I was five-years-old the first time I went to a movie theater. At the time I loved the Popeye cartoon and my mother was nice enough to take me to see Robin Williams star as the title character.
Very rarely do I actually have feel sad when a celebrity dies, but when I heard the news last night I was really in the dumps. Sure, I didn’t know the guy, but as someone that has contemplated suicide often this hit home. Not to mention, another part of my youth is gone and the reality that the road ahead of me is not as long as it was before scares me. Looking through his IMDB page, I counted more than 50 movies of his I watched, so I’m guessing I’ve watched well over 130 hours of his work when you count sitcoms, stand up specials, and late night interviews – you kinda get attached with that kind of exposure.
I know Robin Williams wasn’t for everyone, especially his humor during interviews, but I had a high appreciation for his rapid fire improvisation and his dramatic roles. Heck, he may have been a better dramatic actor than a comic Those scenes after the restaurant bombing in Good Morning Vietnam or listening to him talk about his late wife in Goodwill Hunting were just a masterpiece of displaying sorrow and grief. Very few could pull off emotion like him. As for comedy, most of those that don’t like him really judge him for his late night interviews or Academy Awards bits, but he was a comedic genius improving all those lines in movies like Good Morning Vietnam and Aladdin. The other part of him that appealed to the masses was how easy it was for him to be childlike in movies like Jack and Hook.
The guy had a major heart surgery five years ago. I thought those who had major surgeries and granted a second chance were the least likely to take their own life, but studies show I’m terribly wrong.
I wonder how many actors have portrayed two different presidents? Williams played Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman.
Remember those “Think Different” commercials Apple use to air? “To the crazy ones. Here’s to the misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The people who see the world differently.” That fits Williams quite well, and he was originally suppose to voice the commercials. Here’s one of the commercials for a refresher.
I’ve often wondered what it must feel like that half second before a person reaches the point of no return while attempting suicide – the rush of adrenaline, the raw emotion, and blanket of sadness right when your entire life flashes before your eyes – and then it’s . . . . over.
I was surprised and a bit disappointed when I saw the LiberallyLean.com guy take a shot at someone that just committed suicide, but to his credit, he updated his post.
Faith in humanity – Instead of seeing a lot of people poking fun at a celebrity death, there were a ton of social media posts about taking depression seriously and listing the suicide hotline number.
One of my neighbors is away for a while and he asked me to check on his dog and gerbil while gone. He told me the maid would be over one afternoon but other than that no one should make an appearance. Everything went well the first day with dog and gerbil, but on the second day I checked on the animals after the maid visit and there was was problem. The gerbil has a cage that is two stories connected with tubes, with one story on the ground and the other on a table. It appears the maid bumped the tube loose with the vacuum from the bottom portion and there was now a free gerbil. For two days I hunted that thing and checked the dogs fecal matter to make sure the gerbil wasn’t an afternoon snack. Thankfully one of my dogs spotted it (yes, I take my dogs over there to play with his dog) and on day three the gerbil is now safely back in his little habitat.
Yesterday I flopped in my recliner a bit harder than normal and me and the chair fell backwards. Upon hitting the floor I heard the screams and yelps from OtherGodGeeding and I started to feel like a heel. The poor dog started to limp around and when I picked him up all he did was lick my face. He was either telling me not to feel bad or was begging me not to hurt him anymore. Thankfully after an hour the limp faded.
I share your sadness about Robin Williams. I agree with your sentiment – rarely do celebrity deaths cause me much more than passing sadness for the grief their families will feel, but this impacted me more greatly. Completely apart from his comedic brilliance, he had a marvelous ability to portray the most raw, visceral emotions in such a real, organic way. As we now realize, this was likely due to some ability to channel his own wrenching emotions into whatever role he was playing. Between this and the passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman, 2014 has taken two incredibly gifted actors before their time.
OtherGodGeeding… somebody thinks highly of themselves. j/k
Robin was a national treasure. Two of my favorite Robin Williams films are Insomnia and One Hour Photo. He could be very creepy. If only he had an opportunity to work with Hitchcock.
I share your sadness about Robin Williams. I agree with your sentiment – rarely do celebrity deaths cause me much more than passing sadness for the grief their families will feel, but this impacted me more greatly. Completely apart from his comedic brilliance, he had a marvelous ability to portray the most raw, visceral emotions in such a real, organic way. As we now realize, this was likely due to some ability to channel his own wrenching emotions into whatever role he was playing. Between this and the passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman, 2014 has taken two incredibly gifted actors before their time.
That chair was invented by Thomas Jefferson, I think. I was telling my wife just last night that it was one of my next projects.
I'm with you about WIlliams. I didn't like his stand up or his interviews, but he's one of the best actors, ever.
OtherGodGeeding… somebody thinks highly of themselves. j/k
Robin was a national treasure. Two of my favorite Robin Williams films are Insomnia and One Hour Photo. He could be very creepy. If only he had an opportunity to work with Hitchcock.
Million doar question nobody is asking; will you tell your neighbor of the maid’s carelessness?