Robin Williams (1951 - 2014)

This guy is super cool. He named his daughter Zelda.

He was hilarious in Aladdin.

=-(

Dead Poets' Society has always been my favourite movie of all. He will be missed...

Whoever names their daughter Zelda should be immortalized within a gaming community, so thanks for bringing up the topic.

My wife and I made a minute of silence, not on purpose. We were just shocked when it showed up on the news and it took us a while to figure out what to say. Just last night we watched Night at the Museum and played Zelda: ALTTP...

I loved One Hour Photo. To me that was the movie that set him apart. Up to that point, I felt like he was just a comedian, but that movie made me realize he was also an actor. That being said, there was probably a lot more to that movie in retrospect...

Nanoo nanoo.

I've never met him, but something about him passing made me actually want to cry. Been fighting back the urge to cry the past two days now. Just feels like finding out a distant family member has just passed (at least for me). May just be that I've grown up on his movies my entire life to where I feel like I know him because of him being the kind of actor that picked roles that were close to how he was in real life (or at least how I thought he was). He was a great actor and comedian, got to thinking about him again and Jack popped into my head. The movie where he played the child who aged faster than anyone else and had the mind of like a 9 year old but looked 40. His movies were always so great that I kind of wish they would just release a massive Robin Williams box set of all his remastered stand ups and movies (I'd pay to get that in a heartbeat).

Part of me keeps wishing some PR would come out and say that it was some poorly thought out PR campaign for a movie that the family had no idea about and that he is alive and well. Think I'm still in shock over him passing :(.

I know what you mean, BHXSpecter, it does feel like we've lost a family member.

When I found out, I almost cried too, because I've grown up watching his movies as they've come out (well, a good chunk of the later work he did). My favorites are Hook, Dead Poet's Society, Patch Adams, Jumanji... oh hell, they're all good, even Flubber!

He will be sorely missed. :(

At 46 I have seen most of the public figures I knew as a kid pass, but none has really caused me grief like Williams. It wasn't just the roles he played, but the man he was in the social and political spheres as well. I really admired and appreciated him.

I'll admit that I feel defensive for him as I watch so many corporate and non-profit agenda's try to play his loss as a tool for their own good: suicide hotlines, depression clinics, Parkinson's researchers... to me it is as if they are somehow debasing his choice to exit by saying it was wrong or could have been "cured."

Bah. He was a brilliand man who gave a great deal to us, and there really is not a whole lot more to say.

Yeah, I saw a tribute on Youtube after I posted that and it finally broke loose and cried hard over his passing. If I had to pick my absolute top 5 favorite movies by him it would have to be:

• Good Morning, Vietnam!
• What Dreams May Come
• Dead Poet's Society
• Mrs Doubtfire
• Jumanji

I'll admit that I feel defensive for him as I watch so many corporate and non-profit agenda's try to play his loss as a tool for their own good: suicide hotlines, depression clinics, Parkinson's researchers... to me it is as if they are somehow debasing his choice to exit by saying it was wrong or could have been "cured."

I completely agree. I don't know him, but I do know he always cared for others. That leads me to believe he didn't commit suicide out of 'selfish' reasons, but rather out of loving his family and not wanting them to watch him as Parkinson's Disease ravaged his body so he ended it. I hate that all those companies have seemed to jump on the band wagon and capitalized on his suicide and recently released diagnosis to garnish more awareness for themselves. If I could say anything to them, it would be: Way to turn a truly sad thing into such a horrific incident and prime example of greed and selfishness.

I started a mini blog I hope to do more with, but the first post was a short thing talking about him: http://bhxspecter.tumblr.com

I still do not believe it was suicide. I know it is possible. But some things just do not make sense about the reports.

I have the same suspicions about several other celebrity's deaths. Even Aaron Swartz.

And yes, for some reason celebrity deaths affect me a lot. I loved his movies.

@tutorial doctor

I don't see conspiracy. Guy was known to be depressed historically. Guy was diagnosed with Parkinson's, a fatal degenerative disease, and a disease which has depression as a key symptom. Those three together are more than enough to see suicide as rational from his perspective.

Personally, as a rapid cycling bipolar individual, I can completely understand someone taking their own life. It may not seem rational to most people, but when you have a physical condition that you know is going to cause incredible internal suffering, in my case for roughly 50% of my life, it can seem like a very tempting option. Most people who kill themselves do it to end their own internal suffering.

There are two big causes of clinical depression. The first is due to situation: a loved one died, fired from work, or some other major negative change. Sometimes those are short lived, but other times those depressions require quite a lot of therapy to get your mind back into a good place. The second is due to chemistry: bipolar is a key example, Parkinson's disease is another, thyroid disease and certain hormone imbalances also cause it. Neither one can be corrected by just telling the person everything is okay, or to snap out of it, or to just move on with life.

