About Robin Williams.... [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

I haven't talked much about what we all lost since his passing. Very hard to do until I got some time to grieve. I don't know how his friends that got a camera stuck in their face that night did it.

We bought "The Bird Cage" on Blu-ray a couple weeks before he decided to exit stage left. I know it was stage left because his politics leaned way left. We watched it about a week before the kind of day you always remember where you were when you got "the news". I am so glad we did. Anything of his we watch now will feel a little different than before.

Marta and I got the shock headline as I was reading the DU. Kudos to LBN. There was a quick reply it was another net death hoax. Whew. Then coverage of his passing became convincing. It was another 10 minutes before it started to get TV coverage. We went with MSNBC.

Very few stars touch us in the way the characters Mork, Mrs Doubtfire, Genie, etc., all did. Marta and I took the kids to see "POPEYE" more than once. Like many fans, for us it would become a multi-decades long quest see his latest film, guest appearance, or E.T. special.

He wasn't just funny. He was fun. He often pushed the limits and expanded one to perhaps a new point of view. Seeing someone we identify with so closely play a gay character in "Bird Cage" certainly opened doors in minds that had always before been closed to LGBT individuals.

Deep down I think my favorite role was one that is little known and the critics hated. But what do they know. I took my mom to see "Jakob the Liar" in first run. Concentration camps are a dark subject. Showing the audience the condemned were real people can be tricky. His statement on waterboarding is undeniable. Again he was giving us his view without preaching from a pulpit. It was more like one friend to another offering us his simple point of view. I've watched Jacob 3-4 times since he passed away.

More on Jakob and waterboarding below.

We have learned so much about his off screen generosity in the last few weeks. Causes that concerned people like being homeless and or hungry. Making sure the crew behind the camera around him were treated well. An all around good egg. Didn't Mork land here in an egg?

Most agree he left us way too soon. Be thankful he left so much behind to remember him. Drama is easy, comedy is hard. So is getting over the fact he didn't reach out to someone close to him for help before his final moments. I hope he found what he was looking for.

OS


The waterboarding scene:

The trailer:

Jakob the Liar review: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/jakob-the-liar-1999