I have been feeling a push from Robin to watch his movie "Awakenings." I found it touching and deeply disturbing. Here is what he said about it.
"Kindness will prevail
no matter what challenges present themselves."
Ann: Robin, I watched “Awakenings” yesterday. Why did you send me in that direction? Robert Deniro’s Leonard was heartbreaking, and his tragedy has stayed with me, my soul weeping. Is this what the human condition must come to?
Robin Williams: Not at all, I am sorry that it hit that way. That movie is near and dear to my heart because it shows that the kindness of one person to another triumphs over any disease or affliction. This is what I tried so imperfectly to say and practice my whole life long. Certainly in my most undeserving moments I was its grateful recipient from some of the most unlikely sources.
It is of course easier to be kind when the responsibility does not lie with us, and this my life demonstrated over and over. Sometimes we simply cannot face up to what is asked of us.
But in this movie, Bobby De Niro shows us what can be achieved in the most unlikely circumstances. His sweetness, the real sweetness of his own soul and that of his character's, comes through undiluted, and the heroes and villains that he has played in so many films were, in my mind, forced to take a back seat to the power of his conviction of the strength, endurance and goodness of the human spirit. Bobby, in this world and the next, I salute you.
This is what I wanted you to see. This is what will prevail no matter what challenges present themselves. You have only to cut back your expectations of what feeds you, and you will find, as with those you and your dog work with in the nursing home, that there is more to life than achievement.
Ann: I loved your character. Was it hard to play such an introverted person?
RW: Not at all, except that I felt more exposed as my natural bent was to retreat. I loved "Dr. Sayer," his humor, his honesty, his errors, and his uncertainly. These are holy attributes that bring us to our Maker on bended knee. That is where I am now, and thank God for the little I was able to glean while living that the essence of the Divine is a kind heart. Enshrine it wherever you meet it, strive to become only that, and you will meet your Creator with a glad heart.
January 20, 2020