Celebrity Deaths

I've been wrestling with why Bourdain's death hit so damn hard, reading what others have said, reflecting on other deaths of folks I respected, idolized, etc. I was too young to really process the deaths of actors like John Candy, Farley, and Hartman. Same with Cobain and even Johnny Cash and George Harrison despite being in high school. 

 

Bowie and Prince were tough pills to swallow for just about everyone but even those still haven't quite had this lingering effect. Robin Williams came close because so many grew up with him and he was just such a ball of energy that gave us so much happiness, which made his suicide so haunting. 

 

Still...this is different. I think perhaps there's the fact that Bourdain wasn't a musician, actors, comedian. He was an artist as a chef and a writer and so on, but above all else he was this ambassador for the world at large. Reviewers and tv hosts often have this substantial weight to their legacies. You get to know them and trust their judgement, even when you disagree with their opinions. I mourned Ebert's death because I knew I'd no longer have his 2 cents out there. It's the same with Bourdain. We lived vicariously through him, not just food, drink, travels but also gaining perspective and insight on so much of the world. So many of us are often armchair tourists watching his show and it was fitting that he so often spoke we people all over the world who would likely never travel beyond their county, let alone their villages or cities. He was nonstop, not just in eating and drinking but also narrating and waxing poetic and yet so much of his show was really about listening and sharing the cuisine and culture of so many other individuals. Some of his episodes felt like epic films. Hearing him talk was like conversing with a friend over a beer.

 

I realized I've watched him for over a decade. He changed a bit over the years - a little more mature, nuanced, mellow but still himself. I think about how much I've changed since I was a college age twat to the adult I am now. He had become a constant and there was never truly an endgame to his career - there were always more places to visit and revisit. Not that long ago he did an episode about Okinawa, where I lived for a few years as a kid, and it was literally the closest I've come to feeling like I was there again. He excelled at letting places and people speak for themselves. It sucks he's gone because we needed him more than ever. He's influenced many so I'm excited to see who fills in the vacancy he's leaving. David Chang's show Ugly Delicious comes to mind. It has the same sincerity, passion and lack of pretension. Still, this will cast a shadow for awhile.

 

"As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life -- and travel -- leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks -- on your body or on your heart -- are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt."

Edited June 9, 2018 by joshuatx

Very well said man. Well articulated.

Edited June 9, 2018 by Bulk VanderHooj

Yes, well said.

My dad and I regularly watched No Reservations back in 2010 when I'd come over and visit. Damn shame.

I have to wonder what was really going through his mind in the past week, whilst xenophobia, nationalist zeal, and inward-looking attitudes have become increasingly pervasive throughout the world in the last couple of years.

it is different because he never hinted at it. Usually people give you signs. Say stuff in lyrics, interviews. This one is perplexing

  On 6/9/2018 at 7:21 AM, marf said:

it is different because he never hinted at it. Usually people give you signs. Say stuff in lyrics, interviews. This one is perplexing

 

In one way I agree, in another I should have seen some warning signs as I'm so relatable to him. 

 

=(

i just hope it wasn’t some bad drugs thing

nah he hanged himself

  On 6/9/2018 at 2:22 AM, Ivan Ooze said:

 

  On 6/8/2018 at 4:36 PM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

fuckfuckfuck

 

that makes me so angry. Don't think I've been bothered by a celebrity death since David Bowie?

same here, first that anal cunt guitarist cracked his skull by making a backflip from an elevator and now this

 

lol

 

that's the best way to go for an Anal Cunt member tbh

Sad thing is that there must be a suicidal tendency among a lot of people who seem to have a good life which says a lot about the world we live in

Name one thing

  On 6/9/2018 at 11:59 AM, xxx said:

All of us get old and slow-mo rot with time but I couldn't help but think he looked "puffier" in recent photographs. I'm afraid he might have been relapsing in some fashion like Chris Cornell. I think a lot of the old heads in recovery know that if they get back on the carousel, it will mean certain death. They wind up going out with intent rather than have everyone see the hideous decline that using can cause. No one wants to pull a Layne Staley. All conjecture of course. It bummed me out all day and into the night--especially the vegan celebrations of his death around Twitter.

 

 

He looked really bad when he appeared on The Daily Show earlier this year. I put it down to illness, but he looked very red and bloated at the time. Who knows - but he had always looked great and healthy for his years so it was a bit of a shock.

