In honor of World Suicide Prevention Day, the Majestic Theater hosted a Robin Williams tribute screening of the movie “Good Will Hunting” this past Thursday. The movie played as part of the Majestic’s Brew n’ View series, which as the name suggests provides a rare opportunity for die-hard movie fans to get soused while watching their favorite classic films on a big screen.
I most certainly qualify as a “die-hard fan” of “Good Will Hunting.” By rough estimate, I’ve seen it 50 times, though the number may actually be higher. I took a trip to Boston last spring with no definite plans other than “sit on the park bench where Robin Williams gives the monologue.” I once recited an entire scene of the movie from memory on a first date. It was not even an important scene. There was no second date. I am obsessed.
Despite my love for the work being shown, I was worried about the Brew n’ View. Robin Williams’ suicide cast a dark shadow on the event. This is a celebrity death that no one saw coming, one that struck thousands of fans on an incredibly personal level. Coupled with the soundtrack by Elliott Smith, another artist who died by his own hand, the event had the potential to be too sad to handle. As the event approached, I pictured a sad screen reflected in watery eyes, accompanied by loud moaning and heads buried in shoulders.
This could not have been further from the case. The audience was not somber, but joyful. College girls and young professionals alike sipped $6 beers, laughed at every joke, and quoted their favorite lines. They cheered when Matt Damon asked, “How do you like them apples?” They laughed at the sex jokes, the “sandwich welfare” bit, and a hundred other lines that, after more than 50 viewings, I had forgotten were even jokes.
When you see a movie enough times, you stop being surprised. Every line becomes symbolic. You spend so much time with the film that understanding its subtleties becomes a very serious matter. Being so personally invested in a work of art can make you lose your sense of humor about it.
The purpose of the Brew n’ View was to honor the death of Robin Williams. Ironically, it was this same event that made me remember “Good Will Hunting” is actually a funny movie. By casting a comic in the role of a psychologist, the producers captured a much wider range of human emotion than just sadness.
Though it takes courage, perhaps this is the same way we should look back on the career of Robin Williams. Though he struggled with depression and problems of substance abuse, he was also joyous and helped bring laughter to millions in a career spanning almost 40 years. He was a profoundly funny man, and we would be doing him a disservice to remember him by only the tragedy of his end.
