Robin Williams, RIP

 

Like a lot of comedy writers my age, we remember the astonishing moment we saw Robin Williams, playing the alien life-form Mork from the planet Ork on ABC-TV’s hit comedy Mork & Mindy, drink from a glass using his finger.  It was like someone opened up a musty room and let the fresh air in.  The planet Ork was, apparently, sort of egg-based — Mork’s spaceship was an egg-looking thing — so when Mork encounters, for the first time, an egg carton, he reacts with horror.

“Fly!” he cries at the assembled eggs in the carton.  ”Be free!”

He throws them in the air.  And of course they fall and crack on the counter.  It was a lightbulb moment for me.  I remember everything about that moment — the way he looked when he saw them in the carton, the cheerleading “Fly! Be free!”, then the arc of the eggs, and finally the way he looked when he saw them go splat on the counter.  

I suspect a lot of comedy writers around  my age remember that exact scene.

robin-williamsAnd we remember the way we’d stay up to watch him on Johnny Carson — watch him riff hilariously, just this side of the censor, on all sorts of topics like a demon-possessed madman.

Some of us listened to his first comedy album, Reality….What a Concept over and over and over again, trying to capture his weird blend of hippie nerd comedy — smart, unstructured, improvised, and even sweetly sentimental.

Robin Williams, when he appeared on our TV screens — and for most of us, that’s where he appeared first — redefined what a television comedy could be.  He made the tightly-scripted, highly-supervised television sitcom seem, for the first time, like it could be something weirder and funnier and more dangerous.  He went on, as we all know, to superstardom in the movies — but for me, he’ll always be the guy who pushed the edges of the television screen out past where they’d ever been.  And he didn’t do it with language or sexual situations or whatever counts as “edgy” today.  He did it, instead, with genius.  Genius that was contained (barely) by the limits of the half-hour form.  

Genius, it turns out, that was also contained by great personal pain.  Robin Williams committed suicide this morning, and the next few days will probably be a nauseating — but maybe useful — parade of shrinks and other experts talking about depression and suicide — but what I will choose to remember is that I saw him on television and he drank with his finger and threw eggs in the air and called out “Fly! Be free!”  And I will be wishing that he, too, could have figured out a way, despite his pain and depression and demons and whatever else it was, to fly and be free without coming crashing to the ground.

Robin Williams, RIP.

http://youtu.be/v9g1yRXF8I8

Published in General
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 44 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Julia PA Inactive
    Julia PA
    @JulesPA

    Death is so sad, but this kind of departure is the worst. Just. The. Worst.
    May God bless and comfort his family.
    We did not have a TV when Mork was on, but I saw enough on limited occasions to love it and be jealous of those who could watch it every week.
    So many of his movies are among my favorites, including his character in “Aladdin.” I was deeply disturbed by “What Dreams May Come,” not even the ending could remove the darkness for me. 
    The stark contrast of his role as a genie capable of all but bringing the dead to life, and a man who walked through hell to save his wife and the circumstances of his death leaves me feeling lost.  

    • #1
  2. Whiskey Sam Inactive
    Whiskey Sam
    @WhiskeySam

    One of the biggest laughs I ever got from Mork was when he learned to drive.  His instructor asked him to depress the clutch so he looked down and said, “Have you ever seen Brian’s Song?”  To make a joke about such a serious movie was both wildly inappropriate and hysterically funny which was a big part of Williams’ appeal.  He showed a much deeper serious side in his dramatic roles (some strayed too far into melodrama), but his enduring popularity proved that he was able to connect with an audience even if the critics didn’t care for the performance.

    His manic live appearances (like the time he told Letterman he went to San Fran to see the drag races then proceeded to parade around the stage acting like a drag queen running a race) could keep you in stitches, but you always got the sense he was performing for public approval.  Some of his darker roles like One Hour Photo tapped into his inner unrest.  I wish he had been able to find the peace he so desperately sought while he was entertaining the rest of us.

