God to Joan Rivers: Whose face are you wearing?

[PalJoey]

Kathy Griffin and Margaret Cho helped her unveil her rainbow wings.

[PalJoey]

Joan with fellow gay icons Miss Piggy, Liza Minnelli and Lucie Arnaz



This picture was shortly before the infamous schism developed between Joan and Miss Piggy.

[PalJoey]

Up until just shortly before her current hospitalization, Joan was still getting in bed with gay icons.

[PalJoey]

...and officiating at gay weddings.

[PalJoey]

...and just in general waving a flag for the gay community.

[themysteriousgrowl]

[PalJoey]

[dreaming]

And we have our first bit of happy news...

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/joan-rivers-getting-better-after-being-brought-out-of-induced-coma

[ErikJ972]

I have nothing to say on this topic except I love that cat gif.

[Luscious]

So much for that hopeful Playbill article. The page has already been deleted, no doubt, in light of the statement released by the family this afternoon, stating that Joan remains on life support.

[Musical Master]

^^Thank God, I hope Joan recovers well, and then, she can all entertain us again sometime soon.

[SNAFU]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/02/melissa-rivers-joan-rivers_n_5753704.html

[dreaming]

Well, much like an induced coma, life support can aid the body in healing because it allows the body to focus only on fixing itself. I'm not saying that's the case here and am rather saddened that the story I posted turned out to be wrong.

I hope that it is the case and that Ms. Joan will recover.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Can there at least be agreement that this is the most off the rails, spasmodically epic and bat**** crazy thread ever on these boards?

To all those looking for a property more intense than Gypsy to turn into a musical, look no further than Joan Rivers.

Her life makes what Rose and those kids had to do look like a walk in the park.

[tazber]

There have been times when I'm not ever sure what we were talking about.


But it's wildly entertaining.

[SNAFU]

I think they wouldn't remove life support until after she is brought out of the coma. They are going to want to do an MRI to see what, if any, brain function was compromised. Then they will probably make a decision about life support.

[sabrelady]

They would be trying to increase her consciousness as the drugs were withdrawn. They would then trial removing the respirator to see if she could initiate respirations on her own. She can be kept on the respirator for quite a while but her risk of infection also increases. If she can't come off the respirator and breathe on her own then it is game over.
NOW you can start to be concerned.

[dreaming]

SNAFU-I'm thinking that's right. Also, as I've said-I have had a relative on life support purely to let their body heal. The less the body has to work the easier it is to get it healed. I have a grandmother who had all kinds of problems following brain surgery and was on life support (respirator, etc.) and it was to get her healed-and she's 7 years older than Joan Rivers. She's alive and lives on her own. I know no two cases are identical, but this is a reasonable comparison, I think.

Sabrelady-It is a gradual process. There is nothing to indicate they have tried and failed at taking her off the respirator. I tend to agree that's a benchmark test, though.

[Mister Matt]

I have never watched Celebrity Apprentice because life is too short

Oh, I saw that season. I'm not sure why other than there must have been nothing else on of interest at the time. It became a drinking game for every time Joan said, "But she's a pokuh playuh!" with a disgusted look on her face (and then follows it up with "That's beyond white trash. Pokuh playuhs are trash, darling. Trash!" after Trump fired Melissa). She wasn't making a joke. She was truly disgusted by this woman, sometimes because they disagreed, but often because this woman was hugely successful at a career to which Joan disapproved AND because she didn't agree with Joan (or Melissa). Her career had nothing to do with anything, but Joan made it her mission to discredit and disparage her on camera as often as possible. It was really ugly. The events leading up to the outburst begin around 1:12:35.

[SonofRobbieJ]

'Can there at least be agreement that this is the most off the rails, spasmodically epic and bat**** crazy thread ever on these boards?'

Oh...I don't know. It's not 'Stupid Deer' or even 'The Brendan Stryker Memorial'. I've been watching from afar as I was on vacation last week and generally only post when I'm at work. I don't really have a dog in this fight (not that I'd actually call it a fight), so it's been really interesting to see people sort of read past each other or read into things that aren't necessarily there. I, like growl, thought the original post (and many of the Joan-like jokes thereafter) were very pointed satire. I got why they ruffled feathers, but they didn't ruffle mine. I have been really interested in the discussion that's come about regarding public v. private selves, as well as the responsibility performers have for the work they put into the world, especially when they are the creators of such work. And then there was the misread about Ms. Rivers being anti-lesbian cake and then people thought others were saying she was homophobic and then we had the 'St. Joan of the Queens' photo essay which was HILARIOUS...particularly the pic of her officiating at that gay wedding. What would she have said if she was dissecting the grooms' ensembles on Fashion Police!?

Ya know what...you're right. Batsh*t and wonderful!

[morosco]

Back in the nineties I was working at a venue where she was giving a lecture. I'm always very protective of celebrities when they are in our venue and one thing I always do is respect their privacy and not invade their space. As I was getting a soda in the small catering area tiny Joan came around the corner and walked straight over to me and introduced herself! She then asked what I do at the theatre and I told her I was in ticketing and she immediately laughed and said "well how'm I doing?" (she had sold out of course). I was so thrilled to have met her and although I was dying to share my experience with everyone I worked with I didn't want to tell for fear that see it as a kind of an invitation to bother her. I decided to keep it to myself. Later that night after she had left I proudly told a few guys on the stage crew that she had come to me and introduced herself to me. I was astonished to learn that she had done that to everyone. She's that kind of lady...class.

[SonofRobbieJ]

^ The consensus seems to be that Ms. Rivers was a lovely woman off-stage. But when that Barbara Walters kicks it, I'll tell you all how I really feel about that gorgon.

[FindingNamo]

This thread reminds me of Kathy Najimy's character from The Kathy & Mo Show.

"You gotta know me, honey, you gotta KNOW me…"

[YouWantitWhen????]

I am with Robbie - I cringe at some of her humor, and think the threat started as a wee bit of satire, but that does not mean I wish the woman any pain, nor diminish her contribution to gay rights. She can be all things people contend she is on this threat - a great comic, a cruel comic, a public persona that is very different from her private self, a gracious woman, and a champion of gay rights. None of these qualities exclude the other.

[FindingNamo]

So she's complicated like a human being but maybe magnified because she tends to do things at an operatic pitch which may also explain a bit of the devotion from Queens of a Certain Age?

I mean, I saw the clip where she called that woman "lower than white trash" (I know, I know, she "played the game well") and that's kind of for me the exact opposite of "class." Classism, sure.

[PalJoey]

a bit of the devotion from Queens of a Certain Age

Are you implying that I was stagedooring Our American Cousin the night Lincoln was shot?