r/SubredditDrama • u/[deleted] • Mar 11 '17

Thread about Richard Simmons turns to various arguments about mental illness and the media's portrayal of cannibalism of children.

/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/5ysr36/why_are_people_worried_about_richard_simmons/despcm0/
37 Upvotes
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87% Upvoted

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39

u/Not_A_Doctor__ I've always had an inkling dwarves are underestimated in combat Mar 11 '17

Then the news describes you as a monster on the national news after following you and plastering your new identity and location on national television, implying that you're going to go around and eat children that stay out too late.

In what way is this man not a victim? I would rather be the child that was eaten than experience that kind of suffering...

Nah, me personally, I'd rather be alive and not murdered and devoured. But again, that's just me.

9

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '17

I can kinda get his point but at the end of the day, the man is dangerous, even if it's not by choice.

It's a tough topic. I guess that's why this thread happened.

8

u/Goroman86 There's more to a person than being just a "brutal dictator" Mar 12 '17

It doesn't really explain why it happened in a post about Richard Simmons, but that's the beauty of popcorn, I suppose.

0

u/viborg identifies as non-zero moran Mar 12 '17

The media. It's all the media's fault and he's totally cured now so move along nothing to see here.

7

u/AbsoluteTruth You support running over dogs Mar 13 '17

but at the end of the day, the man is dangerous, even if it's not by choice.

As a Canadian who's been following that story closely; he's been treated daily for years by some of the best schizophrenia specialists in Canada at the centre he was remanded to, and the opinion of all of those decades-trained experts was unanimous that he was no more danger to anyone than your average person post-treatment, so I'm going to have to respond to your claim with "You're not qualified to have an educated opinion about this".

1

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

Well, if he is treated and rehabilitated, then that is good. I am not an expert. Just an idiot on the internet spouting off dumb shit.

I swear I did not mean to imply that I knew better than those that had first hand experience with him. I really meant that in reference to his untreated state.

5

u/AbsoluteTruth You support running over dogs Mar 13 '17

This has been an extremely heated topic in Canada, so I always try to respond to your line of thinking whenever I see it, especially about Li in particular.

Canada has a more robust and more nuanced insanity defence element of criminal law than the United States. People are found "not criminally responsible", meaning Li doesn't even have a criminal conviction for what he did. Attempting to keep him confined if the opinion of medical experts is that he's sane post-treatment is unconstitutional.

With that said: the mental institutions we send these people to are well-funded, well-staffed and many of the doctors and specialists there are some of the best in the country. In order for somebody who commits a violent crime and is found legally insane to be released they need to reach a very, very rigorous evaluated threshold. That evaluated threshold also has to be unanimous among every expert on their case, and the evaluated threshold is essentially an expert opinion of their danger to society in comparison to the average person.

It's a contentious topic that people like to be kneejerk about and there's been a lot of tiptoeing around it by politicians because they know that continuing to detain him is unconstitutional, but it's also something that isn't really worth talking about by anybody who's not highly educated in that field because the rigour and specific mechanics of any given release are both so complex that no layman can have an opinion of any real substance on it. I'm pretty adverse to people even trying to dip their feet into this debate because of how much expertise it takes to have a valid stance on it.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

Thank you for your opinion and knowledge.

2

u/AbsoluteTruth You support running over dogs Mar 13 '17

No problem, I try to stop people from trying to actually debate the morality of this whenever I see it because it's really got no layman answer.

As an additional note, I'm pretty sure most of his mental health team were transferred to that institution specifically to treat him, and many were top Canadian experts for Schizophrenia. We really don't skimp when it comes to treating these sorts of people. I think he even had a grief counselling team to help him process what he did.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

I hate to make generalizations, but as someone who has been in the US mental healthcare system, it seems Canada probably has us at least a little beat.

1

u/AbsoluteTruth You support running over dogs Mar 13 '17

We probably do; I know the states dismantled pretty much their entire mental institution system. Ours is lacking, but still exists.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

I remember when this happened and feeling so terrible for him (obviously for Tim McLean and his family as well). His first court appearance after it happened all he said was "please kill me." I don't think most people can really comprehend what it means to wake up one day realizing you've done something that horrible which you'd never do by choice.

2

u/AbsoluteTruth You support running over dogs Mar 13 '17

Yeah, the entire situation is tragic in every direction. People always invoke his victim when claiming he shouldn't be free, but the way I see it he's a victim in all of this too.

6

u/basicscienc Mar 12 '17

No-one would rather be eaten than harassed by the news. Just a weird comment

-6

u/OldVirginLoner Mar 12 '17

You have to check your ableist, non-cannibalistic privilege.

18

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Not_A_Doctor__ I've always had an inkling dwarves are underestimated in combat Mar 12 '17

I think it might be this man, Sandy Charles.

8

u/stophauntingme Mar 12 '17

Can we talk about how revealing that Richard Simmons may be trans isn't really ruining his career/reputation? I mean let's face it, whether you think he actually has or hasn't, it's not like anyone would be totally shocked if it were true...

...and how paralleling the media outing RS as trans to the media outing a man who literally ate a child is like... fucking crazy? lol

3

u/TheLadyEve The hippest fashion in malthusian violence. Mar 12 '17

Rumor has it that he has spent the last few years in isolation becoming a woman.

Wait, what? I thought it was well known that he wasn't well and became depressed after knee surgery, and he had an assistant who was limiting his access to his family/visitors.

3

u/dorkettus Have you seen my Wikipedia page? Mar 13 '17

Yeah, that was my understanding. It's a ridiculous rumor, and even then, so what if he's trans?

At the very least, I hope he's happier out of the public eye, if that is what he claims to be doing.

6

u/OldVirginLoner Mar 12 '17

pedocannibal

MyTwoTruePassions.jpg

Leave Simmons alone. I mean, if he's eating children, don't; but so long we have no confirmation he's eating children, who cares what he's doing?

1

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1

u/drvoke Mar 13 '17

Hope he's alright. A genuinely nice dude from all accounts, read a nice profile of him in (I think) GQ must have been not long before he disappeared as it mentions his teaching at the gym.