The Ancients and the Law of Averages could've both predicted it. One day, the Internet and its headless devil-child Social Media would turn on someone I really liked. Someone I actually cared about. On August 21st, Henry Rollins wrote a column titled ''Fuck Suicide'' in L.A Weekly. The pieces discussed the recent suicide of actor Robin Williams and Henry's own, shocking stance on the issue of suicide. Since then, he apologized for his words and acknowledged the righteousness of the uproar against him. I don't know about you, but I didn't need an apology from him. Henry Rollins is my boy, and he has the right to fuck up like every other person on Earth.
I'll be the first to acknowledge that Henry's stance on suicide, as stated the his first piece, was 1) wrong 2) misinformed and 3) a little fucked up. I've been, like many of you, too close to the edge for my own taste. I understand that passed a certain point, you stop being legally responsible for yourself. It's like being possessed by someone trying to kill you. Your mind knows that what you're doing to your body and how you're interacting with others is bad for you, but it's locked within and it can't do shit. I'm not debating the nature of Henry Rollins' stance on suicide. He apologized and to me, it's the end of the story. If you were angry at him, you should stop right here. If an immediate, spontaneous apology won't satisfy you, there is a good chance that nothing will.
What bugged me was reading the comments on his Facebook page, from August 21 to August 25. It was reading my own newsfeed after ''Fuck Suicide'' was published on Friday. I'm a Social Media professionnal, so it's not like I can just turn off my computer and walk away. I had to sit through it for at least 6 long business hours. People I actually like went to town on Henry Rollins, called him an asshole, an ignorant and said they were ''disappointed'' by him. To a certain extent, I understand that reaction from people who didn't think much of Henry at first, but coming from people who posted videos and quotes of him weeks before the L.A Weekly essay, I took this shit personal. Motherfuckers, do you make a public scene every time a friend fucks up?
Henry was wrong about suicide, but here is how I usually react when a friend of mine is wrong about something:
I understand the poor timing of ''Fuck Suicide'', Social Media-wise. The Internet was tense from Ferguson, the James Foley execution video and yes, it was still recoiling from Robin Williams' suicide. When shit goes down, people just attack, comment, and hit the SHARE button like maniacs. I'm sorry if this sounds sanctimonious, but Henry Rollins is WAY too important for me to start pointing fingers at him when he fucks up. I'd gladly debate the issue of suicide with him in public or in private, but I'm not going to accuse him of anything on Social Media unless he kills a hooker or gets busted with child porn and it's not going to happen. Even if I fail to change his mind, whatever happened to: ''I disagree, but it's cool?''
I don't know about you, but I can live being friend with someone who has radically different opinions than me. I'll give you an example. Nobody has been more important to me professionally than Zelmer Pulp's head honcho, Ryan Sayles, for the last two years. He took interest in my work and in me, and kept me involved with writing projects at the heart of my biggest dry-spell. I can safely say that I love the guy. I even joined Zelmer Pulp in July (I guess this is an official announcement). Ryan is from Missouri, his political beliefs are different than mine and I've seen him share stuff from The Tea Party on his Facebook page a couple times. I didn't say shit because I don't care. I fundamentally disagree with his political views, but our friendship is not based on that and I don't care if I ever talk politics with Ryan. Same goes with Henry and suicide. Even he wouldn't want to change his mind, I ultimately don't care.
Truth is, the words of Henry Rollins helped me through the darkest years of my life. He showed me that there were other angry intellectual people and that I could succeed in my own way if I worked hard enough, busted through obstacles head first and remained myself. He showed me that I could cut it with integrity and an earnest, hard-working attitude alone (thank God, because it's pretty much all I have going for me). Henry was, and still is, a very important person to me. In fact, I could probably fit on a post-it the names of people who did more for me than Henry Rollins. He sure is a lot more important to me than Robin WIlliams ever was (no disrespect to Mr. Williams, but I was not a fan of his movies). Bottom line, he doesn't owe me shit. He can have one fucked up opinion if he wants to, it's not going to affect my loyalty. Fuck, I have probably ten fucked up opinions of my own. I'm sure I used to have a hundred. Acknowledging your mistakes and learning is part of being human.
I don't know about you, but I can live being friend with someone who has radically different opinions than me. I'll give you an example. Nobody has been more important to me professionally than Zelmer Pulp's head honcho, Ryan Sayles, for the last two years. He took interest in my work and in me, and kept me involved with writing projects at the heart of my biggest dry-spell. I can safely say that I love the guy. I even joined Zelmer Pulp in July (I guess this is an official announcement). Ryan is from Missouri, his political beliefs are different than mine and I've seen him share stuff from The Tea Party on his Facebook page a couple times. I didn't say shit because I don't care. I fundamentally disagree with his political views, but our friendship is not based on that and I don't care if I ever talk politics with Ryan. Same goes with Henry and suicide. Even he wouldn't want to change his mind, I ultimately don't care.
Truth is, the words of Henry Rollins helped me through the darkest years of my life. He showed me that there were other angry intellectual people and that I could succeed in my own way if I worked hard enough, busted through obstacles head first and remained myself. He showed me that I could cut it with integrity and an earnest, hard-working attitude alone (thank God, because it's pretty much all I have going for me). Henry was, and still is, a very important person to me. In fact, I could probably fit on a post-it the names of people who did more for me than Henry Rollins. He sure is a lot more important to me than Robin WIlliams ever was (no disrespect to Mr. Williams, but I was not a fan of his movies). Bottom line, he doesn't owe me shit. He can have one fucked up opinion if he wants to, it's not going to affect my loyalty. Fuck, I have probably ten fucked up opinions of my own. I'm sure I used to have a hundred. Acknowledging your mistakes and learning is part of being human.
Henry Rollins changed my life for the better. He keeps changing young people's lives for the better and there are a lot of lives left that need changing. So do what you will, Internet people. Either you leave and never comeback, or you shut the fuck up, get over it and keep having Henry's back. I know which side I'm on.
Do you?
Do you?