Today we lost a friend. We lost a mentor, an inspiration, a visionary, an enigma; a part of our family.
I’m not going to attempt to write any kind of summary of Monty’s life. That’s not my place, nor my intention today.
My intentions are to let you know that it’s okay to be impacted by this. It’s not “silly”, “pathetic”, “random” or “weird”.
If you’re here, chances are Monty has made an impact on your life somehow, and this tragic news will impact you. You will feel something, and that is not only natural – it’s normal.
I want you to know that the support, compassion and kindness you’ve shown each other is indescribable; but sometimes we need a little more help than we’d like to admit.
Events like these can be triggering for some people, so I want you to be aware of how you’re feeling – checking in with your body and listening to your internal dialogue.
If you’re noticing that your body is feeling a bit out of the norm, (perhaps you’ve got heightened senses, are trembling, having trouble breathing) or your thoughts are darker than you feel comfortable with, or they’re more difficult to control – please don’t ignore these signs.
Everyone processes trauma and tragedy differently. Personally, I’ve been on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medicine on and off for years, I attend group therapy three times a week, I see my individual therapist once a week and my incredible psychiatrist once a quarter. This may seem dramatic to some, but it’s what I need to do to deal with my past traumas. I’m telling you this because I’m passionate about eliminating stigma associated with any treatment or aid needed for a mental health crisis.
I encourage you to seek professional help if you’re experiencing feelings (physical or emotional) that make you feel unsafe or frightened for yourself. It’s important that I say “professional” because, respectfully, however well intentioned our friends and family are – they are usually not trained psychologists or psychiatrists.
A lot of health insurance companies provide low cost access to mental health assistance, especially if it’s for therapy. Just like teeth cleaning is free because it’s a “preventative action”, so is seeing a therapist. Finding someone is as simple as using Google to find people in your area that take your insurance.
If you don’t have insurance but you are in a position to consider seeing a clinical practitioner, this locator can assist you in finding someone near you.
If you don’t have health insurance, or just need a little assistance to get you out of a tail spin, I recommend the following sites for the US and Australia.
Rooster Teeth has announced that they will not be posting anymore videos today, but it still seems that the podcast will air as planned today but will be available to the public via live YouTube stream. This podcast will most likely be addressing Monty’s passing. Usually the podcast stream is only available to sponsors, but this is something they want the community to know and understand weather they are a sponsor or not. The Know has also posted a video about Monty’s passing as well, and you can see how this is effecting everyone. Please respect them and give them the love and support they will need today and forever after the tragic loss.
oh.
oh wow.
“Darth Voldemort” is over ten years old.
Like, I knew the fifteenth anniversary of Blackend Sunrise was creeping up on me, but somehow it didn’t strike me until just now that my most popular fic ever had hit ten years old last November. Christ.
In the last three days I have gone from reading nothing but KHR fic, to reading Star Wars fic, to Losers fic, and now I’m on Harry Potter.
I got dressed in my traditional Indian regalia, but there was a man, he was the producer of the whole show. He took that speech away from me and he warned me very sternly. “I’ll give you 60 seconds or less. And if you go over that 60 seconds, I’ll have you arrested. I’ll have you put in handcuffs.”
– Sacheen Littlefeather in Reel Injun(2009), dir. Neil Diamond.
They were MAD, CONFUSED AND PRESSED that Marlon Brando would betray White Supremacy in this way.
To this very day, they are TWISTED over this.
And when Littlefeather got up there and READ THEM FOR FILTH, they GAGGED. For eons.
So I imagine there are people like me out there who’ve never even heard of Marlon Brando and are extremely confused over why this is important.
Marlon Brando was the Don in The Godfather, and in 1973, he was nominated for and won an Academy Award for it. However, he was also a huge Natives rights activist, and boycotted the ceremony because he felt that Hollywood’s depictions of Native Americans in the media led to the Wounded Knee Incident (which I was always taught as “the second massacre at Wounded Knee” but apparently that’s not the real name). He sent Sacheen Littlefeather, an Apache Native rights activist, in his stead. Wikipedia’s article on her explains the rest:
Brando had written a 15-page speech for Littlefeather to give at the ceremony, but when the producer met her backstage he threatened to physically remove her or have her arrested if she spoke on stage for more than 60 seconds.[5] Her on-stage comments were therefore improvised. She then went backstage and read the entire speech to the press. In his autobiography My Word is My Bond, Roger Moore (who presented the award) claims he took the Oscar home with him and kept it in his possession until it was collected by an armed guard sent by the Academy.
That is what this gifset is about.
You have GOT to read up on this. The Wounded Knee Incident, Marlon Brando and Sacheen Littlefeather, Anna Mae Aquash. ALL OF IT.
A side of Hollywood history that needs to be talked about more.