    • #2
  3. user_7742 Inactive
    user_7742
    @BrianWatt

    I saw him honored with the Mark Twain Award at UCLA many years ago. He performed to a packed audience in Royce Hall and took questions from the audience and riffed. Of course, he imitated some of the fraternity guys when they asked their questions adopting their affected deep voices, LA surfer dude accents even they way they stood. The audience was laughing so hard we were crying. After the performance, after he graciously accepted the award there was an invitation-only reception backstage to continue the celebration. Mr. Williams was surrounded by at least twenty or thirty people at a time and I held back and just observed. I hadn’t really had anything profound to say to him. And through all the adulation, Williams was quiet, still and serene and always observing everyone around him with that beatific smile that he had. So opposite from his on-stage persona. I heard tonight that he contributed a great deal to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospitals and used to spend time with the kids who had cancer. I found that very moving. I didn’t agree with his politics but that is a minor point at such a time.

    • #3
  4. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    Rob’s right – if you were there at the time it’s difficult to describe what an elemental force he appeared to be, and compared to the other Hot Comic of the 70s, Steve Martin, his stand-up work holds up: you get the sense of the Mach 5 cheek-rippling ingenuity,  of someone who’s brain is running through the china shop, emptying shelves with a broad sweep of the arm, picking up the fragments and reassembling them. It’s as if he was remixing his routines as he did them.

    I remember a documentary – 60 Minutes, perhaps – where he hung around with Jonathan Winters, whom he admired greatly, and there was something in the way he approached his idol – with gratitude and humility – that spoke to a certain decency about the fellow, and at that point he stopped being coke-engine Mork to me.

    • #4
  5. user_82762 Inactive
    user_82762
    @JamesGawron

    Rob,

    For some reason I am very sure that Robin Williams wasn’t a cruel man, wasn’t an envious man, wasn’t an egotistical man.  His comedy was bright beautiful intelligent and most of all kind.

    Also, strangely, I have the feeling I know what killed him even though I have almost no real knowledge of him.  This society refuses to let us grow up.  We must remain eternal adolescents to satisfy the obsessions of a few.  In this child’s world John Stewart understands politics so well.  In this child’s world Spielberg can rip off the holocaust then make a movie putting the mossad down for killing the killers of the Munich athletes.  In this child’s world Barach Obama is a great genius for doing nothing about genocide while making a young thug like Travon a hero.

    What I am saying is that Robin Williams desperately needed to grow up but they wouldn’t let him.   He could see through the fool’s world that left wing hollywood so desperately needs to believe in.  He was too intelligent.   He wanted to grow up but they wouldn’t let him.  Williams comedy was full of substance but for children style always tops substance.  Give us more of that Robin Williams style stuff.  Don’t get too serious it doesn’t sell.  

    We’d like to remember Mork but it looks like The Fisher King might be more appropriate. 

    Perhaps tomorrow morning I will disavow my statements above.  For now this is exactly what I think and feel.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #5
  6. user_428379 Coolidge
    user_428379
    @AlSparks

    James Gawron:

    Rob,

    For some reason I am very sure that Robin Williams wasn’t a cruel man, wasn’t an envious man, wasn’t an egotistical man. His comedy was bright beautiful intelligent and most of all kind.

    Also, strangely, I have the feeling I know what killed him even though I have almost no real knowledge of him. This society refuses to let us grow up. 

    I’ll agree with your first paragraph above, but the rest of your post is overreach.  Ultimately he was responsible for his own growth, or lack thereof.  If he didn’t grow up, it was because he didn’t let himself do so, not “they.”  Especially since he was well into middle age.

    • #6
  7. user_1938 Inactive
    user_1938
    @AaronMiller

    Williams was such a great impressionist that I searched by his name on Amazon Instant Video and it suggested MacGuyver. 

    Jumanji is probably my favorite of his films. Toys might be his most underrated comedy. But the first scene that leapt to mind when I thought of his work was this bit from Mrs Doubtfire:

    • #7
  8. Julia PA Inactive
    Julia PA
    @JulesPA

    the first line I remembered was
    “Fifty-thousand years in a lamp will give you such a crick in the neck.”
    That, and the scene from Mrs. Doubtfire when he dances with the vacuum cleaner.
    But now, the one quote that will remain with me is from the end of Aladdin, when the Genie says “I’m Free.” That Seem’s sadly appropriate today. I hope it is true for him.
    And Aaron, the reference to MacGuyver is funny to me because he was the rare comic who could consistently create laughter out of nothing but air and random props in a room. The same way MacGuyver was always crafting his escapes out of nothing in particular.

