life, at least he could afford to get treatment. I know there is no cure, but I know the pills available help people become almost symptom free, for a while anyways. I can't afford to see a neurologist, let alone get any of the tests done. At least in his case, he got to live a long life before he was diagnosed, I'm 30 and may have it...

I wouldn't say the main reason by far, but add into 20+ years of depression, plus 3(?) divorces, a lag in his career, although he had some upcoming projects, once he heard the news, it could have been enough for him.

Actually, in recently videos I seen of him, something looked off, and I wondered if he might have had PD, or just some other disease in general.