The world lost another good man last week.
1994-2014
On
Monday, February 24, 2014, Harold Ramis, the man behind films such as
"Groundhog Day", "Caddyshack", and the "Ghostbusters" series, passed
away.
It's always a painful thing to have to
deal with death in our lives, especially if the recently departed had
formed especially close relationships, not just with friends and family,
but with all of their fans and followers, as well.
In
a way, though, it's actually kind of fascinating to hear about the many
things the average person would learn about someone only after they're
no longer around to hear it.
I'll admit, up
until a few days ago, I'd only recognized Ramis' efforts in the
Ghostbusters movies. It was only after, I'd learned he'd directed things
such as National Lampoon's Vacation, and had a hand in writing Animal
House. The only thing is, while I plan on watching those movies at one
point, now there'll always be that twinge of bittersweet hindsight that
comes with the trope of Author Existence Failure.
What's
interesting about this whole thing to me, though, is that in a way,
death is a sort of freeing process for the person being dead.
Take Michael Jackson,
for instance. For a good amount of time prior to his death, most people
wrote him off as being excellent in the past, but eventually becoming a
has-been that was responsible for a few "unpleasant" child cases. While
him perishing just before his comeback tour may have had something to do
with it, eventually the man dies, and for a good while after, everyone
very quickly forgot the "has-been" part, and put him on a high horse
that wouldn't come back down to Earth for two years or so after the
fact.
Personally, I want to keep living to make
that kind of thing happen. Being recognized is nice and all, but,
there's no point in having everyone hail your work as the best thing
since butter on toast, if you're not around to enjoy hearing about it!
Having
given my opinion on living, however, I still find it significant that,
even after someone passes away, they leave behind things that many
people never knew about them, and thing that they won't soon forget.
There's
one quote from the anime "One Piece" that actually makes my point
perfectly, more so because, in the context of the story, the character
who said the quote died and left behind a legacy of his own!
"When
does a man die? When he is hit by a bullet? No! When he suffers a
disease? No! When he eats a soup made out of a poisonous mushroom? No! A man dies when he is forgotten!"
Keeping
that quote in mind, in a way, people like Harold Ramis could
effectively be immortal, as long as people never forget what he has
done, not just for movies, but for the people in his own life, as well.
__________
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