Robin Williams

Myths & Heroes in American Cinema: Robin Williams

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This year we have studied the notion entitled Myths and Heroes. To tackle this notion we spoke about the famous award-winning actor Robin Williams. He was considered as a hero and a legend in American cinema. Indeed, he was able to perform and embody any kind of character whether it is a funny one or a darker one.

As OBAMA said after Williams’ death: “Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a President, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan and everything in between. But he was one of a kind.” It would be interesting to point out his darker side and the fact that he was constantly wearing a mask. He was very good at making people laugh but he was struggling to find happiness. He was a kind of a sad-faced clown.

In a first time I will talk about Williams’ career and legacy. Then I will pay attention on Williams as a funny performer in the well-known motion picture called the Birdcage. I will finish my presentation with the film Mrs Doubtfire which was adapted from the novel of the same name. In this part I will focus on Williams’ gift for making people go from tears to laughter.

Premier film étudié: The Birdcage

The Trailer.

The 1st document seen in class is the trailer of « The Birdcage » which is a comedy, a remake of the French film « La cage aux folles » starring Robin Williams. The plot centers on / focuses on 2 very different families. On the one side, the Goldmans with R.Williams as the head of the household and his male partner who run a drag club. This family is very open-minded and unconventional. Their 20 year-old son is about to get married with a young woman who he met at school.
On the other side, the bride’s family (which is definitely miles away from the groom’s one) is very conservative and religious. Indeed, the dad is a right-wing republican senator. Eventually, the two families will have to meet before the wedding which will turn out to be very ludicrous.

Playing Straight / Acting Like a Man

The first extract that we studied in class is one of the most famous scene of the movie. As I already said the girl’s parents are very religious and very right-wing conservative people and they are about to meet the groom’s parents.

Albert thinks it’s too much to introduce him as his mother on the first meeting. Instead he wants to be introduced as a relative who dropped in –more precisely the uncle. For this, he’s gotta play it straight. Indeed his husband thinks he is a great performer and himself a great director. They have 5 hours to practice.

First they’re faking a family gathering. He needs to work on his posture and try to keep his pinkie down when he holds a glass.

Then, he needs to work on his demeanor and his gait. He wants him to walk like John Wayne who is a very tough bloke. But the thing is he looks ludicrous and completely silly.

The Dinner Party

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Deuxième film étudié: Mrs Doubtfire en comparaison avec le roman.

Trailer

The second movie studied in class starring Robin Williams is called Mrs.Doubtfire. It’s an adaptation of a very famous children’s book. The plot focuses on a dad who wants to get back with his wife and spend as much time as possible with his children. At the beginning, he just got fired but he used to be an actor who did voices for cartoons. So he’s unemployed and he is getting divorced with his wife. As a consequence, he moved out and he rents a very messy flat. He gives his kids delivery junk food.
Meanwhile, his ex-wife has a boyfriend and placed an ad for a housekeeper. So, he dresses up as an old lady and he puts up a British accent which sounds fake. He introduces himself as the new housekeeper. However, he still has a demeanor which gives himself.

The Opening Scene

The opening scene introduces the main characters that is to say Robin Williams called Daniel in the movie and his three children . He’s picking his children up from school to surprise his son for his birthday because he just turned 12. It was very unexpected because he was supposed to be at work. However, he just got fired even if he pretends that he quits. He’s going to throw a party at home behind his wife’s back. They have four hours before she comes back home. Meanwhile Miranda who is at work receives a call from a grumpy neighbor -who lives next door - about the complete mess which is happening at her house. So the cops were called for a noise ordinance violation.
So when the wife comes back a few minutes later she finds out the damage. She is very furious, pissed off and mental. Her husband is getting on her nerves because he is behaving like a teenager. She thinks he’s not responsible and reliable enough.

The Parent's Fight After the Party

In the previous document seen in class, Robin Williams was seen as a funny and joyful performer who is very talented at making us laugh. However, in this extract it is totally the opposite. Williams (Daniel) is having a big, serious (grave) and loud argument/fight/quarrel. His wife is head-over-heels and she is completely furious. She is fed-up with Daniel’s childish demeanor because she thinks she can’t trust him/rely on him. She can’t cope with him anymore. She no longer can stand him. He wants to make up for it and he wants to patch everything up. He suggests a family therapist, vacations or even to move out.
Nevertheless, she thinks that they have nothing in common and that they haven’t taken the same path. She says it’s too late and she makes it clear that she wants a divorce.
This scene is very emotional and Williams is very good/talented/skilled at conveying an emotion. It is even sadder because the kids are witnessing the whole scene.

On the other hand, their children see their dad as the very cool one who is down with his kids.
The couple might have an argument/ quarrel/fight which is going to lead their marriage to its doom.