Robin Williams was a man who touched a lot of lives. Every year on the actor and comedian’s birthday and the anniversary of his death we see an outpouring of love that few other celebrities have received. But for those closest to Robin, like his daughter Zelda Williams, that same outpouring can be more than a little overwhelming. And she asked fans to stop sharing a viral impression of her late father.
Comedian Jamie Costa recently put together a video that is making the rounds on YouTube. It’s done in the form of “test footage” for a fictional Robin Williams biopic, and Costa plays Williams, in a scene where he learns about the death of his friend John Belushi. It is, without question, an impressively put together video, and equally impressive impression, but Zelda Williams is asking everybody to please stop sending it to her.
Guys, I’m only saying this because I don’t think it’ll stop until I acknowledge it… please, stop sending me the ‘test footage’. I’ve seen it. Jamie is SUPER talented, this isn’t against him, but y’all spamming me an impression of my late Dad on one of his saddest days is weird.October 12, 2021
It’s at the very least understandable why people would want to make sure Zelda Williams sees the video in question. It is dealing with her father after all. But the problem is that when everybody has the same thought, Williams gets flooded with the same video over and over again. And while she does compliment Costa’s talent, it is ultimately still a video that will remind her of what she’s lost, and also remind her of what her father lost when he was young.
Those sending the video to Zelda Williams likely don’t mean harm. They simply think, for obvious reasons, that she might find it interesting. But as she says in the initial tweet, she needs to say something or it will likely keep happening. She isn’t necessarily bothered by the people who are sending the video, she seems to understand that. But at the same time getting overwhelmed by this video is more than she needs to deal with and people need to consider her, not just her father.
I said nothing about cruel or rude. The clip made me uncomfy so I was asking kindly for folks to stop sending it to me over and over. Your love for Dad doesn’t mean I have to tolerate being bombarded in silence, and being projected upon can be pretty exhausting some days. https://t.co/l0hafSHrAoOctober 15, 2021
It’s not shocking to hear that the clip makes Zelda Williams uncomfortable. It’s another man pretending to be her dad, learning of a tragic death. It doesn’t matter how well put together the whole thing is or that intentions are not mean. Sometimes we just can’t deal with shit and when we can’t we shouldn’t have to.
It has to be more than a little exhausting being Zelda Williams sometimes. Millions of people who never met her father feel like they knew him, and sometimes that’s probably nice, and other times it gets to be too much.
It seems a foregone conclusion that we will get a Robin Williams biopic at some point. The man certainly led a unique life and he did so while making millions of fans who still clearly care about him. No matter how good such a movie might be, it will still take an emotional toll on those that truly knew him and loved him, and were loved by him.