After being dumbstruck by the news of Robin Williams' apparent suicide, my initial reaction was to compare his death to that of Kurt Cobain. I quickly realized that would be wrong of me. After all, unlike Cobain, Williams didn't leave behind a little child. Williams' kids are adults, and surely that makes all the difference, right?
All kidding aside, Williams was clearly a great talent, even if he sometimes took the easy road as an actor. He gave terrific performances in Moscow on the Hudson, The World According to Garp and The Fisher King. Additionally, Throbbing Python of Love may be one of the greatest stand-up comedy albums ever.
Put another way, it's not that I'm not a fan, just that I wonder if I'd be more or less sad if...
A) the (apparent) circumstances of his death were different.
...and...
B) this had happened before he made Patch Adams.