    • #8
  9. user_1938 Inactive
    user_1938
    @AaronMiller

    I’ll try to recreate a comment I made that got lost in the 2.1 shuffle. 

    Robin Williams was one of my favorite comics for a long time, though I haven’t seen him in anything since Insomnia. While I certainly wasn’t waiting expectantly for his death, it didn’t surprise me to learn that Williams took his own life. His freewheeling comedy style was clearly manic, which is typically joined with bouts of depression. But, more importantly, he shared that sadness and darkness in his work along with the comedy. 

    Years ago, I caught a recording on YouTube of a stand-up performance from his early career. It was amazing… and it wasn’t just jokes. Of course, he was bubbling with explosive energy, running around, leaping, throwing, and bursting with spontaneous impressions and wit. Then something extraordinary happened. 

    He crashed. He became solemn and spoke seriously. It wasn’t a speech. It was extemporaneous. Even as he pulled back, he pulled the crowd in. He was still a powerful presence, like a brooding Hamlet. The audience sank with him and they didn’t resent it. I can only guess that it would have been unexpected for them, had they been able to escape the moment and reflect on it.

    Finally, gradually, Williams returned to the jokes. It was all laughter in the end. He was willing to give everything, but he knew it was the jokes people wanted.

    • #9
  10. user_3444 Coolidge
    user_3444
    @JosephStanko

    Whiskey Sam: His manic live appearances (like the time he told Letterman he went to San Fran to see the drag races then proceeded to parade around the stage acting like a drag queen running a race) could keep you in stitches, but you always got the sense he was performing for public approval.  

    Absolutely, and for that reason I often found them painful to watch.  I got the impression he felt under tremendous pressure to live up to his reputation not only for being funny, but also manic and zany.

    I’d have preferred to see him out-of-character, just relax and talk about his life and his work without feeling the need to turn an interview into another performance.  I wonder if he felt that same pressure in his daily life, if he could ever just be himself?  Maybe he forgot how.

    • #10
  11. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    My mother denies it, but one after a couple of sherries she said to me “I’d rather sit next to an ass@@@@ than a bore.” 

    My family will forgive a lot if you’re funny. And Robin Williams was always funny and never boring. RIP

    • #11
  12. otherdeanplace@yahoo.com Member
    otherdeanplace@yahoo.com
    @EustaceCScrubb

    He was wonderful in “Good Morning Vietnam”. I think people in Hollywood assumed that since it was a film about the Vietnam war it must be a liberal film. But the film clearly portrayed the the evil of the Viet Cong. And the man Williams portrayed, Adrian Cronauer, was a good military man, a “card carrying Republican” and a man an active supporter of George W. Bush. And what really matters is the film is very funny and very moving.

    • #12
  13. Tom Meyer Member
    Tom Meyer
    @tommeyer

    • #13
  14. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Politics aside, I admired him for entertaining our troops overseas.   Not many celebrities do that …

    • #14
  15. mwupton@gmail.com Inactive
    mwupton@gmail.com
    @MattUpton

    My mom had a cassette of the Good Morning Vietnam soundtrack that included all of William’s radio bits. My sister and I listened to it over and over. I can still quote his lines. The Birdcage is one of my sister’s favorite movies.

    He was a comedic genius and injected so much life into his roles. I wish he would have found the peace and grace he sought.

    • #15
  16. Majestyk Member
    Majestyk
    @Majestyk

    None of us knew the real Robin Williams.

    I suspect that in the forthcoming years, those who knew him best will give us a hint as to what the real Robin was like.  The real Robin was (I believe) present for John Belushi’s Death.  The real Robin could have been the Strategic National Cocaine Reserve.  The real Robin was never really on display for the public to see.

    The thing that stuck out to me like a sore thumb whenever I watched him was: Robin Williams is manic depressive.

