He's dead, Jim.

[Kepler]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

A thought-provoking article by Matt Walsh http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/08/12/robin-williams-didnt-die-disease-died-choice/

I have mixed feelings about this...

Other than the remark that suicide leaves tragic consequences in the survivors, that article is complete bullshit and in fact part of the problem.

On a different tack, this has gotta be a hoax right? Right?

 

[Jimjamesak]

Other than the remark that suicide leaves tragic consequences in the survivors, that article is complete bullshit and in fact part of the problem.

That's my thought of it. Seems like it was written by somebody who doesn't know much about what he's talking about.

Mental illness is a *ty thing. I have bi-polar disorder myself and it's not an easy thing to deal with. I'm lucky in the fact I was diagnosed (correctly) when I was young and I have a family that helps me. Obviously you have to accept responsibility for what you do but to sit there and say he's selfish is pretty dumb.

 

[Priceless]

Other than the remark that suicide leaves tragic consequences in the survivors, that article is complete bullshit and in fact part of the problem.

On a different tack, this has gotta be a hoax right? Right?

A lot of suicide prevention sites have been saying language such as that cited ("You're free") is not the message to be sending people contemplating suicide. If it's so liberating, why not just go ahead and do it?

 

[Kepler]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

A lot of suicide prevention sites have been saying language such as that cited ("You're free") is not the message to be sending people contemplating suicide. If it's so liberating, why not just go ahead and do it?

Because it hurts the people you leave behind. I know a survivor of a parent suicide, and that's all I'll ever need to know not to saddle my daughter with that. But that has nothing to do with the angles the author is working, which are at best blurry-eyed mysticism and at worst the "character flaw" argument metastasized into a new, even more virulent form.

 

[Scarlet]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Just saw on Twitter that Lauren Bacall died.

 

[joecct]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Just saw on Twitter that Lauren Bacall died.

Here's looking at you, kid.

 

[aygwm2]

Re: She's dead, Jim.

Re: She's dead, Jim.

Just saw on Twitter that Lauren Bacall died.

Here's looking at you, kid.

“If you want me just whistle. You know how to whistle don't you? Just put your lips together and blow.”

 

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Man, there was never a sexier lady on screen. That voice. That feline look. The Bogie/Baby chemistry in their films is just electric. Several scenes in The Big Sleep were added or reshot to punch up the sexual tension between them. One of the great love stories in Hollywood history. Thank God she leaves behind those films. RIP Baby.

Vivian: Speaking of horses, I like to play them myself. But I like to see them workout a little first, see if they're front runners or comefrom behind, find out what their whole card is, what makes them run.

Marlowe: Find out mine?

Vivian: I think so.

Marlowe: Go ahead.

Vivian: I'd say you don't like to be rated. You like to get out in front, open up a little lead, take a little breather in the backstretch, and then come home free.

Marlowe: You don't like to be rated yourself.

Vivian: I haven't met anyone yet that can do it. Any suggestions?

Marlowe: Well, I can't tell till I've seen you over a distance of ground. You've got a touch of class, but I don't know how, how far you can go.

Vivian: A lot depends on who's in the saddle.


The conventional wisdom is punching up the Bogie/Baby relationship resulted in the loss of a certain amount of exposition. And that left unexplained the relevant facts about one of the murders. Nobody cares.

 

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

A lot of suicide prevention sites have been saying language such as that cited ("You're free") is not the message to be sending people contemplating suicide. If it's so liberating, why not just go ahead and do it?

I'm troubled by that kind of language, too. We occasionally see "suicide clusters" among young people. With the deaths and the responses to them seemingly giving "permission" to other troubled adolescents to follow suit.

 

[Kepler]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Barbara Stanwyck, Rosalind Russell, Irene Dunne and Lauren Bacall set the bar for Hollywood actresses. Not only has it never been equaled, it hasn't even been approached.

 

[geezer]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

That's my thought of it. Seems like it was written by somebody who doesn't know much about what he's talking about.

