(OT) Robin Williams died today

[Johnny DangerFace]

I think you have it backwards. I would say having an eccentric, risk taking personality is what caused then to be famous and also what made them more likely to take drugs. Drugs isn't what's causing the personality, opportunity/situation.

Edited September 5, 2014 by Numark

[LTS]

Sorry about that. I read your response when you posted and completely forgot to reply.

 

No, I don't think it's a stretch. Most actors/comedian/entertainers will tell you that if you are lucky enough to get a window into stardom, it's usually a very small window. Once you miss your chance you may never get it again. From what I have read over the years, Robin's craziest drug days were in the 70's to mid 80's. It started before he became famous. He got the attention because of his off-the-wall, eccentric delivery. Cocaine helped to accentuate that delivery. Once he became a star he was able to showcase his talents. If he hadn't been a coke addict in the mid 70's and his act hadn't been quite as unconventional he may have been overlooked for the next guy on stage.

 

Not saying any of this is good or bad. But like has been mentioned, entertainers that rely on creativity for their livelihood sometimes need to find an advantage. Maybe they are creative because they found drugs first. Who knows, everybody is different. Do you think anybody would know who Judy Garland is if she wasn't an addict? How about Philip Seymour Hoffman? Jim Morrison? Jimi Hendrix? Stevie Ray Vaughan? I don't think we would. Some of our most beloved and influential entertainers have been addicts and most of them got that way because of drugs. With the highs come the lows and that's why so many of them end in tragedy. They knew the risks, they chose fame first. As tragic as it is for the families involved, not to mention the fans, we should thank them for choosing the self-destructive route because we may never have been entertained by them otherwise.

 

This is the way I see it. Your mileage may vary.

 

No worries. I understand what you are saying. It's hard to say.

 

I think you have it backwards. I would say having an eccentric, risk taking personality is what caused then to be famous and also what made them more likely to take drugs. Drugs isn't what's causing the personality, opportunity/situation.

 

I might be more along these lines. That said, I'm not arguing that drugs altered their state of being and allowed them to create differently. We just don't know if they would have been able to do it without drugs. There artists who kick the drugs and generally I think people say it usually ruins their talent. I'm not sure if that's the case. It might be different, but not necessarily bad. For example, Aerosmith. They are straight, people like to say they suck now compared to when they were on drugs. They don't suck now, it's just different than it was then.

[JJFIVEOH]

I think you have it backwards. I would say having an eccentric, risk taking personality is what caused then to be famous and also what made them more likely to take drugs. Drugs isn't what's causing the personality, opportunity/situation.

 

I didn't say drugs caused the personality, I said it accentuates the personailty. The type of personailty that Williams had, cocaine is fuel for the fire.

 

Although, I think in some cases drugs do create a whole new personality especially with musicians. Mescaline, LSD, heroine............. usually puts people into a completely different state. But that's getting way off topic. You get the point.

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Here's a good example. When Williams sobered up and did Good Will Hunting, he played a much more mellow, serious role. Not saying that was indicative of how he was in his daily life around that time, but I don't think he could have played that type of role in the 70's when he was all coked up. Granted his stand-up differs from big screen acting. Does anybody think he could have gone blowing the roofs off of comedy clubs the way he did had he been more mellow? We'll never know. But that is what brought me to my original point. Cocaine may or may not have helped kickstart his career, but it sure as hell didn't hurt.

Edited September 6, 2014 by JJFIVEOH

[darksabre]

Richard Kiel aka Jaws from the Bond films and other assorted and very good movies has died.

 

http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/538629

 

 

"Your ball struck my foot."

 

 

 

[shrader]

He'll always be Jaws to me, but man do I love that t-shirt.

[biodork]

Seems like the best thread for this:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/16/blood-test-depression_n_5826592.html

 

“I really believe that having an objective diagnosis will decrease stigma,” Redei, a neuroscientist and professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told The Huffington Post. “Once you have numbers in your hand, you can identify that [depression] is an illness -- not a matter of will.”

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

RIP Big Fella....

 

This case doesn't count. Any comedian who isn't full of it knows that it wasn't possible to keep up with Robin Williams' mind. You could script a better set, or have a better short term run....but you are a fat man running for 2nd against a Kenyan in a marathon.

 

As for depression.....that is a real issue. It is difficult to pinpoint it in this case. He worked at such a high speed over every single person alive, that it would only be natural to not have peers to identify with. He was a beautiful human being though. I was "glad" to hear of his Parkinsons diagnosis as it made me understand, why now. His brilliance was enhanced so much by his physical actions and voices....I'm sure he already had those slip and could see where it was headed.

 

In any case, it was nice to see an open discussion about the issues here.