Yeah, its click bait, I admit it. But even while I am dealing with some tenuous internet issues, and haven't been around for a few days, some sad news came to me. Robin Williams is dead, the demons in his life finally took their toll on him.
When I think back over my childhood, I will always have a fondness in my heart for Robin Williams. The parts he played, good or bad, were full of life, energy, and a love for what he was doing. Really, he was a kid in an adult's body. He was the type of person that I would love to have in my life. Nothing seem to reach him.
Someone compared him to a tornado on crack when he was on stage. Full of energy and rage, able to bring a house down around your ears, while bringing you to your feet. In my opinion, Williams was a force of nature, childlike and innocent, but much like Carlin and others wise beyond his physical age. But I mentioned that his demons finally took their toll on him.
As for me, I want to remember him from the picture above. Mork, the odd alien from Ork, who was always into something. I might say I want to remember him as the Genie from Aladdin or the father from RV while not his best work they are still a pretty good time. There was his work in One Hour Photo and Insomnia that showed he had a legitimate reason to be in a horror like movie. Many people speak highly of Death to Smoochy, I haven't watched it, but I likely will sometime in the near future. I would also check out The Birdcage as well, something I will also rewatch as time provides.
Behind the mask we all saw, was a man who was tormented. He was damaged in a way that we never really saw. He suffered a hell on Earth, not some hell in the afterlife if you listen to some christians spewing right now. Depression is a very serious illness, and while I cannot say what caused his depression, he was depressed. I know, its hard to believe that a man who was so full of energy and life could be depressed, but he was.
In so many ways I wish there was something more than this life, but the reality is not so pretty. If there is an afterlife, I figure that Williams will find himself in a nicer world than this one. After all, he finally has his peace. Sadly for us, the flame of his life is gone, and we are only left with our memories of him on stage, and in film. His biting satire, and his off kilter quips about some things that make absolutely no sense.
But in a very real fashion, outside of hope that whatever makes us who we are exists after our body dies survives, I hope something is finally learned from his passing. It is my hope that we finally learn to take not only depression seriously, but all mental illnesses seriously. It is too late to help Williams, and it was a loss for everyone who was just a casual fan or a hardcore fan of his. But it is not too late to help others with the same problems. Everyday someone is going about their lives pretending that everything is alright. You likely know someone who is depressed or mentally ill right now. They laugh and joke, they smile and appear happy, but they aren't. They are tortured by something, it might be the way their life has turned out, it might be chemicals, it could be anything, but they need help.
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