Phenomenal Cosmic Power!

I fell for Robin Williams and fell hard in 1992. It wasn't a romantic attachment, no. I fell for his big, blue wise-crackin' genie.

I don't want to say I was obsessed with him as the Genie*, because obsessed is a word that is way overused in our society and your eyes will just skim over it not understanding.  Let me try and describe. I loved the Genie so much that I bought an action figure.  Then I bought a bank. Then a flashlight.  Then a beach towel.  It continued to escalate from there.  I had my sister sew a Genie costume so I could be him for Halloween.  I watched the movie so many times that I could recite every word.  My sister also hand painted a lamp shade and we filled the empty base with Genie figurines.  I had a Genie-themed birthday party.  His picture still hangs in my bathroom, a mug with his face is still in use, and my Genie bag is still my go to carry-all for the beach or the pool You get the idea. See the picture below if you need further clarification. Note my shiny blue pants worn in his honor.

While the Genie got my attention, that was just the beginning of my love of Robin Williams.  I soon started renting and then buying all of his movies.  I loved "Popeye" a lot.  I laughed at "Good Morning, Vietnam," even though I'm sure I didn't understand most of the jokes. Normally exclusively a Disney snob, I gave "Ferngully" a chance just because of Robin Williams, and I was not disappointed.  "Hook" was a no brainer.  And his talent was not limited to comedy.  I mean, have you seen "Dead Poets Society"?

He followed up Aladdin with "Mrs. Doubtfire" the next year.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  "Mrs. Doubtfire" was genius, and I'm only realizing now that I only got about half the jokes at the time.  Later came "Jumanji," "the Birdcage," "Patch Adams" and more  They were good, but nothing really touched me again until "Good Will Hunting," which came out right around the time I went to college. I watched that movie over and over and over.*

I don't think it's overstating it to say that Robin Williams played a small part in helping me become who I am today.  He taught me about quick-witted comedy and of well-timed punch lines.  He was incredibly funny; it just spurted out of him. But he was more than just jokes.  He had heart too.

When I checked Facebook this evening and saw lots of my own friends posting about being sad about his passing, I was a little mad, honestly.  My reaction was, "how dare all of these people post about Robin Williams? They don't know and love him like I do!" Then I realized that
1) I don't know him either, and
2) while I think my love of the characters he played is both very large and very sincere, I don't own that exclusively.  We're all lucky to have shared in his genius on screen.

It's sad that he's gone.  It's sad that we will no longer get to look forward to his next project.*** It's sad that he was so loved by so many people and brought so much joy, but must have struggled personally.

The best way I know to honor him is to pull out some VHS tapes this week to relieve the glory days and laugh with Robin Williams again.


*Did you notice that Robin Williams also voices the narrator who opens the story of Aladdin?  "Ah, Salaam and good evening to you my worthy friends. Please, come closer. Too close, a little too close."
*Partially, admittedly, because of Matt Damon, for which I felt a different kind of love than I did for Robin Williams.
***After Night at the Museum 3 comes out this December.