Mental illness is a *ty thing. I have bi-polar disorder myself and it's not an easy thing to deal with. I'm lucky in the fact I was diagnosed (correctly) when I was young and I have a family that helps me. Obviously you have to accept responsibility for what you do but to sit there and say he's selfish is pretty dumb.

I think the issue is confusing mental illness, which is treatable, with suicide: an "act" which is not (I don't like the sound of "choice" thought). They're different things and not always coincident. Suicide is preventable.

 

[The Rube]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Barbara Stanwyck, Rosalind Russell, Irene Dunne and Lauren Bacall set the bar for Hollywood actresses. Not only has it never been equaled, it hasn't even been approached.

Meryl Streep would like to have a word with you.

 

[joecct]

Meryl Streep would like to have a word with you.

She's good, but I prefer the other 3. If you want the ditzy blonde in the romantic comedy Carol Lombard / Meg Ryan.

 

[The Rube]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Non ditzy blone, but character type: Mae West.

 

[joecct]

Non ditzy blone, but character type: Mae West.

Oh yea!

 

[leswp1]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

I've fought depression and anxiety. They are biochemical deficiencies, not character traits. I've found tremendous relief through anti-anxiety meds and they have improved my life greatly.

People have become far more educated about this over the last 30 years and much of the troglodytism here, as elsewhere, is dying out. The important thing to remember is it's just a medical condition, like diabetes. Nobody tells somebody with diabetes to "man up." So if you feel you may have a problem see a doctor (do NOT self-medicate, that only makes things worse), and if you're one of those dwindling number of people who think this is about strength of character, go read a book -- don't be That Guy.

Beautifully written and an excellent analogy.

I would disagree with you here. While mental health (not just depression) awareness is much better, I do not think that the stigma of it is appreciably less today that it was years ago. Just my $.02.

It's like any other social advance: it starts with eccentrics, intellectuals and other fringe elements who are outside of mass pressures anyway if not actively hostile to them, then slowly and painfully permeates out through education levels, with local variation for geography. It's probably still a crippling stigma among the same sort of people who are, say, homophobic or racist or whatever. But with each decade more and more people realize that's stupid, and there are fewer and fewer people left with the old biases. The veil of ignorance lifts gradually, but it lifts.

I think both of these are true. I also think it depends on where you live. Certain parts of the country are more accepting than others.

I think the issue is confusing mental illness, which is treatable, with suicide: an "act" which is not (I don't like the sound of "choice" thought). They're different things and not always coincident. Suicide is preventable.

This is a great topic for an ethics class. It may be preventable but not all mental illness is successfully treated, not because the person or the providers treating them are not trying. There is nothing I can think of that is more painful than watching the anguish of someone that is not able to find a successful regimen to help their mental illness. The suffering is so intense. I have had a patient ask me why it is OK to be able to chose to die when terminal illness is dx and there is no hope but people won't let [him] die when he lives in misery all the time. I had no answer.

 

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Oh yea!

"Beulah, peel me a grape." That character she played over and over again was her own creation. And she wrote most of her dialogue at a time when that was largely unheard of. Because her humor was verbal, she didn't get a break in Hollywood until she was past the age when she would customarily be considered a sex symbol. Didn't seem to matter. "Come up and see me some time."

 

[The Rube]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

"Beulah, peel me a grape." That character she played over and over again was her own creation. And she wrote most of her dialogue at a time when that was largely unheard of. Because her humor was verbal, she didn't get a break in Hollywood until she was past the age when she would customarily be considered a sex symbol. Didn't seem to matter. "Come up and see me some time."

The Code hurt her, too. She was ahead of her time.

 

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Barbara Stanwyck, Rosalind Russell, Irene Dunne and Lauren Bacall set the bar for Hollywood actresses. Not only has it never been equaled, it hasn't even been approached.

Russell in Auntie Mame remains one of the all time great performances. "The Epstein Home for Jewish Orphans" "There, is everyone lit?" "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death."

 

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

The Code hurt her, too. She was ahead of her time.

No question. Her best film work was pre-code. "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" The code took the edge off. She was funny in My Little Chickadee with W. C. Fields ("Is this a game of chance? Not the way I play it."), but could have been funnier.