It was always pretty clear to me, even putting aside the addiction issues, that Robin Williams humor came from (and was a cover for) deep pain. The volume, velocity, and intensity of his gags and even his normal speech, as funny or engaging as they were, always suggested desperation to me...it was as if he HAD to keep them coming and put everything he had into them to keep from feeling or acknowledging how awful he felt. There are a LOT of people you know who do exactly the same thing -- whether their cover is always being on, workaholism, persistent obnoxiousness, compulsive behavior, etc. Sometimes we enjoy those peoples covers, sometimes they annoy the hell out of us, but rarely do we look past them and ask, hey, you doing ok? The VAST majority of people lamenting Williams death today didnt know him. As such, its not really HIM theyre mourning but what he represented in their lives or the experiences watching him gave to them. I think the BEST way of mourning him, then, is to let him represent something new for us. If you lament his loss, hold onto that feeling every time someone close to you protests too much via their cover. And the next time someone is driving you nuts with their particular obsessive and ubiquitous thing, let Williams remind you that this would be a good time to ask if Theyre all right. Good night, Vietnam.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 14:23:15 +0000
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