Henry Rollins is shaming Robin Williams over his suicide

by Mark Teo

August 22, 2014

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UPDATE: Henry Rollins has apologized. Read his follow-up column here.

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The loss of Robin Williams last week hit most everyone hard, and even the cynics admit it: The conversation surrounding his suicide was productive. Some chose to focus on his legacy, and how mental illnesses can be a silent killer, even among the bright-eyed comedy community. Others, like Frances Bean Cobain, focused on providing support to the family members left behind. And the incident forced even the most click-minded websites to talk about depression, anxiety, and mental illness in ways that were—quite refreshingly—illuminating.

Outside of a few trolls, Williams’ tragedy largely displayed the empathetic side of the internet. Still, the internet’s going to internet, and that good will could only last so long—and ex-Black Flag singer (and curmudgeonly writer) Henry Rollins was among the first to condemn the Jumanji star over his actions.

In his column for LA Weekly, Rollins criticized the media for flocking to Williams suicide, and admitted he loved some of the actor’s performances—even openly questioning if Williams “was tapping into his own deep trench of personal pain to deliver some of those scenes.”

But that’s where Rollins’ compassionate side ends. The “Liar” singer can’t comprehend how a man with children can kill himself.

I simply cannot understand how any parent could kill themselves. How in the hell could you possibly do that to your children? I don’t care how well adjusted your kid might be — choosing to kill yourself, rather than to be there for that child, is every shade of awful, traumatic and confusing. I think as soon as you have children, you waive your right to take your own life. No matter what mistakes you make in life, it should be your utmost goal not to traumatize your kids. So, you don’t kill yourself.

Then, Rollins wrote that he “can no longer take [him] seriously,” and that he has “many records, books and films featuring people who have taken their own lives, and I regard them all with a bit of disdain.” The article then—just to prove that Rollins has some authority on the issue—anecdotally speaks to a few of Rollins’ acquaintances who commit suicide.

Ugh.

Rollins’ perspective on the matter, however, isn’t an unusual one: Many are quick to label suicides as selfish. But there’s an issue with calling people who take their lives self-centred—it blames the victim. And those who commit suicide don’t deserve to be smugly judged by others; committing suicide is the result of a mental illness that feels insurmountable. It’s an act of desperation by those who feel like they have no other options for relief. To call suicide “selfish” is to trivialize mental illness.

As this wonderful Thought Catalog essay notes, those who are healthy mentally should feel lucky that they don’t understand the suicidal mindset. But they should think twice about judging it as self-centred. It is not.

So when Rollins writes “fuck suicide,” he’s making a simplistic judgment that’s not only tone deaf—it’s wildly insensitive. It’s not as simple as writing that life is “what you make it” or to suggest that the depressed should “hang in there.” If Rollins can have “life by the neck and drag it along,” then good for him—but his column is akin to telling depressed people to toughen up.

So, fuck sucide? Shut up, Henry.

Tags: Music, News, Henry Rollins, Robin Williams

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