I had just sat down on the couch in the TV room at my parent's house. As I was about to eat some dinner I got a text from a friend saying that Oscar winning actor and comedian Robin Williams was found dead and that he had committed suicide. I immediately sent a response asking if this was real, since sadly we do live in a day and age where celebrities tend to die everyday via internet hoaxes. She swore that this was real, and so I hurried over to my family's computer in the dining room to check the validity of it. And unfortunately, this was no internet hoax. Robin Williams indeed had died at the age of 63 in his California home, in what appears to have been a suicide.
I'll be honest, I had to censor my initial reaction upon reading the confirmations of this terrible event since my 9-year old sister was about ten feet away from me. I was sitting in the computer chair just stunned. My heart sank, my mood immediately soured, and this was all I could think about. Part of my childhood seems to have slipped away with the passing of Robin Williams. Heck, part of my movie watching experience seems to have slipped away with his passing. Whether it was a comedic role or a dramatic role, Robin Williams would completely nail it out of the park. He entertained people of all ages. There is now a void in the grand scheme of comedy that will never be filled again. There is only one Robin Williams. There weren't many like him before his time and there certainly won't be another like him.
Hearing that he had took his own life and reading the statement his publicist had made stating that he had been battling severe depression makes it even more tragic. It came as a shock to many people that a man who for years would always make people laugh and cheer them up had been battling some dark demons of his own. Depression doesn't care who you are, how successful you are, your age, size, gender, etc. There is always help to be found. You might feel alone but you are truly never alone. Reach out. Whether you're the one who is depressed or you know someone who is depressed, reach out. Even the smallest act of kindness can have a major impact. My thoughts and prayers are with Robin's family in this extremely difficult time.
But as the world mourns the tragic loss of Robin Williams it is equally important to celebrate his life and the many years of laughter and tears that his movies have brought to people of all ages.
Looking through his diverse filmography I see that I have only seen thirteen of his movies. 'Good Morning, Vietnam', 'Lee Daniel's The Butler', two of the 'Night at the Museum' movies (he's already completed his role in the third movie, due out this December), 'Happy Feet', 'Aladdin', 'Robots', 'What Dreams May Come', 'Hook', 'Flubber', 'Good Will Hunting', the direct-to-video 'Aladdin and the King of Thieves', 'Jumanji', and 'Mrs. Doubtfire'. I also remember seeing him in a short special about Dr. Seuss that was jam-packed with celebrity cameos. And he also is in the music video for Bobby McFerrin's song "Don't Worry, Be Happy".
Am I going to be talking about all of the above movies? No. Instead I will simply be talking about the movies of his that I remember the most throughout various parts of my life.
'Aladdin', 'Flubber', and 'Jumanji'. Not only were all three of these adaptations but they were also played in heavy rotation in my childhood. 'Aladdin' was one of the many Disney movies my brothers and I would watch at home. We would laugh at the antics of Robin William's Genie, and a vast majority of the Genie's jokes and quick quips flew right over our heads. That same manic energy continued in 'Flubber', which we would watch at our grandparents house. Now that I'm an adult I am aware that when it was released critics panned the special effects heavy, slapsticky remake of the 1961's 'The Absent-Minded Professor'. But what can I say other than I thought that it was a good movie and it can still make me laugh?
'Jumanji' we would always watch at our babysitter's house. It we weren't watching 'Matilda', we were watching 'Jumanji'. It's been years since I've seen it all the way through. It's funny at times, but it's also just a lot of fun to watch with the shenanigans that happen as a result of the characters playing the titular board game.
Now let's move on to roughly my high school years. The two movies that stand-out the most in this time period were 'Patch Adams' and 'What Dreams May Come'. 'Patch Adams' I watched while on a white water rafting trip to West Virginia with my Boy Scout troop. It was the first of Robin Williams' biopics that I had seen. I laughed, I thought it was an overall uplifting tale and Robin Williams delivered a good performance as an initially mentally unstable man wanting to be a doctor who wants to bring laughter to those who were down on their luck in the hospital and not just treat the patient like a number. I am also aware that this was panned when it was released and even the real Dr. Hunter 'Patch' Adams has distanced himself away from the movie, but this movie worked for me. It was a nice balance of comedy and drama.
'What Dreams May Come' I watched in my theater arts class in high school. I was blown away by this movie. The special effects were absolutely fantastic, it has a great score, it is funny at times but it's mostly a drama. Robin Williams was great in this movie as a man who died in a car crash and finds himself on a journey through Heaven and Hell, rediscovering things about his life, and then going on a journey to find his wife. While 'Patch Adams' balanced comedy and drama, 'What Dreams May Come' is definitely more of the latter than the former.
In light of Robin Williams' passing, these two movies just got a whole lot sadder. Especially 'Patch Adams'. Those who have seen the movie should know what I'm referring to.
Now let's move onto adulthood and being in college. The two I remember most from this ongoing period are 'Good Morning, Vietnam' and 'Good Will Hunting'. Both performances of Robin Williams in these movies were nominated for Academy Awards, being nominated for Best Actor for 'Good Morning, Vietnam' (his first nomination) and nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 'Good Will Hunting' (his fourth and final nomination), the latter of which he won. He had also been nominated two other times for the Academy Award for Best Actor, for 'The Fisher King' and 'Dead Poets Society'.
'Good Morning, Vietnam' I rented from the library while on a break from Ball State. This is yet another one of Robin Williams' movies that doesn't stick to one genre. It's a comedy. It's a drama. It's a war movie. It's a biopic. And from what I can remember it succeeded on all fronts. Definitely an essential Robin Williams movie to watch as it shows his full acting range, going from funny to serious with ease. In terms of showing his acting range this does a way better job at it then 'Patch Adams' and it is the best of his biopics.
'Good Will Hunting' I first started watching in a sociology class on deviance, which I then finished up on Netflix a few hours later. This is primarily a drama, but it does have occasional spots of humor. Robin Williams' Oscar winning role has him playing a psychologist named Sean Maguire, who is helping Will Hunting (Matt Damon, who also co-wrote the movie with Ben Affleck) come to terms with his childhood and his own genius. Will Hunting is content with being a janitor at MIT, but he is a genius who has people constantly harassing him about not living up to his potential. Two scenes in particular stand out for me. The scene where Will Hunting and Sean Maguire are in the latter's office, talking about the little things in life that make Maguire smile and remember the good times. This then goes into a talk about Maguire's wife when she was alive would fart in her sleep and he never had the heart to tell her so he blamed it on the dog. This was an improvised moment by Williams, and not only is Matt Damon laughing hysterically but if you pay attention the camera itself is moving a bit as the cameraman himself was laughing hard at this story. That scene and the scene towards the end where Maguire is repeatedly telling Will "It's not your fault". Powerful stuff. The movie as a whole is really good and another essential Robin Williams movie to watch.
The most recent movie I saw Robin Williams in was 'Lee Daniel's The Butler', in a brief five minute appearance as President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Initially upon hearing that Williams was going to play Eisenhower I was kinda surprised, but while watching the movie I was actually able to believe that he was Eisenhower.
December I will finally get to see 'Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb'. I've always like the 'Night at the Museum' series and I've always thought that Robin Williams was dead on in his portrayal of a wax figure of President Theodore Roosevelt. And at some point in the next few months I will definitely be watching 'Dead Poets Society' as part of my "I Finally Watched..." series.
And so I shall close this with a brief statement and a few pictures. Thank you Robin Williams for the years of entertainment. You will be greatly missed.
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