Oh Captain, My Captain

I, like many was shocked and very saddened by the passing of Robin Williams last week, and felt like as he and his characters have certainly inspired me over the years, the least I could do was write a little piece about him.

I know a lot of people believe that he’s getting too much credit for just being the medium that other people’s words were delivered, but I feel like there is some ignorance to those statements. Don’t get me wrong, the words were beautifully written but most people never would have read them and even if they had, they wouldn’t have read them like Robin Williams was able to.

The man was an actor, not just someone who read words, but brought them to life. He gave the characters that were written their personality and put so much of himself into each one that they became a piece of him and for so many of us we remember the characters he gave us, only his loved ones and the ones that were truly close to him know who the real Robin Williams was, but he definitely left his mark on the rest of us.

One of my all-time favorite characters is John Keating, the teacher Williams portrayed in Dead Poets Society. Not to short change the teachers I’ve had throughout my student life but my mom always supported my reading and movie addiction and it was because of characters like this that I’d like to think it paid off. 

I think a lot of my teachers would probably claim that I was not their greatest student, maybe even that I was lazy, but the truth of the matter was that I was always bored in school. There seemed to be so many other things that I would rather be learning, and consequently I did a lot of reading on my own and I watched a ton of movies. In fact, when I first went to college I planned on majoring in Film, but when it got right down to it, it didn’t seem like the filming of movies was what interested me, but the writing of the stories, so I turned to English, then Mass Communications…and finally got a degree in Business. We all get sidetracked somewhere in life, but hopefully with BDandLL I now get a chance to continue my writing venture and do teachers like Mr. Keating proud.

I don’t want to negate all of the things I learned from my teachers over the years, though, some of them may not have had as big of an impact on me as they hoped, but they may have opened doors to other modes of learning that brought me down my current path. One teacher that someday deserves his very own “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” though, is Steve Philion (the Father of one of our contributors!) He would definitely tell you that I was one of the laziest students that he ever had, but he was such a good teacher that I learned so much from him and got so much better at Math than I ever would have guessed, just by listening to his lectures. I really didn’t do any work throughout the year, but I managed to understand the material and did very well on all my tests and continued to do well in Math throughout college…so Thank You Mr. Philion.

But back to Robin Williams…Isn’t it amazing how I could think of someone that I had an actual relationship with in the same sense as someone who just portrayed a character in a film? Both individuals, Mr. Philion and Mr. Williams are and were masters of their craft, they just chose different professions. But, regardless, I feel lucky to have had them both as teachers.

Williams Dead Poets Society character persuaded me to look at life a little differently. At one point in the film he has students climb up on his desk and take a look at the room to get a different perspective of something they’ve seen a million times.

 

He later has them walk around a court yard to show them not to conform, even though it is sometimes the easiest thing in the world to do. The message behind these lessons is that we must not lose our individuality and we must always keep our eyes open to the world around us.

 

Spoiler Alert!!! At the end of the film, Mr. Keating gets fired from the school after a student, persuaded by Keating to pursue his dreams of being an actor, kills himself after his father pulls him from the production. The very last scene may be one of the most powerful of any film I’ve ever seen (once again, a matter of perspective):

 

The message all along is to be extraordinary, to live a life full of meaning and to stand up for something…anything. The kids in Mr. Keating’s class got that message, a message Keating delivered to them and Williams delivered to us.

When we’re young, if we’re lucky, our parents tell us we can be whatever we want and encourage us to pursue our dreams. Williams lived an extraordinary life because he did what he loved and in doing so lived a hundred different lives and brought so much joy to so many. He also left behind a legacy through his films that will live on long after all of us, and a legacy with his family that they will cherish forever.

As humans living our allotted time on this earth I believe we all hope to leave a little of ourselves behind for future generations. Be it the works we complete, our children, or even just the smallest phrase or combination of words. As writers, and regardless of how many people actually read our stuff, we are officially writers (Our shiz (not that shiz) is on the I-net), we hope that our words resonate with someone, that somehow someone learns something and passes the message on to someone else. We don’t care how this message travels, just that it does and that the meaning is remembered. The individuals who wrote the very beautiful words that Robin Williams delivered may not get the recognition that Williams himself got, but the meaning has been delivered, and the medium (Williams) has made those words more powerful than ever. “The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Words which have been around for 100 years, delivered to a new generation whom will hopefully carry the message along and contribute their own verse as well. Words, the medium, the man…Robin Williams, you will be missed, but never forgotten.

A couple of days after Williams passing one of my friends tagged me in a post about 14 Life Lessons learned from Robin Williams, here’s the link, but the message from my friend was that it reminded her of our #BDandLLHappyDays that we (at least Mike and I) have been attempting to do here…what a compliment. Something that we have been doing got put in the same category with something this great man did…maybe our message is finally catching on!

One final link you might want to check out is this event that was put forth in memory of Robin Williams and also to help those battling depression. I’m no stranger to depression myself but an event such as this really shows how by doing for others, we can really feel better about ourselves and the world as a whole.

I’m sure I’ll get back to my drunken debauchery that you all enjoy reading about before long, but this is our medium to deliver our message…our verse, and today I decided to use it to remember a fine actor who definitely played a part in shaping me into the person I’m slowly developing. Now go watch Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, Good Morning Vietnam, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, and all of the great films this man made in his lifetime! Take the message from Hook, and don’t forget the kid in you and to live a life worth living!

Until next time!