Everywhere I look
as I write this,
I see expressions
of disbelief.
Not just with the news itself, but with how strongly it has affected many of us. I first read about what happened on Twitter, just a few minutes after the news was released. I was sitting by myself on the bus going home from work. There was a moment of shock, made worse by the confirmation that it was not a hoax,
And then–before I knew what was happening–the tears came.
Tears for a man I never met, but whose name brought forth a rush of wonderful memories. This was a reality I was not prepared for. A contingency I had not planned. This was a true sadness ignited by a truth best expressed by author/comedian Sara Benincasa:
I never even imagined a world without Robin Williams.
— Sara Benincasa (@SaraJBenincasa) August 11, 2014
And even in this sadness I had to acknowledge what a wonderful thing it is to live in a world where a stranger can have this kind of affect on us. Though it was not enough to ease his personal torment, it will ensure that his memory will live on and he will not be soon forgotten.
Especially because he left a legacy of great performances, each of which means something very special to the people who took to social media last night to keen the loss. All of us have our favourite–the one that we will always remember.
For me it’s his leading debut in a film mistakenly believed by many to have been a failure when it was released. Not only did Popeye turn a profit, but it also became a beloved favourite of those tuned in to its one-of-a-kind charms, made possible by the strange alchemy of Robert Altman, Jules Feiffer, Harry Nilsson and Williams. It’s truly a film like no other–a live action comic strip adaptation that is so true to the world it creates that it ceases to be mere children’s entertainment and becomes an artful experiment in the wonder of cinema.
I love Popeye and my favourite scene comes when William’s titular one-eyed sailor is no longer able to abide the exploitation of his adopted son and proudly declares that he must do what he thinks is right because–in a phrase that can genuinely move me to tears in the right moment–“I yam what I yam.”
So, that’s my pick.
What’s your favourite
Robin Williams performance?
Dead Poets is up there too for tje passion it instilled. Interesting that in that film the protagonist hung himself also.
So many to choose from, so many memories…
Not an original choice here, but I would say “Dead Poet’s Society” would have to be at the top for me, along with “Good Morning Vietnam” and “Awakenings” and “Toys”
For sheer humor and seeing his mind at full tilt- Aladdin. For his range of character- the fisher king which I consider to be one of the greatest films of all time. So sadly forgotten for stupid ass films like die hard and Rambo.
Toys. The most brilliant, beautiful, gentle, true, forgotten movie of his. I’ve yet to find anyone who can see it and find flaw with it.