    I would like to hear Rob’s thoughts on a theory I have about many actors – having been in theater and been an actor the thing I noticed about actors was: they enjoyed being someone else.  The reason for this is that they were frequently uncomfortable in their own skin, and acting was a chance to escape from the reality of who they actually were.

    I couldn’t stand it.  Being asked to inhabit another person was creepy, surreal and uncomfortable – I could feel the character’s thoughts seeking to enter into my consciousness and it was violating.  A person like Robin Williams embraced that.

    • #16
  17. user_86050 Inactive
    user_86050
    @KCMulville

    He was funny.

    I agree with Rob; before we venture into psycho-speculations about what went wrong with his brain chemistry, it’s a good idea to appreciate how funny he was — and why that was a gift to the rest of us, and why we should take a moment to be grateful for it.

    • #17
  18. Julia PA Inactive
    Julia PA
    @JulesPA

    I never knew Robin Williams had a drug problem, nor that he lived amidst misery and despair. I didn’t know much, except that he was funny, and that his funny made me laugh, and made me discover humor in common things and ordinary interactions. 
    I’ve been pondering how it is that many more people don’t commit suicide, and what is the difference between those of us who stick around for the whole show, and those who exit before the curtain call.
    Do those who soldier on see life differently? Or despite what they see, do they have a hope for the future which entices them to stay for the entire show?
    Are those who take their own life cowardly, taking the easy way out?
    Or are they courageous, showing no fear in moving on to the next act, improvised, and on their own terms?
    I think those who commit suicide have a distorted perception of life. They lack hope for the future. They believe a lie that their story is complete.
    The overwhelming sadness we feel is that we knew their story wasn’t over. We mourn them forever as an unfinished story, with a better ending.

    • #18
  19. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    This quote is from a story linked to on the Drudge Report (here’s the link to the story being quoted below: http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2014/08/robin-williams-had-serious-money-troubles-in-months-before-his-death-claims-friend-was-the-pressure-too-much/)  :

    With financial pressures weighing, the insider said that the cancellation of The Crazy Ones in May sent him spiraling. “Robin slipped into a deep depression,” the source said. “He felt embarrassed and humiliated that the show had been a failure. It was very hard for Robin to accept. Here he was in his sixties, and forced to take a role on television for the money. It’s just not where he thought he would be at this point in his life.”

    I saw only one episode of his new show, but the actors surrounding him weren’t very good, and I wondered at the time if he had taken the role because of financial problems.  The money problems, together with the failure of his new TV show, would push someone over the cliff, for sure.  Poor Robin Williams.

    • #19
  20. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    Great post, Rob.  Thankfully, I won’t be watching all of the news stories on this – but it’s nice to get the insider view.  Not too insider, of course.  I imagine Majestyk is 100% correct in his thoughts on the “real Robin,” and I’m happy to leave all of that alone.

    • #20
  21. user_82762 Inactive
    user_82762
    @JamesGawron

    Rob,

    Well it’s the next day.  It was late and I was tired by the time I first heard about it.  My last night’s reaction in the light of day appears to be more my annoyance with left wing Hollywood than necessarily about Williams.

    Having read many other peoples comments today, there seems to be a consensus about the fundamental decency that Williams always came back to.  Given that plus his talent, it seems absurd that at 63 this man took his own life.  The waste seems grotesque.  I don’t really know enough about him to know the why.  However, I am sure that questions do need answering.   When Belushi died many people were stunned.  At least they took a second look at what they believed and how they acted.  In a way because Williams was older and more accomplished this will require greater thought.

    This one is something I think you Rob should write about in depth.  This is your turf.  I really don’t know your world at all but I would like to hear something that wasn’t just business as usual.  We need to understand the society in which we live.  The entertainment industry is a part of everyone’s life.  What was this about?

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #21
  22. EThompson Member
    EThompson
    @

    Am very gratified to see a fellow comedic talent comment on this very special and gifted man. I’ve been thinking today of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who have always claimed their rookie movie Good Will Hunting would never have been made without Williams’ support.

    • #22
  23. Frozen Chosen Inactive
    Frozen Chosen
    @FrozenChosen

    Julia PA:
     
    I was deeply disturbed by “What Dreams May Come,” not even the ending could remove the darkness for me. The stark contrast of his role as a genie capable of all but bringing the dead to life, and a man who walked through hell to save his wife and the circumstances of his death leaves me feeling lost.

