View Full Version : Nick Vujicic
Has anyone seen this guy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZuKF3dxCY
I don't know if I am more amazed by the fact that a guy with his problems can do everything he can, or by his attitude. He has got a lot more guts than I do, that is for sure.
Gregoshi
07-01-2010, 19:12
Yeah, he is pretty amazing and you are right about his attitude - truly inspiring. :bow:
Vladimir
07-01-2010, 19:22
:laugh4:
I thought you were telling us your true name.
Gregoshi
07-01-2010, 23:25
I thought you were telling us your true name.
That thought briefly crossed my mind too.
Myrddraal
07-02-2010, 00:52
I reckon it takes a lot of humility to essentially let people laugh at your disability, and not only that but to intentionally entertain people with it. You've got to respect the bloke.
I reckon it takes a lot of humility to essentially let people laugh at your disability, and not only that but to intentionally entertain people with it. You've got to respect the bloke.
Absolutely.
Good for him to be so cheerful, but everybody is just pitying him. I'd rather be spit upon.
Gregoshi
07-04-2010, 08:07
Good for him to be so cheerful, but everybody is just pitying him...
Not after listening to him and seeing him function. At least there is no pity with me - just a lot of admiration and respect.
Not after listening to him and seeing him function. At least there is no pity with me - just a lot of admiration and respect.
He's a parody of himself, don't see anything dignified in that. I'm sure he loves his life every time someone needs to take out his pecker for him. It's just sad and desperate, of course he hates his condition.
He's a parody of himself, don't see anything dignified in that. I'm sure he loves his life every time someone needs to take out his pecker for him. It's just sad and desperate, of course he hates his condition.
Sure, it is a pitiful condition Frag. The point is that even though he does have such a pitiful condition he doesn't hate himself or his life. He is not just giving up, and that is why he is admired.
Sure, it is a pitiful condition Frag. The point is that even though he does have such a pitiful condition he doesn't hate himself or his life. He is not just giving up, and that is why he is admired.
Why does everybody who is laughing look like they have just been busted, they are happy for an excuse to laugh at what they are uncomfortable with.
Gregoshi
07-04-2010, 16:18
Fair enough Fragony. There is more than one way to look at anything - as is demonstrated here everyday. I see the positive and have a good feeling inside because of it. ~:)
Fair enough Fragony. There is more than one way to look at anything - as is demonstrated here everyday. I see the positive and have a good feeling inside because of it. ~:)
Nothing wrong with his mindset but it's all kinda perverted, the more he tries to be normal the more crippled he is. He's that funny crippled guy that makes jokes about it, just feels wrong to me.
Rhyfelwyr
07-04-2010, 17:06
It makes me feel a bit uncomfortable but that's more a natural reaction on my part than anything to do with him... good for him if he really is leading a happy life.
Gregoshi
07-04-2010, 17:08
Fragony, I'm not sure what to make of your statement "the more he tries to be normal the more crippled he is." What should Nick do with his life? Sit in front of a TV all day? Where should Nick draw the line between what he "should" and "shouldn't" do?
He's disabled, he will never be a part of normal life, but you can have the dignity to not entertain people with it. Love my life my youknow, people cheering him on are feeding on him imho.
Rhyfelwyr
07-04-2010, 18:56
He has a good message to spread, but there will always be the freak show element to it.
Maybe he just wants to get on with it anyway...
He's disabled, he will never be a part of normal life, but you can have the dignity to not entertain people with it. Love my life my youknow, people cheering him on are feeding on him imho.
Frag, I could not disagree with you more. Who says that he is not leading a normal life? Why, because he is not living like you are? IMO, the quality of the life that you lead has a lot more to do with your attitude, the decisions that you make, and how hard you work at things than physical circumstances. By that estimate, he has lived a much better life than you or I.
You know Frag, I look at it like this (and I am not trying to flatter myself by drawing a parallel), I grew up dirt poor, with very little things. My family did not even have a TV until I was 10 years old, and then it was an ancient B&W tube. One of the things that I hear from people I talk to in college a lot is "oh, your childhood must have sucked" because I did not have any popular toys and I had to work most of the day, and had never went on a vacation. Sure, they may think it is 'hick' ish, but the way I see it is that I got a lot of valuable experiences from my childhood, and probably learned a lot more than the average person because of my disadvantage. It also gave me a different outlook on life than most people, and an appreciation for what you do, rather than what you have. I wouldn't change that for the world.
