8/12/2014
Goooooooodbye, Vietnam!

"Not again," I said as I flicked through my phone. "Not again."

I was trying to write something in my head. Instantly, I guess. First impulse. But then I remember that the last time this happened, I started with talk of slumbooks, of how you end up writing "too many to mention" when you can't decide on whose name to place in so small a space.

I was always fascinated with futuristic technology as a kid, so without any context, I loved Bicentennial Man. Apparently critics weren't in love with that film, but I was, even if I didn't understand the nuances of Andrew transitioning from robot to man. But I do remember crying. One of the few films I cried to.

And then I decided that Robin Williams is my favorite actor.

I don't have much to write. I have nothing else to write. I'm just typing random stuff here, listening to one of his Saturday Night Live monologues. "Why can't they have a classically-trained Shakespearean porn actor?" Perhaps not the best part of the whole routine, but it did set this one up. "Elizabeth! I will part you like the Red Sea! I shll make you more moist than Manila in the monsoon season!"

And then I watch clips from his one stint on Whose Line Is It Anyway? - the classic season, of course.

And then I remember the films of his that I have seen, at least partially. Well, I was a kid, and I didn't pay attention to most of these things, and I didn't have time as an adult. Patch Adams. Flubber. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. Jumanji. Mrs. Doubtfire. Good Morning, Vietnam. And no, I have not seen Dead Poets Society, and yes, you can hit me... but no, I'd rather you not. He also played Popeye, of all things.

And I remember his manic energy. His irresistible energy. He was crazy on Mork & Mindy, and in that one episode of The Crazy Ones I saw, same thing. He was so crazy and so hard to not look at. But then he gets a juicier role and a switch flicks and he's channeling all that energy into the gravitas it deserves, and you're moved.

I'm writing this as a ten-year-old boy who decided that Robin Williams is his favorite actor.

I always thought he would never run out of steam. He never seemed like the guy who would run out of steam. I flicked through my phone and my fingers were shaking when it seemed that he may have turned off the engine himself.

And your responses...

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