Is not a little too much? This young person was unfortunately very ill with depression and that was the primary reason of his death.
There are currently dozens of persons unfairly facing prison and they do not kill themselves and they face his destiny even if that means years of prison. I think it's better to honor those persons, they stay alive and fight. Idolizing a suicide victim is wrong. Suicide is a mistake, is a disease.
I don't think Aaron was a "hero," but if you can't do a biography of someone without first doing a biography of everyone else who is plausibly "more deserving" than you'll never end up with anything.
I don't think he's being idolized because he committed suicide. He's idolized because of who he was and what he accomplished. He still deserves recognition even though he committed suicide and his recognition isn't based on his suicide.
Looking at the general reaction around HN to Swartz before and after his death, I find it very hard to ascribe his recent idolization to anything but his suicide.
He was certainly deserving of praise, but his post-suicide lionization (and subsequent Carmen Ortiz bashing) does send some icky messages regarding suicide and its effect on one's legacy.
I'm inclined to agree with this view. Regardless of how he died, I think there would have been a bit of idolization, but I have trouble imagining someone making this documentary had he died in a car accident.
I can see where you're coming from. Suicide, and death in general, in someone's youth when they've been very productive and successful seems to immortalize them forever in that moment. Some people romanticize that, but it's illusory. Anyway, just saying I can see your point. I'm hoping most people can look past that and see who he was instead of just the tragic part of it.
"...depression and that was the primary reason of his death. "
His legal battle had bankrupted his entire family, over a matter that could have been handled as a trespassing charge by the local police and a clerk magistrate.
I also don't see any nobility in persisting in becoming a willing victim of what he was up against.
It prompts one to ask: What have you done to prevent such abuse from recurring?
