Robin Williams
As if the death of the late, great actor, Robin Williams, wasn't devastating enough for both family and fans, it has now been reported that members of Westboro Church, based in Kansas, are planning on disturbing the memorial service held for Williams, for no reason other than their dislike towards one of his previous roles- the role of a gay man.
Westboro Church, based in Kansas, is infamous for its controversy, but letting its members make the effort to travel to the memorial service and interfere with it is not only disrespectful to the actors family, but completely out of order. Members of the church have announced over their official twitter page that they plan on picketing the memorial service and preaching the message "Repent or likewise perish".
Repent or likewise perish. Likewise perish.
Let's just take a look at Robin Williams and the person he.As an actor he was extremely versatile, and took on many wonderful roles for both children and adults to enjoy- Hook, Jimanji, Goodwill Hunting, Aladdin, The Birdcage and Mrs Doubtfire to name just a handful. His roles were always brought to life in such a magical way that they stayed with you long after you stopped watching. Furthermore, his roles were always so unique. In Hook, the role of Peter Pan, played by Williams, was transformed completely. No longer was Peter Pan a little boy who never grew up, but rather, an adult who still had a lot to learn before he could really grow up. In Mrs Doubtfire, Williams dressed as a woman twice his age in an act of desperation just so he could be with his children every day. In The Birdcage, he played a gay man, forced to conceal his sexuality to impress his daughter-in-law-to-be's parents.
Not only are his roles unique, but the latter are also extremely brave. Not many men have the confidence to dress as a woman, or act as a role that is not real for them e.g. a straight man acting as a gay one, but Williams pulled off both in true style, acting in a persuasive way that brought the characters to life.
Williams was also an incredible human being outside of his acting work. He participated in a lot of charity work, founding Comic Relief USA alongside Whoopie Goldberg and Billy Crystal. He also made benefit appearances to support many great causes, such as literacy and womens rights and was a regular on the USO circuit, where he would perform all around the world for soldiers. He has performed a Rolling Stones song in French for the charity 'Children's Promise' and started his own charity with his wife, The Windfall Foundation. More recently, he donated an extortionate amount of money to rebuilding the New Zealand city of Canterbury after the 2010 earthquake, and throughout all of this supported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Williams also invested a lot of time into supporting cancer patients. Not too long before his own death, he spent some time recording a special video for a young girl who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Williams sang to the girl and blew her a kiss- knocking something off of her bucket list before she died.
The death of such a well loved actor and such a selfless, caring man outside of his work has devastated such a huge amount of people- including Koko the gorilla who Williams spent a lot of time bonding with. Koko loved Williams' films and the pair spent a lot of time together, involving a lot of tickle fights! After being told through sign language that her 'dear friend' had passed away, Koko came close to tears and was 'very upset'. It is clear that Williams was deeply loved by animals and people alike.
So why are the members of the Westboro Baptist Church letting one role this man played, one role that this man played whilst doing so many other selfless deeds throughout his life- surely of which made him a worthy angel of God in a religious church-goers eyes- ruin his entire reputation? The members of the church are being nothing but rude and close minded. Yes, whilst everybody is entitled to an opinion on homosexuality, is anybody entitled to an opinion so important it gives them the right to ruin the memorial service of someone who has passed away? No. No one has an opinion important enough to do that.
The members of the church are preaching the message "Repent or likewise perish". Robin Williams was a wonderful actor, a selfless person- an incredible man. I can only hope I 'likewise perish' being half the person he was, leaving behind a memory as wonderful as his. R.I.P
Westboro Church, based in Kansas, is infamous for its controversy, but letting its members make the effort to travel to the memorial service and interfere with it is not only disrespectful to the actors family, but completely out of order. Members of the church have announced over their official twitter page that they plan on picketing the memorial service and preaching the message "Repent or likewise perish".
Repent or likewise perish. Likewise perish.
Let's just take a look at Robin Williams and the person he.As an actor he was extremely versatile, and took on many wonderful roles for both children and adults to enjoy- Hook, Jimanji, Goodwill Hunting, Aladdin, The Birdcage and Mrs Doubtfire to name just a handful. His roles were always brought to life in such a magical way that they stayed with you long after you stopped watching. Furthermore, his roles were always so unique. In Hook, the role of Peter Pan, played by Williams, was transformed completely. No longer was Peter Pan a little boy who never grew up, but rather, an adult who still had a lot to learn before he could really grow up. In Mrs Doubtfire, Williams dressed as a woman twice his age in an act of desperation just so he could be with his children every day. In The Birdcage, he played a gay man, forced to conceal his sexuality to impress his daughter-in-law-to-be's parents.
Not only are his roles unique, but the latter are also extremely brave. Not many men have the confidence to dress as a woman, or act as a role that is not real for them e.g. a straight man acting as a gay one, but Williams pulled off both in true style, acting in a persuasive way that brought the characters to life.
Williams was also an incredible human being outside of his acting work. He participated in a lot of charity work, founding Comic Relief USA alongside Whoopie Goldberg and Billy Crystal. He also made benefit appearances to support many great causes, such as literacy and womens rights and was a regular on the USO circuit, where he would perform all around the world for soldiers. He has performed a Rolling Stones song in French for the charity 'Children's Promise' and started his own charity with his wife, The Windfall Foundation. More recently, he donated an extortionate amount of money to rebuilding the New Zealand city of Canterbury after the 2010 earthquake, and throughout all of this supported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Williams also invested a lot of time into supporting cancer patients. Not too long before his own death, he spent some time recording a special video for a young girl who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Williams sang to the girl and blew her a kiss- knocking something off of her bucket list before she died.
The death of such a well loved actor and such a selfless, caring man outside of his work has devastated such a huge amount of people- including Koko the gorilla who Williams spent a lot of time bonding with. Koko loved Williams' films and the pair spent a lot of time together, involving a lot of tickle fights! After being told through sign language that her 'dear friend' had passed away, Koko came close to tears and was 'very upset'. It is clear that Williams was deeply loved by animals and people alike.
So why are the members of the Westboro Baptist Church letting one role this man played, one role that this man played whilst doing so many other selfless deeds throughout his life- surely of which made him a worthy angel of God in a religious church-goers eyes- ruin his entire reputation? The members of the church are being nothing but rude and close minded. Yes, whilst everybody is entitled to an opinion on homosexuality, is anybody entitled to an opinion so important it gives them the right to ruin the memorial service of someone who has passed away? No. No one has an opinion important enough to do that.
The members of the church are preaching the message "Repent or likewise perish". Robin Williams was a wonderful actor, a selfless person- an incredible man. I can only hope I 'likewise perish' being half the person he was, leaving behind a memory as wonderful as his. R.I.P
Comments
Post a Comment