When I was around five years old, Flubber was released in Colombia. I remember I was so excited about it that I’m sure I cried at some point and begged my parents to take me to see it. On a side note, crying to go watch a movie was a common thing for me to do (I guess this is truly where this whole movie fan thing started). I’d do this almost every Saturday so my parents would take me to see movies like The Lion King, which I watched a record 17 times; keep in mind this was BACK THEN. With Flubber, I think it was the first time I remember watching 3D animation. All I know is that I wanted to hold whatever flubber was in my hands.
Around the same time, or probably when I was six or seven, I remember watching Jack on the TV. How could a grown man be a kid?! Was this possible!? I watched this movie more times than I can remember; the other day they were showing it on TV, and you bet I watched all of it. I have cried every single time during the scene of Jack and his friends graduating.
For Mrs. Doubtfire and Hook, I remember seeing both movies with my sister and watching them over and over; there wasn’t such a thing as skipping a rerun.
There are just so many movies with Robin Williams that I have enjoyed and have memories of watching from my childhood that to list them all wouldn’t really make a difference. I have seen them all and enjoyed them greatly, and as I got older, I kept on watching his movies.
When I heard the news last night, it hit me because I remembered the joy and the laughs I had when I watched Flubber or Jumanji in awe for the first time. I remembered how Patch Adams made patients smile; I remembered Jack’s friends waiting outside of his house and begged him to come out and play. All of these roles in a way didn’t shape my life per se, but stood with me as fond memories of those years.
It’s truly heartbreaking to know that someone that made so many people smile and had basically everything in life felt so sad that the only way to deal with the pain was to let go. Thank you for all the laughs, for all the smiles, for lighting up the screen every time you came on, for holding on to life as long as you could. We grew up with you, and now we say goodbye to you. We’ll miss you dearly.
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