I was stunned to hear about Robin Williams' death last night. Someone who was so talented, so funny, lost in such a tragic, depressing way.
Honestly, a goofy gif was probably the only thing to keep me from crying about it.
I know he was famous long before his child movie career, but that's how I will always remember him. Whether it's Hook, Aladdin, Patch Adams, or Jumanji. My all-time favorite movie, though, is Mrs. Doubtfire. Sadly, I couldn't watch Mrs. Doubtfire in memoriam, because it wasn't on Netflix (nor was it at Target), so I opted for Jumanji instead.
Mrs. Doubtfire was great because it was so quirky, so nuanced. Any other actor in Williams' role could've looked like a total creep. But that didn't happen.
I quote that movie almost every time I see my family, especially my sister. I think I watched it with her once and now I always say 'Helloooooo!' in the stupid Mrs. Doubtfire voice whenever I see her. See gif above to give the phrase context. Hehe.
I also loved The Birdcage, which wasn't a kids movie, but another great movie with Williams. I remember watching that with my gay friend in high school. (He was the only guy in our class that had come out at that point.)
Mark's all-time favorite movie is Good Will Hunting. We both like Dead Poets Society too.
I don't know. Maybe it sounds melodramatic, but it almost feels like part of my childhood died along with him the other night. There are just a lot of memories with his movies, attached to different memories in my life as I grew up watching them, and he's really the one that made a lot of those movies special.
P.S. If you haven't already, you should read this Reddit AMA!
I feel the same way. His death has been weighing over me since I found out. It makes me so sad that he was so haunted by depression. My boyfriend and I will definitely be watching a movie with him in it this weekend :)
ReplyDeleteI was so so sad to hear about this the other day. I'm still feeling pretty down about it. Like you said, all those family friendly movies we grew up on were a large part of how I'll remember him. I'm a huge fan of many of his more dramatic roles too. I never realized just how many movies I absolutely love that he's in. Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Fern Gully, Bicentennial Man... Ugh. I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling really affected by his death. It seems like America is feeling sad collectively.
ReplyDeleteJamie | PetitePanoply.com
Yep, we are going to pay homage to him too. As someone who has suffered major depression in the past, this whole thing really bothered me. Thank you for this lovely post. He will always be remembered.
ReplyDeletehttp://lamentinglizzie.blogspot.com