FAREWELL TO THEE MONTEGUE

"SUICIDE IS A PERMANENT SOLUTION

TO A TEMPORARY PROBLEM."

                                           Phil Donahue

      The line between genius and insanity is a fine one.  Robin Williams walked that line all his life.  As close to the great comics of the past as our generation has produced.

     Normally I am not a celebrity watcher and what goes on in Hollywood is nothing near reality for me.  I never understood how people in the news could be such a point of interest for so many people.

      It is not that I am humorless or beyond being entertained.  There are many entertainers that I have wanted to meet and many that I know.  I guess that I separate the performance from the reality, and many people don't. 

     I admire the true talents who can bring a crowd to the edge of their seats and then walk down the street and remain a genuine person who understands that the role is left on stage.

     The problems with great success is that there is always the need to achieve greater success.  Always continuing the role, it is so easy to take yourself seriously and have real pressure in your life from non real things.

      Talent is a gift and what each person does with it is something that is hard to define.  Try as I might I cannot get the fingers to walk the neck of an instrument and get what I want.  I would give anything for that, but have to deal with what I have.  Very seldom does the talent come without hours of practice.

     What a shame that Mr. Williams had the demons that plague many talented geniuses.  Those who have the demons fighting over whatever they have can relate to what he went through.  To come to the point of taking your own life leaves no winners at all.

     Perceptions are awful when pain is involved.  The loss of a loved one to suicide is one thing that haunts.  Death is a normal part of life and it is hard enough to contend with.  Suicide takes a part out of the heart that never heals.

     There is no answer now.  No chance to change, contend, or grow.  It is not that I cannot understand what he may have gone through the devils are plentiful in the world and very few have not been affected by them.

     I don't get to the movies often and so most are on the TV.  I felt that the true talent of Robin Williams was over shadowed by those who wanted to use his talent in ways they thought best and not let him seek his true roles.  In the comedian is a streak of drama and I felt that his best work was THE FISHER KING.  Robins use of his style in a tragic and dark story of insanity I thought was the best I have ever seen.  His character had you laughing and crying at the same time.

     That movie was a box office flop and not acclaimed by the movie establishment that still feels a comedian is not up to dramatic standards.  His series of sitcoms over the years were not successes either.  Who knows what lead up to the end.

     What I can say is what I would expect from his character from GOOD MORNING VIETNAM. 

     FAREWELL TO THEE MONTEGUE.