Remember your place.....

Just like the rest of the world, I was shocked and saddened to hear of the news of Robin Williams' passing earlier this week.

He was an entertainment icon - he's been in our living rooms and in our theaters for decades.  The consummate funny-man - he made us laugh, and consider, and gave us the means to escape our own realities for a short while, over and over.  There was rarely a sound bite that didn't include some small amount of his special brand of humour.

But.

We did not know him, and I think that is a really important thing for all of us to keep in mind.

We knew his public persona.  We fell in love with his characters.  We nodded our heads in recognition (between laughs) at his insightful stand-up quips. We related to his self-professed struggles.

I'm sure that we caught a glimpse of the real Robin from time to time.  In every artist's work there is a glimpse of the artist.  Or at least, a glimpse of that part that the artist chooses to share with us.

Those small slivers, though, do not give us any kind of a real picture of the man.  I think that we do ourselves, and our entertainers, a huge disservice by assuming that we ever really know anything about them.

The entertainment industry is just that - it is a business, a machine, that creates a product for the public to buy, and use, for its entertainment.  No more than that.  The people who choose to practice their art publicly are doing that only - they are showing us their art, or at least the stuff that the machine deems fit for public consumption (and we certainly do eat it up).

But.

We don't know them.  We can't know them.  We are not in THEIR living rooms.  We are not in THEIR circle.  We do not belong there.  That is not our place.  We are not their intimates.  Frankly, outside of the art they choose to share with us, the persona they publicly present, they are none of our damn business.

Somehow we've lost the ability to see the line that separates the performance from the person doing the performing.  We've bought into an industry that makes us think that we know them.  "Enquiring minds want to know."  Inquiring minds have no business knowing, bottom line.

In a kinder, more reasonable society, we would have never known the "how" of Mr. Williams' passing.  His impressive body of work would not have been reduced by speculation and opinion, ad nauseum, of his state of mind, or his health (or lack thereof). More details are surely going to make their way into the public domain - more the pity.  We have no more right to be in the man's home now than we did when he was still living.

I am grateful to Robin Williams for his work - his ability to make me laugh, and cry, and ponder.  I am thankful that I am able to appreciate his art, his wit, his schtick.  He gave us, the public, so much during his life.

The least we can do at this time is honour his contributions by backing off and allowing his circle to say goodbye to him privately.  

The rest of us?  We can pop in a movie, or watch an episode, and appreciate the part of Robin Williams that was meant for us.