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[Bobby Roberts]

This is probably what passes as a kind gesture in 2016, but this sort of self-branding in the face of tragedy strikes my old-school soul as incredibly tacky. :|

Yeah, the question of public grieving in an age where almost everything is public and anyone on social media is practicing branding of some kind to some degree makes for some weird and uncomfortable areas to wander into. We've been in these cultural growing pains for awhile now. Same questions come up when you stop to think about the fact someone's somewhere right now in photoshop trying to come up with a shareable meme expressing grief, or a cartoon.

One could say also that him taking a picture of a handwritten note from his desk is a little more heartfelt than the exact same words being issued in a press release to a news organization. It's a weird period of time to be in, when we're all using the internet more than anyone's ever used it before, and it's just the way we interact with each other now, and the rules are being written/re-written as we go, in front of the constant audience we're both part of and playing to.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Gut wrenching :'(

 

[Horse Detective]

Fucking hell. I liked him a lot.

 

[Nyanmaruz]

Saw this on Twitter

It hurts even more. =(

 

[WordsintheWater]

Damn, tragic, RIP, liked him a lot in Star Trek and Fright Night.

 

[Magilla]

The Fright Night remake was better than it had any right to be.

Damn straight. The leads just ate up scenery. It was fun as hell.

 

[Goodstyle]

What a horrendous way to go, poor guy. I hope his friends and family are doing ok.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Dude hastily scribbled a note on the letterhead on his desk. Dunno how this is self-branding.

Playing devil's advocate here, but JJ's name is literally branded across the top of the note.

 

[Trouble]

This is probably what passes as a kind gesture in 2016, but this sort of self-branding in the face of tragedy strikes my old-school soul as incredibly tacky. :|

I'm going to go ahead and give J.J. the benefit of the doubt and assume he felt that taking the effort to hand write a note was more meaningful than firing off a tweet.

 

[Cabal]

This is probably what passes as a kind gesture in 2016, but this sort of self-branding in the face of tragedy strikes my old-school soul as incredibly tacky. :|

Well said. I think he probably meant well, but in light of the death of someone who was at the very least a professional aquantaince it feels a bit cold and impersonal.

 

[B4D1E]

So sad. I really liked him in Odd Thomas and Fright Night!

RIP and gone too soon...

 

[excelsiorlef]

Playing devil's advocate here, but JJ's name is literally branded across the top of the note.

It's his stationery.

Must we really dissect whether someone who worked on two movies with him day in day out is publicly grieving appropriately or not?

 

[Messofanego]

Wow. And he just came off a brilliant performance in Green Room. Had so much ahead of him.

 

[Shaanyboi]

RIP

 

[Kurdel]

Playing devil's advocate here, but JJ's name is literally branded across the top of the note.

Wouldn't it be even more cynical for him to reach for non stationary paper from the printer out of fear of people dissecting his intentions?

 

[SpaceWolf]

Well said. I think he probably meant well, but in light of the death of someone who was at the very least a professional aquantaince it feels a bit cold and impersonal.

As opposed to simply typing out his thoughts in a Tweet, as most celebrities tend to do in light of someones passing? What?

How else would you prefer him to pay his respects, immediately after Yelchin's passing?

It's his stationery.

Must we really dissect whether someone who worked on two movies with him day in day out is publicly grieving appropriately or not?

He also signed his name at the bottom. How dare he self-brand that note!

Like I said, I was playing devils advocate. It's not a viewpoint I agree with at all.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Playing devil's advocate here, but JJ's name is literally branded across the top of the note.

He also signed his name at the bottom. How dare he self-brand that note!

 

[Timbuktu]

Like Crazy as well. Can't recommend that one enough.

RIP.

Indeed. I remember him most from that. Must be devastating for Felicity Jones and others who have worked closely with him. Seems like an everyday kind of accident, but also absolutely crazy to lost one's life this way.

 

[Bornstellar]

This is probably what passes as a kind gesture in 2016, but this sort of self-branding in the face of tragedy strikes my old-school soul as incredibly tacky. :|

Yep.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Wouldn't it be even more cynical for him to reach for non stationary paper from the printer out of fear of people miscontruing his intentions?

There's something incredibly interesting about a bunch of people who have never met or knpwn Yelchin judging someone who knows him, worked with him and is personally affected by his death.

 

[ThePackman]

R.I.P such horrible news and such a tragic way to go

 

[ahoyhoy]

Like I said, I was playing devils advocate. It's not a viewpoint I agree with at all.

Just pointing out that the devil's logic is shit is all!

 

[SpaceWolf]

Just pointing out that the devil's logic is shit is all!

I'd be hard pressed to disagree.

Anton Yelchin was an extremely talented young actor and seemed like a really lovely guy outside of his work to boot. That's all that really matters today. I'm sure JJ is just as upset as anyone else here, if not much more so, having come to know the guy personally. It isn't really right for any of us to judge him for the nature of his response.

 

[Fudgepuppy]

Noo, dude was great in Star Trek and Like Crazy. Would've love to see him branch out

RIP.

 

[The Outsider]

Awful news, what a tragic way to go. Rest in peace.

 

[funkystudent]

Damn RIP. And at such a young age.