Having lived through and watched many depressive episodes, from my experience the chemical depressions are far worse than situational depressions. One instance of losing my job shut me down emotionally for several weeks, which is a depression. I've had some relatives die, but one of them shut me down for about two months, which is a depression. These I knew that with time and patience I could work through. But the chemically caused depression, the bipolar times when I know there is absolutely nothing I can do about it, and no additional doses of 'happy pills' that I take to minimize the disruption can ever eliminate it. During those times the world is absolutely horrible and fundamentally wrong in ways that are difficult to explain. Although drugs make it less bad, it is still a world where there is no pleasure, there will never be pleasure again, memories of pleasurable events are difficult to experience, and if you are able to feel anything at all it is a deep pain, a black void that can never be satisfied or corrected. Even though I logically know and have family and two doctors who keep telling me I'll break out of it, and even though I've broken out of it every time in the past, during those longs weeks of bipolar-induced depression it feels like there is no escape. No matter how much people tell me it will end in a few weeks, or even in a few days (my cycle is predictable within about 5 days as long as I'm on the right drugs) it still feels like the internal torment will never end and death is the only way to possibly end the pain.

It is something I would not wish on people, except perhaps a few people who I feel need a dose of humility to understand the darker sides of humanity.

I can completely understand how ANYBODY (especially one who has known serious depression before) who is facing a disease that will slowly but certainly destroy his physical body and his mind could take their own life. In some ways when things get bad enough it seems as though it is one of the few things you can have any control over at all. I cannot fault him for doing it.

Getting back on track.

Robin Williams was a great actor, and I loved how he acted in a bunch of his movies. Much of his comedy in shows was unscripted, that was just who he was.

He went around the world trying to bring a bit of joy to people.

He was also a well-respected volunteer and philanthropist. The world is a harsh and unforgiving place, and he did a lot to try to bring a smile to the face of those who were suffering.

He'll certainly be missed.

There is purely anecdotal evidence that suicide rates in 12 step recovery are higher than in other treatment modalities. Not known by any stretch but would be good if some further research could be done on this. Sadly the mainstream treatment, which Robin Williams was receiving, has been shown to not work. It is essentially faith healing.

I was wondering if Mr Williams, like many others, had received more evidence-based treatment for his addictions, this story may have been different but since it has now emerged about the Parkinsons, I suspect that was the key factor.

There is purely anecdotal evidence that suicide rates in 12 step recovery are higher than in other treatment modalities. Not known by any stretch but would be good if some further research could be done on this. Sadly the mainstream treatment, which Robin Williams was receiving, has been shown to not work. It is essentially faith healing.

I was wondering if Mr Williams, like many others, had received more evidence-based treatment for his addictions, this story may have been different but since it has now emerged about the Parkinsons, I suspect that was the key factor.

While the 12-step programs involve (as I understand it) some accountability to a "higher power" they are not faith healing. They merely use that nebulous idea of a higher power as a focus for motivation rather than claiming that higher power is healing you. Isn't that true? They're effectively a combination of self-help and mutual accountability with some 1:1 support. Now that happens to be very similar to how many churches do things - pray/meditate, mutual accountability, discipleship - but I see that more as a result of these being sensible approaches.

There is purely anecdotal evidence that suicide rates in 12 step recovery are higher than in other treatment modalities. Not known by any stretch but would be good if some further research could be done on this. Sadly the mainstream treatment, which Robin Williams was receiving, has been shown to not work. It is essentially faith healing.

I was wondering if Mr Williams, like many others, had received more evidence-based treatment for his addictions, this story may have been different but since it has now emerged about the Parkinsons, I suspect that was the key factor.

While the 12-step programs involve (as I understand it) some accountability to a "higher power" they are not faith healing. They merely use that nebulous idea of a higher power as a focus for motivation rather than claiming that higher power is healing you. Isn't that true? They're effectively a combination of self-help and mutual accountability with some 1:1 support. Now that happens to be very similar to how many churches do things - pray/meditate, mutual accountability, discipleship - but I see that more as a result of these being sensible approaches.

Sadly not, though that is how 12 step presents itself publically. If you have any long term involvement, you discover its actually a pretty bizarre religious organisation. The claim is absolutely that God is removing your alcoholism, and that indeed nobody but God is able to do this.

But I don't think GameDev lounge is the place to go into this too heavily. You can PM me if you want to discuss it further.

If GD Lounge isn't the place to discuss this, then the site has changed beyond recognition!

Since you started by talking about "purely anecdotal evidence", do you actually have real inside information about how 12s works or is it more anecdotal evidence?

Suggesting Robin should've used "more evidence-based treatment" on the back of "purely anecdotal evidence" seems rather contradictory really :)

[Redacted] Don't want to disrespect a thread about Robin Williams (RIP).

He played some amazing parts.

Fun fact: Robin Williams played Dungeons and Dragons.

If GD Lounge isn't the place to discuss this, then the site has changed beyond recognition!

Since you started by talking about "purely anecdotal evidence", do you actually have real inside information about how 12s works or is it more anecdotal evidence?

Suggesting Robin should've used "more evidence-based treatment" on the back of "purely anecdotal evidence" seems rather contradictory really

GD Lounge is the place to discuss this, but not by highjacking my remembrance thread for Robin Williams.

Fun fact: Robin Williams played Dungeons and Dragons.

It is a well known fact that he loved computers and video games so it is no surprise that he played D&D too.