Thread

1. delichon · 1790045025 · focus · HN ↗

   I remember being stunned by Mork from Ork. Then watched as the same guy grew into one of the most iconic and loved humans on Earth. Given the amount of brain share that he earned it's kind of inevitable that so many people try to bring him back. I hope his daughter can also feel the love in it.

   But shazbot to anyone who goes rule 34 on him.

   1. willis936 · 1790045648 · focus · HN ↗

      There's a few different ways to look at this.

      1. You appreciate Robin Williams and were he here right now judging you for how you honor his memory, would he approve?

      2. Robin Williams is not here, or anywhere, so then if he were would he approve of you bringing pain to someone he loved dearly? Why would you do that to Robin Williams?

      3. Robin Williams is not here, or anywhere, so then nothing matters and I bet I could get some views.

      It's difficult to see love in these acts when they seem to be fundamentally selfish. Not at all what Robin Williams would do.

      1. echelon · 1790046822 · focus · HN ↗

         Should one not be free to invoke the visages of Einstein, Socrates, Julius Caesar, Jesus Christ (whichever version - and there are so many!), Genghis Khan, Confucius, et al.?

         What about when poking fun at Hitler, such as Kung Fury and Jojo Rabbit do? Off limits?

         Can one paint Bob Ross in a sci-fi setting? Is that unethical? Is it okay so long as a "real" artist does it and not an "AI artist"? Or can we seriously never depict him again because someone might get angry?

         "Mr. Rogers in a blood-stained sweater"?

         Come on!

         And we can't animate Bruce Lee? Or put him on stickers? Or have him in new movies? (Nevermind how Quentin Tarantino did him wrong.)

         When I grew up Elvis effigies were everywhere. And I mean everywhere. The people who liked this stuff are mostly dead or retired now so you don't see it as much, but it used to be a big deal. Really big deal.

         So we can't do that anymore?

         Abraham Lincoln hunts vampires for Christ's sake...

         1. willis936 · 1790047555 · focus · HN ↗

            I'm glad you're asking. If you notice no one has said, especially Zelda, that you can't do these things. Obviously you can. You have access to a computer. The question you should be asking is should you do these things?

            Also, this a good list of false equivalences. Robin Williams, when public, was empathetic, emotional, and arguably humanist. His memory isn't a caricature from people who have never known him, as you would see from Star Trek holo-deck episodes featuring Leonardo Da Vanci. His memory is something that is deeply important to people who are living. Some of those people simply appreciated his art and his behavior. One of those people is his daughter. You don't get to say what is right or wrong here. No one's going to stop you if you want to make a video of Robin Williams taking the Siegfried Oath, but you should understand why it is wrong.

            1. conductr · 1790049346 · focus · HN ↗

               Doesn’t the should part just completely ignore how we all know the world actually works which is kind of its own form of insanity. We humans can’t be trusted to follow basic rules like traffic laws. Right and wrong cease to matter much when 1) I want to be selfish and do what I please and 2) there’s technically nobody being harmed, feelings aside. But even then, from a net perspective, there’s probably many more people getting enjoyment from these AI videos than the people who are saddened by them.

               It sucks for Zelda this saddens her so much, but if I were in her shoes it’s something I know I can’t control and so I’d try to embrace or ignore it.

               1. necovek · 1790053318 · focus · HN ↗

                  Haven't seen the videos, but she seems to complain of videos claiming to be authentic private videos of him stating a particular political message — and of these videos being forwarded to her (possibly for verification?).

                  This has nothing to do with impersonating a deceases person but about rewriting (personal) history she finds shameful.

                  1. [deleted] · 1790055690 · focus · HN ↗

                     [deleted]

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