Robin Williams: A Tribute

It was almost disbelief when I woke up and started to see the tributes to Robin Williams filtering into my social networks. As Russell Brand put it, Williams’ brand of ‘divine madness…seems like it will never expire.’ Well, seemed. The news of his now confirmed suicide sent shockwaves throughout the realms of Hollywood and the world as the beloved entertainer was found dead in his home by a personal assistant on the 11 August.

For a lot of the students that read this paper, they will have grown up with the various characters that Robin portrayed and immortalised. Peter Pan in Hook (1991), the Genie in Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Alan in Jumanji (1995) and the Professor in Flubber (1997) are just a few of the many roles that we watched repeats of at Christmas and in the holidays when the rain was coming down. The boundless enthusiasm, flaring expressions and innocent eyes followed us throughout our childhoods and told us that it was okay to let our imaginations run once in a while, laughing until we were in tears.

Each of these films portrayed a sense of morality, exposing the fragility of the human condition through the tear-soaked smiles of the audience.

Yet it was never humour for humour sake. Each of these films portrayed a sense of morality, exposing the fragility of the human condition through the tear-soaked smiles of the audience. That is what made an impact. Each of these performances resonated with the vulnerable sides of the people watching them; they were inward looking and reflected the reality of Robin’s existence.

The sad irony of Pagliacci was although he brought happiness to people’s lives, he found none in his own. He was alone in a world of laughter. Noticing a lot of the photos from the last decade, we can see that Williams’ rarely smiles and he seems almost indifferent to what is going on around him. There are various reports of his awkwardness at social gatherings and how comedy was his only outlet to diffuse these situations. In fact, the laughter simply became a mask.

Personally, Patch Adams (1998) was a complete revelation. It was bold, funny, but most importantly, authentic. If there was ever a role that was perfectly suited to the real Robin Williams then it was Patch. It was the first film that I watched to remind myself of him. He taught that laughter is the best medicine and actually contemplates suicide in the film. It is the balance of determination and hope that allows him to succeed and it is something that encapsulates the career of a comedian that could not help but keep the crowd laughing.

He taught that laughter is the best medicine and actually contemplates suicide in the film.

This article will not discuss his illness. Nor his addiction. Nor his financial situation. It is true that those with severe depression have very little chance of dying of old age – this is unfortunately the case of many depressed people with over 23,400 in the US committing suicide ever year. It is a serious problem and it has been much of the discussion over the past few days.

But I want to celebrate the man. The man that made me chuckle, grin and weep. The face that made millions do the same. The actor with a thousand voices. The favourite uncle to a generation of kids. The very unconvincing Scottish nanny giving the finger.

I want to say thank you to Robin Williams. For everything. For giving everything.

RIP Robin Williams: 1951 – 2014

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Header photo: flickr/bagogames

Footer photo: flickr/pictoquotes