'Genie, you're free'

[Dick Whitman]

Perhaps this should go on the running Robin Williams RIP thread/pissing match, but it seems to deserve its own thread.

After Williams died the other day, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sent out a Tweet picturing his character from "Aladdin," with the caption, "Genie, you're free."

It was shared millions of times over, and, now, suicide prevention experts are starting to beginning to criticize - rightfully so, I believe - the sentiment. Basically, the Academy, in three words, presented suicide as a romantic, liberating option. Terrible move.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/08/12/suicide-contagion-and-social-media-the-dangers-of-sharing-genie-youre-free/

 

[YankeeFan]

Thought this as soon as I saw people posting it on Facebook.

That Williams died, and committed suicide is very sad. I understand people want to express sympathy, and work out their own grief.

But, this seems to almost affirm suicide as an option.

And, while I don't expect everyone on Facebook to understand this, the Academy should have.

 

[Amy]

Did this go out before or after it became public that his death was a suicide?

I think the publication of the details of his method of suicide are more dangerous for people considering killing themselves than what the Academy did.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I was under the impression that his death was almost immediately reported as a suicide. Maybe that wasn't the case.

Yes, the tweet was irresponsible. That's a tweet for someone who lost a bout with cancer.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I think Disney should have gone with: "Purgatory just got a lot funnier."

 

[MisterCreosote]

The media has been romanticizing celebrity deaths for as long as celebrities have died.

This is no better or worse than any other instances.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

The media has been romanticizing celebrity deaths for as long as celebrities have died.

This is no better or worse than any other instances.

There is a lot of danger in romanticizing the suicide of a celebrity.

 

[MisterCreosote]

More danger than romanticizing the death of a child molester? Or a drug addict? Or an alcoholic? Or a wife beater?

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

More danger than romanticizing the death of a child molester? Or a drug addict? Or an alcoholic? Or a wife beater?

I didn't think Philip Seymour Hoffman or Heath Ledger's deaths were romanticized. I'm sure there were some who romanticized Michael Jackson's death, but I think there was enough "good riddance" sentiment to off-set that.

 

[Versatile]

I didn't think Philip Seymour Hoffman or Heath Ledger's deaths were romanticized. I'm sure there were some who romanticized Michael Jackson's death, but I think there was enough "good riddance" sentiment to off-set that.

Heath Ledger's death essentially was chalked up to method acting by some.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/heath-ledgers-creepy-joker-diary-revealed

 

[cranberry]

It's a bit of a stretch to suggest that tweet presents suicide as a romantic, liberating option. Reads to me as if someone tried to express a sweet sentiment in the way grieving, well-meaning people often try to make sense or find some "silver lining" aspect to a tragic death of a loved one. And it apparently struck a favorable chord with the 320,000 people who retweeted it.

I have more of a problem with people latching on to it to make a political statement. If they genuinely believe that tweet could cause some kind of suicide contagion, they should just leave it alone and not draw any further attention to it. Now, shall we expect right-to-die advocacy groups to chime in next?

 

[MisterCreosote]

Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, Tupac, Elvis, River Phoenix, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson. Just off the top of my head.

All romanticized.

 

[Versatile]

Notorious B.I.G., Arthur Ashe, Amy Winehouse, James Dean, Nick Drake, Big L, Ian Curtis and many more could join that list.

That tweet came not long after the news first broke. It's very likely the tweeter wasn't sure of the cause of death.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Without the type, no controversy, just a perfect encapsulation of the public persona of Robin Williams. And I feel sure that's all that was meant to be. And how a life ends doesn't at all mean the legacy shouldn't be appreciated.

 

[MisterCreosote]

And how a life ends doesn't at all mean the legacy shouldn't be appreciated.

Correct. But the "suffering artist" caricature does exist and is perpetuated, if not celebrated, by a lot of media.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Notorious B.I.G., Arthur Ashe, Amy Winehouse, James Dean, Nick Drake, Big L, Ian Curtis and many more could join that list.

That tweet came not long after the news first broke. It's very likely the tweeter wasn't sure of the cause of death.

How the **** does Arthur Ashe get put on that list?

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, Tupac, Elvis, River Phoenix, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson. Just off the top of my head.

All romanticized.

There's a difference in being sad that someone died too soon and having their deaths romanticized. With Ledger, just to pick one, we got story after story about how ****ed up he was after playing the joker.

 

[britwrit]

I'm surprised that it was the academy that sent it out - not just one random blog post that managed to go viral.

Still, for once it's true that The Internet Is The Cause Of Everything Bad. In the time that it would've taken to print up and at least fax out a release, a quick rethink would've stopped this cold.

 

[Mr. Sunshine]

More danger than romanticizing the death of a child molester? Or a drug addict? Or an alcoholic? Or a wife beater?

This has absolutely nothing to do with the issue at hand.

 

[ringer]

Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, Tupac, Elvis, River Phoenix, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson. Just off the top of my head.

All romanticized.

Romanticized? What's romantic about a drug overdose? I don't think anyone ever thought that.

Maybe what you meant is that the post-mortem tributes to their lives/careers were overplayed. That's fair.

But celebrating a career and "romanticizing death" are completely different.