    I saw the movie What Dreams May Come and when I heard that Mr Williams committed suicide I thought what bitter irony it was that he starred in a movie that depicted a horrible next life for suicides. 

    For those who may not have seen the film he plays a man who dies in a car accident and a few years later his wife commits suicide.  When he searches for his wife in the hereafter – which is wonderful for him – he finds that his wife is trapped in a very bad place – as are all people who commit suicide.  He goes there to try and save her but she won’t leave.  Ironic, no?

    • #23
  24. FightinInPhilly Coolidge
    FightinInPhilly
    @FightinInPhilly

    EThompson:

    Am very gratified to see a fellow comedic talent comment on this very special and gifted man. I’ve been thinking today of Matt Damon and Bill Affleck who have always claimed their rookie movie Good Will Hunting would never have been made without Williams’ support.

    I thought Robin Williams was sadly never able to do enough dramatic work. For those concerned about his politics, never forget in Good Will Hunting he delivered to a young smart ass one of the great put downs of all time. [Warning- language]. (and the link tool seems to be hanging) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBjWHfBHKos

    • #24
  25. user_536317 Inactive
    user_536317
    @JimW

    One of Robin’s roles that had a big impact on me was Dead Poets Society, and the scene where he got one kid to create a poem over the photo of Whitman, to sound his own barbaric yawp.  Which led me to notice the resemblance between Whitman and this photo of Williams.

    Even then, there was a bit of the sweaty-toothed madman about Williams. The creative, and the destructive.
    Yawp

    • #25
  26. Gödel's Ghost Inactive
    Gödel's Ghost
    @GreatGhostofGodel

    Well, $%!*@&.

    Here’s the only scene you need to remember: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUfP6IGQD00

    Update: to me, the man’s genius is entirely captured by how still, how quiet, he becomes when he delivers a single word: “What?”

    • #26
  27. Julia PA Inactive
    Julia PA
    @JulesPA

    Frozen Chosen:

    Julia PA: I was deeply disturbed by “What Dreams May Come,” not even the ending could remove the darkness for me. The stark contrast of his role as a genie capable of all but bringing the dead to life, and a man who walked through hell to save his wife and the circumstances of his death leaves me feeling lost.

    I saw the movie What Dreams May Come and when I heard that Mr Williams committed suicide I thought what bitter irony it was that he starred in a movie that depicted a horrible next life for suicides.

    For those who may not have seen the film he plays a man who dies in a car accident and a few years later his wife commits suicide. When he searches for his wife in the hereafter – which is wonderful for him – he finds that his wife is trapped in a very bad place – as are all people who commit suicide. He goes there to try and save her but she won’t leave. Ironic, no?

     This is a bitter, bitter, painful irony, especially for his family.

    • #27
  28. Julia PA Inactive
    Julia PA
    @JulesPA

    cont’d
    It is hard to imagine he played that role without spending time contemplating the consequences of suicide–just as part of his professional preparation. It makes me want to believe that while his death appears a suicide, that it wasn’t. How could he make that movie, then follow those same footsteps with intent? Art imitates life? Life imitates Art? 
    Tragic, whichever way.

    • #28
  29. Frozen Chosen Inactive
    Frozen Chosen
    @FrozenChosen

    Julia PA:

    cont’dIt is hard to imagine he played that role without spending time contemplating the consequences of suicide–just as part of his professional preparation. It makes me want to believe that while his death appears a suicide, that it wasn’t. How could he make that movie, then follow those same footsteps with intent? Art imitates life? Life imitates Art? Tragic, whichever way.

    When you play make believe for a living I imagine the dividing line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred…

    • #29
  30. Julia PA Inactive
    Julia PA
    @JulesPA

    Frozen Chosen: When you play make believe for a living I imagine the dividing line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred…

    I agree with you about blurred lines between fantasy and reality. I also think that drugs and other substance abuse don’t clarify those lines, but distort them. Substances seem to increase the willingness of any actor (by that I mean person) to take risks that very often result in irreversible consequences that punish those they love the most.

    • #30
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.