There’s only so much humans can do in order to come to terms with the sudden loss of such a kind soul who was fighting so much darkness inside of him. Six years after a terrible tragedy that shook the world, the ingredients to Robin Williams’ inner tragic storm are still something many are trying to understand. A master of disguise, and a legendary genius, he was able to hide his inner turmoil up until his death.
On August 13th, 2014, three days after his passing, Williams’ widow Susan Schneider said that he had been battling early stages of Parkinson’s disease before his death. Later that year in November, the autopsy and coroner report indicated the presence of ‘diffuse Lewy body dementia’ in his brain; some clarity into the ‘perfect storm’ that went on that night. At the beginning of August this year, an Instagram profile was started announcing the September 1st iTunes release of “Robin’s Wish”. It features videos of several people from his life introducing the emotional documentary about Robin Williams’ final days. Rick Overton, who also saw a comic hero in Jonathan Winters, perfectly introduces the legend of Williams and the story of a tragedy of a soul gone too soon. “If you really study the detailed work -- the intricate psychological stuff he was doing -- you could see that this is a multifaceted artist here. A lot of people like to say ‘oh, he’s a funny man, Robin Williams’, but he was many great things. This man was really great things,” Overton states. He points out that we have to put as much focus on the beauty as on the tragedy of Williams. “They say ‘comedy is tragedy plus time’ but so is remedy, because the same buttons were hit, but for another set of reasons. In time we can laugh about things that we cried about. We found the remedy, and so hopefully we find the cures down the road because we care that much to do it. And now we know to care,” Overton concludes. A call for people to care more is needed in a time like this. The state of the world right now has shown us that love, empathy and understanding is desperately needed, as it was back when we lost an incredible human to suicide. In order to heal, humans must attempt to understand each other better in order to grow out of the darkness. “Make love, not war” as John and Yoko said. Robin Williams’ wish was to help people have less fear, because he knew very well how terrible it can feel, right until the very end. He’s inspired many young comedians, including Fahim Anwar who said Williams showed us that “stand-up could unlock your wildest dreams.” He made the unattainable seem attainable for all. We will never know if more love could have saved Robin, but his tragic death doesn’t mean his message of love (especially in the midst of fear) is gone; it lives within each and every soul he touched, and we must continue to spread that love he left in our hearts forever.“He wanted to help people feel less afraid, while battling inner turmoil. He was a freakin’ warrior,” Schneider. As the Captain wishes, it must be. To learn more about the documentary, visit https://www.robinswishfilm.com/ and @robinswishfilm on Instagram. ~Bertha Y. Iñiguez (I will be editing this further as the Documentary is released. I wrote a piece while in college, when we lost Robin. That is also being edited, as I have had more experiences in mental health since then. Stay tuned! Thanks.)
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