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Post by Binky on Aug 19, 2014 21:49:52 GMT -4
The whole thing is just so sad and feels personal. You can practicality hear the thoughts: my show got cancelled, I'm a failure, I'll never have a come back, my health is ruined. I have nothing to look forward to but a slow painful death. I can end it now and save everybody the trouble. The poor guy had to be in such pain. I don't wish that torment on anyone. Depression is so pernicious, it's easy to picture that agony. Even though it was a dumb show on CBS that failed because it was a dumb show on CBS, not because it had Robin Williams in it. Imagine if he'd gotten a something like True Detective. Even though he was financially solid, even though he was sober, even though he was loved. Even though the Parkinson's was early. Depression isn't rational. I have to admit that the manic humor of his didn't always do much for me (outside of Genie, of course). It did seem like a desperate overcompensation. I really loved his dramatic turns. I think now, knowing that he struggled with depression for probably his entire life, the over-the-top comedy seems more like a shield than anything else. He was brilliant and hilarious, but the Tasmanian Devil act was partly to cover his own fears and insecurities. I think I picked up on that when I didn't find all of it funny. It just seemed to be exhausting for him. The darker stuff he did was often very powerful, probably because he tapped into his actual pain. It's still so sad. It's hard to believe we'll never see him again.
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Post by kateln on Aug 19, 2014 22:07:57 GMT -4
The more I hear about Robin Williams, the more I'm convinced that the world lost someone very special last week. He quietly did so much for so many other people, was hilariously funny, and a damn fine actor. I hope he finally found some peace.
I don't get affected by celebrity deaths, but this one makes me so sad.
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christinama
Lady in Waiting
Posts: 143
Mar 23, 2005 2:31:30 GMT -4
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Post by christinama on Aug 20, 2014 0:14:55 GMT -4
Letterman was on vacation last week, so did his tribute to Robin Williams last night - it was really sweet - for being a curmudgeon, Dave is always surprisingly good at the emotional stuff. It made me tear up all over again at the end. So sad. I have not yet cried for Robin Williams but watching that Letterman clip was damn funny and incredibly sad, and that's the first time I cried. Also, I haven't watched Letterman in a LONG time, damn he is getting OLD. Yikes. Out of all the tributes and clips this past week, that clip of him in scrubs showing a "what if" of him visiting Letterman after *HEART* surgery is the funniest thing I've seen. "Hey Dave it's me! They just thought it'd be real funny!" I did not watch at work.
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Post by Atreides on Aug 20, 2014 0:50:25 GMT -4
A celebrity's death hasn't hit me this hard since John Ritter. And at least John died relatively quickly of a heart-related issue. The fact that Robin suffered for years (decades?) to such a debilitating disease while maintaining such an outwardly sunny disposition really hurts. One of the random Youtube comments on the Letterman/Williams video really touched me. It was something to the effect that "the moment you realize that you will outlive all of your idols".
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Post by Spinderella on Aug 20, 2014 1:46:00 GMT -4
Yes, John Ritter's death was a harsh blow, too. Both he and Robin were my favorite comedians of all time. I think one of the first adult shows I watched as a child was Three's Company and a little later on, Mork & Mindy.
Now that they're both gone, it's sort of like the day the laughter died. Letterman's tribute was very touching and I think underneath all that gruff, he's a softy. So much more so when it's a close friend, colleague or family member and especially if they were part of his public and professional life, too. I don't think I've seen such an outpouring from Hollywood and the public at the same time over one person's death. A truly tragic loss.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 2:51:19 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 6:19:14 GMT -4
Great tribute from Letterman. I love that guy!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 2:51:19 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 8:00:23 GMT -4
I'm not surprised Letterman did a nice tribute, he had known him for a long time and he does know when to reign in the crankiness. Darrin Bell writes the comic strip Candorville. He has a shorter lead time than most other comic strip writers so his strips are more topical, and whenever someone famous that he admired dies he often does a week of tribute strips for them wherein the main character dreams about speaking to the person. He's doing a series on Robin this week, it starts here. I don't think I've ever been hit so hard by a celebrity death before, at least not that I can recall. It still doesn't seem real to me yet.
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Post by kateln on Aug 20, 2014 8:46:04 GMT -4
Yes, John Ritter's death was a harsh blow, too. Both he and Robin were my favorite comedians of all time. I think one of the first adult shows I watched as a child was Three's Company and a little later on, Mork & Mindy. Now that they're both gone, it's sort of like the day the laughter died. Letterman's tribute was very touching and I think underneath all that gruff, he's a softy. So much more so when it's a close friend, colleague or family member and especially if they were part of his public and professional life, too. I don't think I've seen such an outpouring from Hollywood and the public at the same time over one person's death. A truly tragic loss. One of the Robin Williams shows on YouTube has an ending of John Ritter being called up on stage to do improv with Williams. It is hilarious.
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Post by margojata on Aug 20, 2014 9:12:27 GMT -4
Oh dear. I'm going to have to avoid that one like that beheading video (at least for now - the cute, young John Ritter was a BIG crush for me).
I wanted my 70's people to hang on a lot longer.
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Post by BoroKat on Aug 20, 2014 9:21:27 GMT -4
John Ritter was a gut punch and so was Phil Hartman. I wonder why it seems like the funny guys' deaths are the hardest to swallow?
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