 

https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/954040045622710272

 

Anyway, what a bummer. Wtf am I going to do without Parts Unknown?

Edited June 9, 2018 by Crossword Enthusiast

I've never heard of this guy before this thread, but he seems like a good guy. RIP

  On 6/9/2018 at 11:59 AM, xxx said:

All of us get old and slow-mo rot with time but I couldn't help but think he looked "puffier" in recent photographs. I'm afraid he might have been relapsing in some fashion like Chris Cornell. I think a lot of the old heads in recovery know that if they get back on the carousel, it will mean certain death. They wind up going out with intent rather than have everyone see the hideous decline that using can cause. No one wants to pull a Layne Staley. All conjecture of course. It bummed me out all day and into the night--especially the vegan celebrations of his death around Twitter.

I used to empathize with vegans just two years ago. But if some of them care that much more about their own agenda and self-perceived moral superiority, then their claim to the moral high ground is moot. Might as well be forest-dwelling cultists.

 

Regardless, I came across a good eulogy of sorts this morning, which features a surprisingly balanced video take by the late Bourdain on the shift from Obama-era to Trump-era America: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/anthony-bourdain-and-the-power-of-telling-the-truth

  On 6/9/2018 at 4:26 PM, Gocab said:

I've never heard of this guy before this thread, but he seems like a good guy. RIP

 

Watch some of his shows for sure. I'm going to check out a lot of his stuff I missed. He seemed genuine and created what I'd call constructive entertainment, which keeps you interested, but informs you and gets you to change your perspective without any persuasion.  

trigger warning: right wing psychos ruining the things you love

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2018 by span

he went after Weinstein. Maybe he was murdered

maybe he was jacking off

  On 6/8/2018 at 10:09 PM, joshuatx said:

 

  On 6/8/2018 at 4:36 PM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

fuckfuckfuck

 

that makes me so angry. Don't think I've been bothered by a celebrity death since David Bowie?

same here, Robin Williams was pretty devastating too

I think the one that hit me the hardest in the past 5 or so years was Chris Cornell. Brought me back to my teenage years, how I idolized lead singers of grunge bands. Edited June 9, 2018 by zero

this is also the time of year suicides happen the most

  On 6/9/2018 at 11:08 PM, zaphod said:

maybe he was jacking off

 

a friend of my family also hanged himself and I always wondered if that's what happened

i had a really negative impression of this guy tbh from reading kitchen confidential many years ago and then hearing him talk in interviews but i decided to watch some eps of parts unknown and i can see why he's appreciated. i guess he was a punk who mellowed out. shame.

Yeah he definitely seemed to be able to keep his sarcastic tone/condescending nature/dickheadishness in check after he became famous.

 

I thought that was part of what people were so intrigued by about him...that for a lot of the people he met and interviewed, you probably knew he was laughing and making fun of them internally, while trying to act interested in the stupid shit they were saying. Maybe later on down the road he stopped giving a crap and just sat there hoping to hear something to make him think we aren't all so stupid.

 

I'm also betting he had been planning on doing it in France since that's his family's lineage.

Edited June 10, 2018 by zero

He wasn't a Punk he was pure Kitchen staff.  (he liked punk,) but trust me he was kitchen. You don't know unless you've worked in lots of kitchens

  On 6/10/2018 at 4:35 AM, zero said:

Yeah he definitely seemed to be able to keep his sarcastic tone/condescending nature/dickheadishness in check after he became famous.

 

I thought that was part of what people were so intrigued by about him...that for a lot of the people he met and interviewed, you probably knew he was laughing and making fun of them internally, while trying to act interested in the stupid shit they were saying. Maybe later on down the road he stopped giving a crap and just sat there hoping to hear something to make him think we aren't all so stupid.

 

I'm also betting he had been planning on doing it in France since that's his family's lineage.

 

So far off the mark it's not even funny.

 

You've completely and totally misread the guy IMO. He's a huge inspiration for hanging up a pretentious apron and getting down to the nitty gritty of food and culture, to expose mine (and a younger) generation to the connection between food and culture. Summarizing him as some asshole that was just capitalizing on exploiting low level (street cart etc) food is a huge mischaracterization. So huge.

 

Massive inspiration to young un's to travel and soak up food and culture. 

Edited June 10, 2018 by Bulk VanderHooj