Anthony Bourdain suicide...
- Thread starter LionDeNittany
- Start date
Nah, society is too busy with more headline-friendly causes than to tackle real problems.
If people have any interest in food at all, his shows are a must watch.
Apparently he was filming and in France.
The toxicology report will be interesting.
LdN
Suicide rates are rising. I don't know the answer, but there's clearly a problem with people believing this is the answer and leaving 13 year old daughters behind.
LdN
Interestingly Eric Ripert was my neighbor for about 5 years. Like same floor two doors down. His kid would play in the hallway all the time.
Very nice fellow at the time. His wife did all the cooking.
LdN
Eric Ripert is extremely well liked. In a very tough business, he has the reputation for being quite kind. My understanding is that he tried to look after AB as much as he could.
He was not just a foodie. His insight and interviews on a countries political structure were enlightening.
Always the sense I got watching him interact with AB on TV. Ripert seemed like a very nice dude.
Really enjoyed his writing and shows. I thought he had come out of the worst of it as a survivor, but I guess not. He did seem increasingly angry on his twitter account.
Awful news. I think I've seen every episode of No Reservations and The Layover and have plans to read Kitchen Confidential.
That man truly got me into loving food and different cuisines and restaurants. His market on Pier 57 in NYC is set to open next year as well
That man truly got me into loving food and different cuisines and restaurants. His market on Pier 57 in NYC is set to open next year as well
You hear that all the time but I'm not sure what it means. Spending for mental health is at record levels. An amazing number of people claim disability because of depression, bipolar, etc. and health insurance covers these things like never before. I'm not arguing with you, I just don't know the solution. I don't think suicides are up because mental healthcare spending is down.
I agree for the most part. But sometimes he got wrapped up in the moment and became obsequious to his hosts. Take for example that vintage car show in Iran. It came across as staged by the government as if to say, you Americans got us all wrong. IMO he was at his best when put into uncomfortable situations, like caving in Jamaica and getting covered in bat guano or taking incoming artillery in Beirut. His episodes on Miami and Vietnam stood out. We are poorer without him. RIP.
I am shocked. If you had asked me what life would you like to be living besides your own, AB would have been in the top ten.
This is the third high profile suicide I've been aware of since Sunday before memorial day.
This is the third high profile suicide I've been aware of since Sunday before memorial day.
Great TV. He took us into different cultures, where he eloquently taught us about their food, drink, people, geography and history. How many of us knew much about Armenia or New Foundland? Once again we see that money and fame don't bring lasting happiness. Thankfully, most of us are satisfied with our plight in life and can negotiate through problems without demons. I hate that this happens to anyone.
Prescription meds are the demon that does not appear in the mainstream all the time. Big pharmaceutical has their hands around the throats of US citizens and the healthcare field. It’s cheaper to take a pill prescribed by someone who sees you for not very long versus actually treating a person holistically (body, mind, spirit).
I really liked the idea of his show, but TBH, there was something dark and cynical about his personality that made me not want to watch it that much. Also, it seemed kind of weird to be getting political lectures from a cook/ex? junkie.
I think there were other demons haunting him besides drug use. May he rest in peace.
If only we could go back to the 70s and 80s when there were no drug deaths. Before Big Pharma.
NYC was quite a nice and safe place then.
As a matter of fact, my father's gas station wasn't held up about once a month due to drug addicts in the early 80s.
LdN
Totally agree with this. I found him to be very cynical. Like the kind of guy that always had to challenge his teachers as a kid and bosses as an adult. Nothing wrong with it, I just found him to be sort of smug and that he had a higher opinion of his opinions than most in the room. Judging by the effusive praise of him as a true pioneer and story teller, clearly my interpretation is wrong.
I thought the same thing. You could tell that he had some dark side to him just the way the he talked and acted. And he did cross the line on too many occasions with some political speak versus focusing on the show.
As for suicide and mental health, etc....throwing more money at it isn't doing anything. And blaming pharma as the devil isn't correct either. Big Pharma has created more miracle drugs that have saved millions of lives over the past few decades. At some point, people and society have to take personal responsibility for themselves. I don't blame the doctor for people getting hooked on opiods. And I don't blame big pharma for creating painkillers. Most doctors don't want to prescribe painkillers but patients come in, complain of pain (real or not) and demand that they give them a script. In today's society of litigation, doctors would rather just say yes then face some type of lawsuit so they write the script. Blame the lawyers and politicians for a society that is now almost 100% about how not get sued.,
I remember him eluding to this in a couple of his episodes over the years. He even referred to them as "demons".
You are 100% correct. Here is the issue in a nutshell. We are told death by drug overdose due to depression. But the real evidence comes up in a forensic autopsy. That will tell us if it was indeed a mental issue or a physical issue. Getting that information in the U.S. with the current HIPPA laws is a pipe dream and I think France have similar privacy laws. JMHO
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He was notorious for having a pretty intense lifestyle - you always heard ‘blow and hookers’ with him in chef circles. I was never a big fan - he was a huge dick on Top Chef but he was a great writer and storyteller. Feel awful for his kid.
You really don’t have any idea of what I see on a daily basis in the human service field. How do you justify prescribing psychoactive meds to a four year old after a half hour visit? What 4 year old do you know that needs psychoactive meds? Years and years of being experimented upon with many different types of meds and parents going along with it because they are uninformed. You are uninformed to think that Big Pharma is not behind the push for presrciption use in this country. How many physicians and researchers have a stake in big drug companies stocks or bottom lines? They are in bed together. Are you aware the trend for diagnosing and medicating kids for Bipolar disorder, which was never actually studied in children or had a diagnosis associated with it for children, was due to one research article written by a researcher who noted a small population of kids with ADHD may have symptoms of bipolar disorder. The researcher was also being paid by Big Pharma. It caused an increase in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children by nearly 400%!!!! That should be statistically impossible that a mental health disorder is at epidemic proportions.
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Always a little eerie to go back through their social media: https://twitter.com/Bourdain
Yet, this morning on my way to work I heard drug overdose on the radio. You're correct it was a hanging.
I agree that this is a factor, but my hypothesis is a bit less cynical (but probably a worse/bigger problem)... I think all the processed sugars/carbohydrates is doing the real damage to our brains. Then, big pharma comes in with their drugs that help mask the problem(s), but obviously the problem(s) aren't fixed.
Then, in today's world the effect that mental illness has on people is amplified by social media. So much judging. So much feeling of being judged. If you're not secure in who you are, it's a brutal world out there.
Leave my bourbon and oreos out of this.
I know several kids on those types of meds. All come from middle and/or upper middle class 'stable' families. All of the kids are on drugs because the mom essentially pushed the doctor to the point of making it happen. Some of the parents went to three or four different doctors before finally finding one that 'agreed' with their personal diagnosis. It is the parents who are the issue, not the doctors 99 times out of 100. Doctors aren't 'experimenting' with drugs on kids because they own shares in Merck or Pfizer, if you think that then you are part of the problem.
