A pastor reflects on the death of a great
entertainer. By:
PEYTON JONES*
Like the rest of the world, I'm stunned by the
loss of one of its greatest talents.
Robin Williams defined
most of our childhoods—along with Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and The Muppet Show. I was born in 1973 and so the first exposure
I had to Robin Williams' comedy was in Mork and Mindy.
It was on too late for me to watch, but by week two my Mom kept saying that
she'd let me stay up to watch it with my brother. I was in kindergarten and staying
up late was a big deal. When I saw it for the first time, I was blown away.
Mork was the coolest and funniest thing I'd ever seen. He acted like a 5 year
old and got away with it. In fact, my parents applauded him for it. I felt as if some breach had been made in the
barrier separating children from adults. He was like a bridge between our two
worlds. As a kid, I was just glad that grown-ups were beginning to see the
light. (On a side note, he often made up much of his lines on the spot, and the
writers learned to leave much of his dialogue blank in the script and just let
him do his thing.)
The first film I ever
saw him in was Popeye. He became my favorite actor immediately.
Even today, to watch him pull off that role was impressive. Robin Williams didn't
just play Popeye, he became the incarnation of the cartoon character. From
there, I saw the World According to Garp at a friend’s house. He had cable.
Needless to say, I got a pre-emptive sexual education through Garp's
adventures. Ahem...
His next wave of films
saw him playing adult roles for mature audiences. Moscow On the Hudson didn't interest me, nor did I understand
any of it when I saw it on cable. But then, I went to my second film in the
theater and watched him play what is still my favorite role of any film he ever
did. He played Adrian Cronauer, a man who cheered up the troops in Vietnam and
countered the voice of Hanoi Hannah over the airwaves as she attempted to lower
the morale of the troops. Since it was my favorite film of his, I have often
guessed that during this time, he was deeply affected by the role of the
unorthodox DJ who defied the authorities by making the troops his priority, and
giving a little piece of heaven to men stationed in hell. In the end, Williams
became a living embodiment of Cronauer, traveling to military bases in foreign
war zones over the next few decades to boost the morale and show public support
of our troops. More than anything, he just wanted to bless them. When he was
performing for them, he knew that there were troops stationed on guard, or
about their duties, so when his slot was over, he'd tour the base in order to
seek out the men who couldn't come and tell them how much he personally
appreciated them.
Time would fail me to
talk of movies that personally shaped, educated, and corrupted me (in a good
way). Awakenings is one of my favorite movies of all
time. It was there more than ever that I saw his true ability to act. Baron Munchausen is a bizarre favorite. Dead Poets Society was a masterpiece. I constantly hear him
in my head mocking J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D and commanding the men to "rip
the pages out...you heard me. Rip it out!" I've often felt that way about
much of the theology that I've read. They measure God, but miss him completely.
"We're not laying pipe, but talking theology." "Be gone, J.
Evans Pritchard, Ph.D! It's not the Bible; you're not going to go to hell for
this!" "This is a battle. A war . . . and the casualties could be
your hearts and souls."
Robin Williams was an idealist. If
he was nothing else, he was a man who had ideals, and like all of us, found
himself so often falling short of them.
Thank
you, Mr. Williams
Thank you Mr.
Williams. Thank you. You've shaped me in more ways that I can possibly
communicate here. Your gift imparted much to me as a person, as a preacher, and
as an idealist.
Robin Williams was an
idealist. If he was nothing else, he was a man who had ideals, and like all of
us, found himself so often falling short of them. In a courageous interview in
2004, he shared his personal struggle with substance abuse and alcoholism, and
the recurring nightmare that he woke up from after years of being controlled
and dominated by a force stronger than himself. He was honest, and he was
broken. In that interview he was asked if he was sad about the past two years
when he battled with addiction and lost so much. He replied,
"There's sadness,
yes. But there's also hope. It's called the Buddhist gift, but what I would
call the Omni-Christian gift. You're back. Life becomes about others. Not
yourself. Ego goes bye-bye. There is so much to be thankful for. So many
wonderful people to be grateful for . . . and a loving God. Other than that,
good luck..."
Not ironically, but
fittingly, he played the role of Patch Adams.
A man suffering from depression, who was suicidal, but found himself going on
in life and finding respite from his own sadness by making others laugh. In
interviews from that time, about that film and the real Patch Adams, Williams
said he felt honored and unworthy to play a man like that. But he was like
that.
I believe that in his brokenness, Williams may have found
the loving God that he spoke about in interviews.
I believe that in his
brokenness, Williams may have found the loving God that he spoke about in interviews.
Most actors keep their faith personal because of the media's tendency to
exploit it at any sign of weakness or slip in judgment. My hope for Robin is
that he found the grace and love of God that all of us so desperately need, but
are often too proud to reach for. I trust that he extended his hand to his
higher power and felt somebody stronger than himself, taking him in his grip.
My hope is that on the other side of his exemplary life, he experiences an
eternity of freedom from all that plagued him, because to be honest, quite
selfishly, I'd like to laugh with him again. My hope is that he's laughing
through tears of joy and relief that are being wiped away from his eyes by the
one who invented laughter to relieve pain.
In my theology, God is actually funnier than Robin Williams,
and could make him laugh...forever.
In his interview
on Inside the Actor's Studio he was asked by James Lipton, as all
guests are "If heaven is real, what would you like to hear God say?" As
he answers, you can see the depth of thought that comes over his face. There is
much emotion rippling beneath his expression.
My personal prayer is that he got his wish.
In my theology, God is actually funnier than
Robin Williams, and could make him laugh...forever.
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