The new trek movie is out soon isn't it? Think I saw some TV spots for it.

 

[cyba89]

He died on Zoë Saldanas birthday.

This is probably what passes as a kind gesture in 2016, but this sort of self-branding in the face of tragedy strikes my old-school soul as incredibly tacky. :|

That's what crosses your mind when you see the picture of how someone who worked close with Anton pays respect to him? That seems very cynical to me.

 

[EGM1966]

Damn that's tragic. 27. Just awful.

RIP and condolences to his family and friends.

Like him in every role I saw him in irrespective of the film's quality.

 

[rtcn63]

Fucking hell, I really liked him in Odd Thomas

 

[Skab]

Wow. That's horrible.

Really liked him, too. May he rest easy. :[

Will rewatch the new Fright Night tonight.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

WTF?!!! Did he seriously sit there. Thinking, hmm, let me put my condolences on A FUCKING BUSINESS CARD and sign it.

 

[Walter White Walker]

That's terrible; way too young.

 

[hamchan]

WTF?!!! Did he seriously sit there. Thinking, hmm, let me put my condolences on A FUCKING BUSINESS CARD and sign it.

I don't see what's wrong with using his own paper and writing it by hand. More effort than anyone using Twitter.

 

[Santiako]

Holy shit what a horrible way to go, he was younger than me...

RIP

 

[kurahador]

RIP.

2016 man, fuck.

 

[PopeReal]

Because Twitter is oh so appropriate?

You guys are fucking ridiculous with that shit.

 

[massoluk]

Oh god, RIP. Really like him in Star Trek

 

[RS4-]

Sad to hear. Prayers out to his family and friends.

 

[gutter_trash]

RIP too young

 

[Bobby Roberts]

To further address the weird growing pains we're in culturally, especially when it comes to how we grieve in whatever ways we do it while using the communication tool we all use, at some point people have to choose to focus less on the tragedy in question and more on the politics involved in how others are "correctly/incorrectly" expressing that grief.

Basically, do you really wanna talk about how JJ Abrams said he misses the man, or do you wanna talk about the man? Do you wanna talk about how you miss the man, the things you liked about what he did, or do you wanna talk about how you're angry at someone else for presenting themselves? The line is different for every person. For myself - it didn't even occur to me that Abrams' note was cynical, but I can see how that reaction could be tripped in someone else.

Like I said at the top of the page, we're part of an audience that we're also performing for, pretty much at all times, on social media. It's very weird. Getting mad at Abrams for "not thinking" before doing what he did makes sense, but it can then also be asked if you put a lot of thought into steering away from Yelchin's life for the purpose of being visibly annoyed at Abrams.

I dunno.

 

[Skunkers]

WTF?!!! Did he seriously sit there. Thinking, hmm, let me put my condolences on A FUCKING BUSINESS CARD and sign it.

That's not a business card, it's personalized stationary; writing notes is kinda what it's for.

 

[Savitar]

Poor guy, definitely a horrible accident.

 

[120v]

i normally don't post in these kind of threads... but this a true tragedy. RIP

 

[TAJ]

WTF?!!! Did he seriously sit there. Thinking, hmm, let me put my condolences on A FUCKING BUSINESS CARD and sign it.

It's not even shaped like a business card.

 

[- J - D -]

I'm going to go ahead and give J.J. the benefit of the doubt and assume he felt that taking the effort to hand write a note was more meaningful than firing off a tweet.

I don't see what's wrong with using his own paper and writing it by hand. More effort than anyone using Twitter.

The note was posted on his (Bad Robot's) Twitter page, so in a way it's like double the effort or double the self-branding, depending on your perspective. It's a weird thing, paying respects in the social media age, especially if you or the one you're paying respects to are people of note.

I mean, what would you people criticizing Abrams have wanted him to do?

 

[Kurdel]

To further address the weird growing pains we're in culturally, especially when it comes to how we grieve in whatever ways we do it while using the communication tool we all use, at some point people have to choose to focus less on the tragedy in question and more on the politics involved in how others are "correctly/incorrectly" expressing that grief.

Great post, I think you summed it up nicely by calling it "growing pains".

 

[Wyndstryker]

Damn, he was a great Chekov in the new Trek movies. Freak accidents like this are the worst. RIP

 

[bengraven]

I don't see what's wrong with using his own paper and writing it by hand. More effort than anyone using Twitter.

Yeah, I'm not getting the backlash.

Guy was using his own stationary to pen a hand-written letter of mourning for his friend.

50 years ago this would have been considered classy.

Apparently 144 words on a fast-moving feed is classy now.

 

[mechashiva]

WTF?!!! Did he seriously sit there. Thinking, hmm, let me put my condolences on A FUCKING BUSINESS CARD and sign it.

He has stationery. Find better a better use for your life than to be reactionary about nothing.

 

[Busty]

WTF?!!! Did he seriously sit there. Thinking, hmm, let me put my condolences on A FUCKING BUSINESS CARD and sign it.

I think everyone is over thinking this. I know that hand written nots are his 'thing' on Twitter but even in this situation it still shows that he took the time to actually hand write something instead of battering out some text on his iPhone.