I think that that is your problem Fragony, you are judging him for what he has, not what he does. Sure, he is not fortunate, but that does not mean that he does not live an enjoyable, and worthwhile life. In fact, it has probably strengthened his character, and made him appreciate what he DOES have a lot more than other people do. When you have only a little, what you do have become worth a lot more.
Not judging him I admire his positive attitiude, but I think it's humiliating how people laugh at his jokes. Call me when he writes a book or mounts the everest instead of making fun of himself. Would he have any succes as a comedian of he had limbs? Would people still laugh, doubt it, he's the funny guy without limbs.
Well, he's trying to make the best out of what he's been given, of course he is still disabled but if he likes to entertain people and people are entertained, AND he can show them that even disabled people can do more than sit in a corner and be sad, then I don't really see much wrong with it. Being able to laugh at yourself is a quality not only "normal"(who is normal and what's normal life anyway?) people can have I guess.
I'd rather be more than a guilty pleassure. If he would be a succes despite his disability ok, but he's a succes because his disability. It's painful to see someone prostitute himself like that.
Myrddraal
07-05-2010, 13:45
He's not a comedian, he's a motivational speaker. Of course he is banking in on his disability, but he is doing so as an example of life's problems, to try to encourage people along the way, is that so bad? It seems to me that if he jokes about it, he does so to dispel any awkwardness that people might feel, and to do so with humility and without bitterness is admirable I think.
I can understand where you're coming from Fragony, and I would agree if he was a comedian, but this is a lot more than "look at me everyone, now laugh"
He's not a comedian, he's a motivational speaker. Of course he is banking in on his disability, but he is doing so as an example of life's problems, to try to encourage people along the way, is that so bad?
Yeah, if people need to see a limbless guy joking about his drumstick to feel better/less bad about theirself, yeah it's really bad. If he would have any pride he wouldn't make a point out of it, and if the people laughing would have any dignity they wouldn't listen. They are throwing some crumbles and he gobs them up.
Myrddraal
07-05-2010, 14:43
His talks have nothing to do with disability other than as an example... It's not about 'feeling bad' about disability, it's about feeling depressed when life throws you a curveball. :shrug:
He is spending his life trying to encourage others not to give up. He is using his own life as an example that however bad things may be (and his disability is bad) you can still make a life out of it. He is trying to use his own personal experience to help people put their problems in perspective, and in turn doing that gives him some purpose.
I don't see a problem with that at all. He's not going to climb Everest with no arms or legs, so what would you have him do with his life? Sit in a corner and be looked after by his carers?
I don't see a problem with that at all. He's not going to climb Everest with no arms or legs, so what would you have him do with his life? Sit in a corner and be looked after by his carers?
That's his reality anyway no? He should stop pretending, his fate is a horrible one there is nothing to laugh about. And his audience, why feel better because other people are in a worse state, I think it's cheap escapism. Who is he really, besides a cripple, that is all he is allowed to be in the end, that's his place in our world. He is being feed upon, allows it, and I don't like that.
Myrddraal
07-05-2010, 15:20
Who is he really, besides a cripple, that is all he is allowed to be in the end, that's his place in our world
Do you really believe that? You're just a Dutchman, and you will always be a Dutchman, but you are allowed to be so much more :wink:
Do you really believe that? You're just a Dutchman, and you will always be a Dutchman, but you are allowed to be so much more :wink:
I wish I was better at explaining myself because it can look so badly, but I think he's making a mockery out of himself. I would never do that, these people comming there are looking for a cheap thrill, the only thing they admire about him is in the end how he copes with his condition. Must be more to him no? He now IS his condition, not a human being.
Myrddraal
07-05-2010, 15:50
I think he's making a mockery out of himself
I really think the gags are his opening gambit, to put his crowd at ease. The core of what he says is not about how funny his disability is. If it was, I would agree with you.
not a human being.
Frag, I honestly cannot believe that you said that. Since when is a human being defined as someone who can climb Everest? By that definition you and I are not human beings. A human being has to do with a lot more than basic physical abilities. What makes a human a human is their mind (and his is fully intact), their creativity, and their ability to deeply feel emotions IMHO. He is as much a human being as any.
