RIP: Superman (Christopher Reeve)

[dolphinius_rex]

Truly a hero from among us has died this evening. Christopher Reeve was an insperation for so many people in so many ways, and I for one will miss him greatly. I grew up on his Superman films when I was a kid, and always held him as a pillar of strength, courage and perserverance. He was man so strong, and so full of love that even a broken neck couldn't keep him down, or even from acting again. I think one of the most incredible things I saw was when I noticed he had picked up a bit part in Smallville, the TV series based on life when Superman was a teen/young adult. To see him once again step into the world of Superman, after being crippled like that was so inspiring.

Here's the news article from yahoo news:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... 2&ncid=716

"....for this is the day, when a Superman died."
-The Death of Superman (comic)

[VEFF]

I read this late last night, upon getting home from my youngest brother's weddings, and I was shocked - he was only 52, besides which I hadn't heard about the coma that he slipped into on Saturday.

I was saddened by the news, because he is truly an inspiration for all of us!
He seemed like a nice, down-to-earth man, and his courage, determination and inner strength are things that have no doubt inspired many people who have encountered adversit.
He teaches all of us to try never to give up and to live life to the fullest, no matter what life throws our way, although that can require a lot of strength.

RIP!

[LoneWolf]

The man was a class act through and through, and to those who didn't already know it, proved that it doesn't take working arms and legs to be a real man.

He'll be missed. Best wishes to his wife as well, a person of love, caring, and courage.

[Ian]

I was just watching Chris Rock the other night. He had his bit about Superman not being able to walk.

[JamieW]

Is there something about him that I missed? He played superman and fell off of a horse. Why do we deify every person that dies that isn't a complete scumball or did he actually do something worthy of adulation? He wasn't a spinal cord or stem cell research or any form of advocate prior to his accident. Only after it affected him do we find out he cares about these things.

And I'm sorry, Veff and dolphinus, but:

"I was saddened by the news, because he is truly an inspiration for all of us!
He seemed like a nice, down-to-earth man, and his courage, determination and inner strength are things that have no doubt inspired many people who have encountered adversit.
He teaches all of us to try never to give up and to live life to the fullest, no matter what life throws our way, although that can require a lot of strength."

I've got a couple of friends in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. And they didn't need Reeves to teach them not to give up nor was he an inspiration. There's no lesson from him that they can take for they have already taught it and without the benefit of the Hollywood paychecks to rely upon. No, one of these guys went and got his degree after being paralyzed because he could no longer practice his trade and then he went on about his life. THAT'S achieving despite adversity. Sitting on several million dollars, getting paralyzed, then telling people they need to start researching how to unparalyze people isn't heroicism, its whining. These are things we've all known.

The hero is the man who does things above and beyond what he is capable of and what could be reasonably asked of anyone. Those guys I know that work their jobs despite their accidents and continue to raise families and help other severely injured people cope with their issue, those guys are closer to heroes than Reeves is. Those guys are inspiring because they don't roll up onto a soap box about their injury. They just continue living life. And to say that Reeves is a hero or an inspiration when people have been doing more than what Reeves has done for years is insulting to those who have been doing before Reeves and will continue to do so after.

[LoneWolf]

Is there something about him that I missed? He played superman and fell off of a horse. Why do we deify every person that dies that isn't a complete scumball or did he actually do something worthy of adulation? He wasn't a spinal cord or stem cell research or any form of advocate prior to his accident. Only after it affected him do we find out he cares about these things.

Deify? Give me a break.

Perhaps it's the famous people with class that we happen to look up to and respect, as opposed to those who don't have it (I doubt any of us is going to call Britney Spears a hero when she dies). I wouldn't call it deifying. I look up to and respect non-famous people in the same way, but perhaps I don't talk about them in a public forum because none of you would know who Joe Schnitzenberger down the street from me is, nor my ex-gf of four years who has lived her whole life in a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy.

Also, just because some of your disabled friends don't need someone famous in a wheelchair to look up to doesn't mean Reeve hasn't been a source of inspiration for others, disabled or not. I don't agree with the man's position on embryonic stem cell research, but I respect his ability to not become a bitter snivelling selfish person, and instead to lead, and not just for himself.

Maybe your friends don't feel they need soapboxes. That doesn't mean there aren't some who need someone to be on the soapbox for them. The things that HAVE been done for spinal cord injury because he got on the soapbox benefit a lot of people, not just Reeves. I find your definition flawed.

[JamieW]

You find my definition flawed? What definition are you speaking of? If you are speaking of my use "deify" then I refer you to the dictionary: to glorify as of supreme worth. If that isn't what is being done here, then people are masters of exaggeration.

I didn't say that the research only benefited him, but that he only cared after it affected him. There is a very clear difference and I'll not let either with your carelessness or intended misdirection muddle the point. That he isn't as wonderful as he is being made out to be. That we are so jaded with the rest of hollywood, that one person who is decent gets deified when average disabled Joe has been this way for a long time. People are more resilient than we give them credit for. And to give too much credit to Reeves, in my opinion, takes the credit from those who deserve it moreso than he. It also perpetrates the image that hollywooders are somehow more important than average Joe.

But one thing you said, granted it is out of context, is really something that gets me:

"but I respect his ability to not become a bitter snivelling selfish person..."

I admit there is more, but this idea irks the hell out of me. When did doing what you are supposed to start earning respect? (None of the following is speaking about Reeves) I'm supposed to respect someone that has a job instead of collecting on welfare? I'm supposed to respect a father that pays for his children instead of running off? These are all things people SHOULD do at a minimum. If you want respect, you need to do more than the minimum. But I don't have this respect for Reeves because I can't find any evidence of any charitable work or promoting causes prior to his accident.

[LoneWolf]

But I don't have this respect for Reeves because I can't find any evidence of any charitable work or promoting causes prior to his accident.

So, if someone changes for the better, you can't respect that?

Say I'm an ordinary average joe whose wife suddenly dies of breast cancer. I become a supreme advocate for the cause, despite never having paid it attention before, doing fundraisers, volunteering at clinics for others, speaking publicly. And say that I become a nationally recognized figure as a result of it, being asked to speak by countless organizations on behalf of the cause...I'd call this the same kind of situation, and it sounds like something you wouldn't respect because I didn't do any charitable work or promote causes prior to it happening.

Life-changing experiences can cause people to change for the better. Does that mean we shouldn't respect who they are now because that wasn't who they once were? I recognize that Reeve is famous, and that some would argue that that fame makes him self-serving. I might agree if all the things he did with his fame benefitted only him. Then again, I figure Reeve probably had enough money at the time of his accident that if he wished, he could spend it on healing himself alone, and go that route. He didn't. I don't think of him as a god (which is how I interpret "deify"), I think of him as someone who had a life-changing experience that he ultimately used to benefit the welfare of others.