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We Salute You, Robin Williams
There are millions of Robin Williams videos being shared online in the wake of his death, all of us trying to get a handle on what we’ve suddenly lost. But I’ve got a clip here you probably haven’t seen. Five or six years ago Robin Williams did a USO tour for our troops. He was fresh out of rehab; maybe he was trying to get some healing for himself by giving back a little.
At some point in his routine, Williams is interrupted in dramatic fashion. Before you know it, he’s living through a comic’s worst nightmare, and the entire audience has literally turned its back on him. But he handles the situation just as you would hope.
My favorite part of the video comes at the end, when he’s recounting the episode and posing with some soldiers, and he pauses for a moment to ask someone off screen, “Did you get your picture?” It’s a fleeting, beautiful moment. Just a little bit of generous concern for some soldier he’d never see again. What you’re seeing in that moment is, I think, humility.
No matter who you are, life will humble you from time to time. Williams’ life was no exception.
I watched Dead Poets Society at the impressionable young age of 10 and you can’t blame me for taking to heart professor Keating’s passionate speeches about sucking the marrow out of life. To this day, I never hear the words “Carpe Diem” without seeing Williams’ face. In the movie’s final scene, I cried a 10-year-old’s tears when the students stood up on their desks to salute him. Yes, professor Keating, I promise I too will walk the bold and unfettered walk.
Robin Williams and I share the distinction of having both dropped out of Claremont McKenna College before moving on to other schools. There was a rumor at Claremont (then known as Claremont Men’s College) that Williams had once been punished by college officials for a prank that involved bringing a dairy cow into his second story dorm room. If I ever had the chance to meet Williams, I was going to ask him to verify this story, with the hope that he might even embellish it a little. The man brought energy and wildness and unpredictability to the screen. He showed us it was OK to act crazy. And that often it was the sanest thing one could do. That was his gift.
My eyes are dry, but make no mistake, this death, in this way, is a hard one to accept. Men who give the world joy shouldn’t die of despair. Like the kids at the end of Dead Poets Society I find myself wanting to stand up and say something in tribute.
Robin Williams gave us himself, and that’s all anyone can give.
Once upon a time, when an audience of soldiers turned their backs on him, he took his hat off and joined their salute. Now it’s him who’s turned his back on himself. And what a sad thing that is to see. Even so, today the world salutes Robin Williams.
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You’ve written a moving and worthy tribute to him. Thank you.
Beautifully said, Nathan. The number of videos posted since yesterday has been overwhelming, so I haven’t watched more than bits of a couple of them. So glad I watched this one. The look on Williams’ face while the Retreat played was so respectful. My admiration for him has increased exponentially.
Well done Nathan. I was much older when I first saw Dead Poets Society but it still touched me deeply and resonates daily.
Geraghty linked to the same video in his daily email today. I’ve shared it on FB, and I hope others help spread it far and wide. It’s moving and funny, and revealing of the man in a tremendous way.
I’d only quibble with your (twice) characterizing his audience as having turned their backs “on” him, and calling it a comic’s “worst nightmare.” Perhaps that was all for dramatic effect, but it misrepresents what actually happened.
They only turned his backs “to” him, not “on” him, as is clear from the video. He knew intuitively that it was for something important, something greater than he – the initiating sound of the bugle made that clear. It wasn’t a “worst nightmare” precisely because he knew something was happening that transcended him and his act.
He may well have considered it one of his life’s humblest moments and greatest honors.
“Men who give the world joy shouldn’t die of despair.”
I assure you I will take that one to my grave. Amen, and amen.
Question: Is it right to just wholeheartedly salute someone who killed themselves? Isn’t suicide deplorable, almost no matter what? I like Robin Williams, too, but I am always a bit hesitant to completely praise someone who committed suicide. I have unfortunately had several suicides among people I have known recently, and somehow I can never muster up pure pity for them. To see what they did to those close to them, I just can’t help but feel a bit pissed off at them, even though I do empathize, especially with cases of mental illness. Let me know if I am cold-hearted or out of line please.
I don’t think you’re cold hearted, but I don’t think we should underestimate how incredibly, destructively consuming depression is. While the right thing to do is not commit suicide, I don’t think we should look down on those who lived an internal hell that we ( or at least me in my non-depressed life) cannot understand and decided to take the easy way out (as they saw it).
I enjoyed your post as well and am struck at how many members have mentioned Dead Poets Society. I’ll always remember Williams for Good Morning, Viet Nam because it appeared to be a vehicle that truly allowed him to ‘riff’ to his hearts content. :)
I think your conflicted feelings are normal, I feel them too. The desire to be supportive, joined with a parallel anger in their overt or unconscious rejection of that support.
In a different thread someone mentioned that a spiral downward for the depressed person is compounded by their inability to get out of the downward spiral only exaggerating the downward path. That cycle often culminates in one irrational decision that becomes an irreversible moment.
Two years ago a dear friend of mine took her own life. Her illness was a secret to me, but I would have traded every convenience and privilege to have helped her find a different solution for her pain. I don’t think we understand what depressed people perceive and experience so it is difficult to deal with their choices from our point of view, especially in the aftermath of suicide.
Thanks for posting this. I have watched a number of videos of Williams since yesterday; this was one of the best.