Your attitude is very defeatist. I have a cat that was ran over by a snowmobile, and he is missing his tail, has both rear legs disjointed, and has bladder problems. He was also recently hit by a car, and how he has serious brain damage, which makes him perceive things differently than most cats, and messes with his balance and muscular control. Because of that, he wobbles around the house, falls over a lot, and sometimes randomly attacks shadows.
He still hunts though, he still purrs, he still is affectionate. Is he any less a cat than my healthy cats? Not even a bit. He has a disability, but he works with it instead of letting it conquer him.
And the jokes that Vujicic tells I believe (as others have said) are to make the audience feel more at ease with his disability, because most people when they see it probably think that it is horrible and feel bad for staring at him. Him showing that he is comfortable with it probably makes them comfortable with it. He is not there making jokes, he is actually a Christian preacher, and he uses his real story of how he overcame the odds, and didn't let himself be a cripple sitting on a chair watching TV his whole life to motivate others to overcome obstacles in their life and to find Jesus. Instead of just sitting around, he swims, plays golf, cooks his own food, etc. That is not 'just a cripple' Frag.
That isn't what I said, he's dehumanising himself by 'being' a cripple instead of an individual. I believe he, nor his audience, is being sincere. I think they are both fooling theirselfs.
Gregoshi
07-05-2010, 17:53
I believe...
Judging by the reaction shots of his audience, they believe differently. If his message works for them, isn't that what matters?
Judging by the reaction shots of his audience, they believe differently. If his message works for them, isn't that what matters?
I tend to see things differently, I wish I was better at explaining as I mean zero harm or offence. It all looks 'forced' to me, like they are supposed to laugh. I think it's degrading.
Gregoshi
07-05-2010, 19:34
I tend to see things differently, I wish I was better at explaining as I mean zero harm or offence. It all looks 'forced' to me, like they are supposed to laugh. I think it's degrading.
You can't quite judge Nick from the video in the OP. He doesn't do a stand up routine. I've seen another video that focuses a bit more on the serious side of his talks. There are tears (much harder to fake) when Nick talks about the difficulties he has overcome and also when he talks about the very different difficulties his audience members face. Here is the first video of him that I saw. It is 4 minutes long. The first minute focuses more on humour, but then it settles into his message. I still tear up when Nick recalls at thinking of his future as a boy:
I'm never going to get married...What kind of husband will I be if I can't even hold my wife's hand?
Anyway, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciYk-UwqFKA
Freaks me out even more, it's so fake to pretend. I think there is a lot of sadness here, what are these people doing there? I don't buy it, he's not happy.
http://www.artofeurope.com/smith/smi1.htm
Gregoshi
07-05-2010, 20:30
Then I guess we won't even get to a point where we can at least understand the other's viewpoint on Nick. :shrug:
Rhyfelwyr
07-05-2010, 20:33
I don't buy it, he's not happy.
Happiness is just a state of mind, I don't think it's that hard to believe he's happy when he looks genuinely happy doing all those activities etc.
Togakure
07-05-2010, 21:02
:bow: Thanks for posting this, Vuk. A good reminder.
Fragony, this is a new "high" for you. Congrats.
Edit: and thanks Gregoshi, for your clip as well. I will be sharing these with a few who I think will definitely appreciate them, given their current challenges.
:bow: Thanks for posting this, Vuk. A good reminder.
Fragony, this is a new "high" for you. Congrats.
You don't get my point, read the poem I posted. I don't know you by the way, should I I'm confused.
Togakure
07-05-2010, 23:15
Oh I read that poem, and I get your point; like others here, I just disagree with it.
And what does you not knowing me have to do with anything? I was Togakure O'Jonin in a previous incarnation here and changed my account a while back. I've been here since 2003 and sometimes take notice of your posts, and sometimes, comment. I no longer frequent the Black Room, so you wouldn't know me from there unless your memory is particularly good.
But I remember you, predominantly because you posts things like this and then stick stubbornly to them in the face of criticism which you were sure to attract. What was that about pretense?
Freaks me out even more, it's so fake to pretend. I think there is a lot of sadness here, what are these people doing there? I don't buy it, he's not happy.
