R.I.P. Robin Williams

What a terrible loss.

Worth sharing: this clip of Robin with Koko the Gorilla, apparently filmed not long before his death. It's evident that she grok'd him.



RIP, Robin.

There are two kinds of entertainers.

One has the ability to tap into certain emotions when needed, filling themselves temporarily with feelings like sadness, pain, ego, whatever is needed for the moment to create an image. Method actors do this all the time, becoming the character as whole heartily as they can, channeling the needed inner being of a character. And then when it's all over they drop the facade and walk away from it.

The other is constantly filled with feelings like sadness, pain, ego, living a tortured life that they channel from themselves into the character. And then when it's all over, they can't walk away from it, because they can't walk away from themselves.

The entertainment system doesn't care how you get to your apex. You are a product that has to keep producing. You are fawned on, propped up, your every dysfunctional whim is attended to. The system enables you to your hearts content.

And when your inner demons catch up to you, when you can't function for the system anymore, you're tossed away. Your "support" group is no longer there, the only thing they have left is themselves.

Williams was one of those second types. He was brilliant as the manic, stream of conscience comic actor. But he was addicted to cocaine. He was a academy award winning actor, deeply introspective in his roles, playing characters who touched the souls of all the other characters, in turn touching our souls. He was an alcoholic.

The entertainment system wants you to get well, get help, they will even work with you, making concessions while you take a few months to get clean. But their concern is with the product, not the person.

It's not a new story, in fact it's as old as recorded history. We have seen philosophers, musicians, poets, politicians and our own family members play out this scenario since the beginning of time.

We so love our heroes."Some that you recognize, some that you've hardly even heard of. People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame. Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain."

Maybe the depressed character we saw him play in Good Will Hunting, where he won his Oscar, was the real Robin Williams.

The two hours with Robin Wlliams in Inside the Actors Studio was a rare glimpse of this genius, of course,
he was "on" and riffing, BUT the seriousness of his craft was laid bare for the students to absorb. Some
of my most loved movies...."The Birdcage", Good Will Hunting are films I NEVER tire of.

Private parts of his persona.....Jessica Chastian(Zero-dark Thirty,The Help)was a struggling nobody and
he generously paid her tuition to give her an opportunity to become the talented actor she has become.

Christopher Reeve (life long friends) shared his food with the "struggling" Robin, in those early days.
When Reeves was in the hospital and in the deepest of despondence, Robin came "bursting" thru the door
dressed in scrubs and proceeded to bring a "doctor's orders" hysterical skeet....allowing Reeves to
belly laugh for the first time in months,

I never did see the cartoon "Aladdin", but after running thru the script for a several minutes... Robin
asked the producers if he could "try something".....producers gave the nod and Robin IMPROVISED THE
WHOLE SCRIPT ROLE FOR ALADDIN.......it was "wrapped" as it came out of his mouth....and in the can.

I just read that Disney actually has 12 hours of outtakes from Robin William's Genie, some of those have to be quite good. I wonder if Disney will release them.

I loved him in The Birdcage. But the one movie I saw with him in it that just touched me and left me thinking was "What Dreams May Come" I remember leaving the theater with a very heavy spiritual feeling in the pit of my stomach...and at first, I didn't like it. But, as I've grown older, it has resonated with me. Very ironic that he took his own life and my favorite movie of his is about death and the afterlife.

My heart hurts.

Press conference going on right now, hung himself with his belt in his bedroom closet and also attempted to slit his wrists.

In Colorado in 2012, 1053 commited suicide. And for those between the ages of 10 and 35, it is the leading cause of death.

News from The Denver Post:

JUST IN: Gov. John Hickenlooper Tuesday announced the launch of Colorado's first-ever statewide mental health crisis hotline.

Callers to the Colorado Crisis and Support Line will be able to speak with mental health professionals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 844-493-TALK (8255).

FULL STORY: dpo.st/1l0VPlz

Suicide is the choice made when the person simply can't live with whatever is causing them pain be it physical or emotional. What they fail to realize is that the manner in which they choose to end their pain creates a lifetime of pain for others. That is why suffering brings grace to your life. It means that you have chosen others over self, that you choose to suffer rather than cause suffering.

I grieve for those who loved Robin Williams, those who were left behind to wonder in pain why he is no longer here, and I pray that our Creator will have mercy on his soul; but I will not mourn the loss of Robin Williams. He abandoned his obligations, he failed to keep the faith with those who opened their hearts to him and welcomed him into their lives. He put his own suffering ahead of the suffering of his wife and children and that is simply a choice a husband and a father has lost when he chose to be a husband and a father.