I find it astounding that you refuse to accept that someone with a disability can be happy regardless.
And not only that, you also want them to be sad, apparently, want them to focus on the bad things etc.
Do you always do that, too? When you have a flu, do you lie in bed and cry because you're sick and hurt, and virii are destroying you from inside with bacteria eating you alive? Does that take away all your happiness in life?
There's no point in focusing on things you cannot do all the time or else we could all cry day in day out that we cannot fly like birds and cannot swim like fish.
That's not to say he has to like his situation but being sad and crying about it all the time won't make it better, he has an incredible strength and a message, there is nothing dehumanising about what he does, he shows himself to people just the way he is, the way he was born. I think the issue is with you, that you cannot accept that he was born this way and now you want him to feel bad about it because you think it's horrible. And calling someone a cripple is actually dehumanising because it's a derogatory word.
Rhyfelwyr
07-05-2010, 23:50
Well he is a cripple. Gah! I am getting horrid flashbacks of public policy lessons where they would tell us how disabilty is actually caused by society and not birth defects. And it's societies fault if it doesn't go to riduculous lengths to let disabled people live like other people.
That's all nonsense. This man is a cripple, but he makes the best of what he's got and he's happy for the life he can still live... so good for him.
I'm afraid this thread has taken on a very Backroomish tinge. Farewell.
Oh I read that poem, and I get your point; like others here, I just disagree with it.
And what does you not knowing me have to do with anything? I was Togakure O'Jonin in a previous incarnation here and changed my account a while back. I've been here since 2003 and sometimes take notice of your posts, and sometimes, comment. I no longer frequent the Black Room, so you wouldn't know me from there unless your memory is particularly good.
But I remember you, predominantly because you posts things like this and then stick stubbornly to them in the face of criticism which you were sure to attract. What was that about pretense?
That is great dear, don't adress me as if we know eachother, k
Well he is a cripple.
Where I come from, calling someone a cripple is demeaning, derogatory, a little bit like a swearword, like calling someone white trash or the N word, of course they are what the word describes but it also means you put them on a lower level than yourself.
Gah! I am getting horrid flashbacks of public policy lessons where they would tell us how disabilty is actually caused by society and not birth defects. And it's societies fault if it doesn't go to riduculous lengths to let disabled people live like other people.
Do lifts and ramps for disabled people count as ridiculous? Or what were they talking about? I mean is building cars that can go up to 300km/h when 95% of the world has speed limits that are far below that just to make driving for a few rich people more comfortable not ridiculous? Society is often also about helping the weak, I don't know what they said at your council meeting but I think a few measures to make the life of disabled people easier are perfectly fine. And in a way disability is caused by society, if a wheelchair user is unable to get up somewhere because society built stairs instead of a ramp, for example. ~;)
Rhyfelwyr
07-06-2010, 13:01
Where I come from, calling someone a cripple is demeaning, derogatory, a little bit like a swearword, like calling someone white trash or the N word, of course they are what the word describes but it also means you put them on a lower level than yourself.
Well he is physically 'lower' or lesser than myself, in the same way I am physically lower or lesser than an athlete. There doesn't have to be anything nasty about calling him a cripple, it seems like a more old fashioned word to me, reminds me of the Timmy kid from the Dicken's book. To start calling this Vujicic guy 'physically challenged' or something seems more patronising. It's like when you call black people coloured and then they get offended and say oh for **** sake just call me black.
Do lifts and ramps for disabled people count as ridiculous? Or what were they talking about? I mean is building cars that can go up to 300km/h when 95% of the world has speed limits that are far below that just to make driving for a few rich people more comfortable not ridiculous? Society is often also about helping the weak, I don't know what they said at your council meeting but I think a few measures to make the life of disabled people easier are perfectly fine. And in a way disability is caused by society, if a wheelchair user is unable to get up somewhere because society built stairs instead of a ramp, for example. ~;)
Not having arms and legs is still the primary cause of his disability. And I didn't say anything as extreme as you're making out, having ramps seems perfectly reasonable to me. I'm complaining more about the sort of pressure groups that demand disabled people are given jobs even when they're disability makes them less qualified to do it than someone else.
I'm all for accomodating disabled people but please don't make people go to all sorts of lengths to pretend they are the same as everyone else.
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