--- title: Robin Williams Dead: Why Millennials Love Him description: To the generation of kids who grew up on his movies, Williams was a revelation, a teacher and a lifeline canonical: https://time.com/3103255/robin-williams-dead-millennial-hero/ author: Megan Gibson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-12T18:50:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:33.045Z og:title: Why Robin Williams Was a Millennial Hero og:description: To the generation of kids who grew up on his movies, Williams was a revelation, a teacher and a lifeline og:url: https://time.com/3103255/robin-williams-dead-millennial-hero/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt144809d76a42e87a/69869f383617609eb390d6bd/299949_full.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1000 og:image:height: 563 og:image:alt: MSDHOOK EC005 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Robin Williams Was a Millennial Hero twitter:description: To the generation of kids who grew up on his movies, Williams was a revelation, a teacher and a lifeline twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt144809d76a42e87a/69869f383617609eb390d6bd/299949_full.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Robin Williams Was a Millennial Hero > Sponsored content. 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TriStar Pictures by [Megan Gibson](https://time.com/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson Aug 12, 2014 6:50 PM UTC It might seem ridiculous for a generation to claim a universally loved celebrity as their own, but if there was ever a Millennial hero, it was Robin Williams. The news that Williams had died, at the age of 63, hit the world like a shockwave yesterday. For many older Millennials, like me, who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, the loss strikes as a particularly hard blow. Williams’ career spanned five decades, but his best films, many of which were for kids, were released when we _were_ kids. As a result, his work became entwined with our childhoods — and how we felt about comedy and art and divorce and growing up — in a way that’s evident now with the overwhelming outpouring of love for him. I was born in 1984 and, sadly, missed out on the [staggeringly popular _Mork and Mindy_](http://time.com/3102128/robin-williams-dead-mork-remembrance/). No matter: my earliest experience with Robin Williams was _Aladdin_ at the age of eight and it was wonderful. I didn’t know enough about Williams at that age to recognize his particular style of comedy at the time; all I knew is that I adored the Genie. It was the first Disney movie I properly loved. My sister and I watched it over and over and quoted it constantly (a particularly annoying Millennial habit, I know). It was my first taste of Robin Williams, but it was only the beginning. A year later, _Mrs. Doubtfire_ was released, which saw Williams playing a divorced dad who poses as an elderly woman nanny so that he can spend more time with his children. It is insane, but Williams embraces the role so fully, with such sincerity and devotion, that it’s no wonder it’s routinely included amongst his best work. But what made the movie so important to me — and the kids of my generation — was that in spite of how over-the-top the scenario was, Williams didn’t oversell it. Just because it was a children’s movie didn’t mean he wasn’t going to put his best comedy chops into it. Having rewatched it for the first time in years just a few months ago, I can honestly say that it is just as funny now as it was back in 1993. Beyond the laughs, for kids with divorced parents locked in an ongoing custody battle — kids like me, that is— _Mrs. Doubtfire_ was a real comfort, without being after-school-special cheesey. Don’t get me wrong: there was heart in it. But it was a movie with a message that didn’t look or feel like a movie with a message. It feels almost corny to say this now but at the time I needed reassurance that no matter how ugly the divorce was, my parents had nothing but love for me. Williams, who never panders to his onscreen kids or the kids in the audience, seemed to _get it_, and that was a rare thing. Throughout the ’90s, Williams took on roles in kids’ movies that have stuck in our minds and culture: Peter in _Hook;_ Alan Parrish in _Jumanji;_ Professor Philip Brainard in _Flubber;_ Andrew Martin in _Bicentennial Man._ Williams embraced roles in family movies unlike almost any other actor I can think of and in turn, we embraced his films. To this day my husband— also Millennial, though a British one— still raves about how much he loves _Hook_. (Not _loved_. Loves.) Obviously not all of his films carried the emotional weight that _Mrs. Doubtfire_ did for me, but there was always something that deeply resonated. The 1996 film _Jack_ — wherein Williams plays a 10-year-old boy with a genetic disorder that makes his body age very quickly — was widely panned by critics. Yet it was one of the movies that struck a chord with my best friend, who sobbed so hard while watching the VHS tape that her mother had to turn it off. But it stayed with her. Last night, nearly 20 years after she first saw the movie, my best friend sent me a text in the middle of the night that simply said, “Thinking of the movie _Jack_.” But it wasn’t just the kids’ movies that we Millennials adored. I first saw both 1997’s _Good Will Hunting_ and 1989’s _Dead Poets Society_ around the same time, just when I was about to start high school. I was just entering my angsty, teenage years and the last thing I was susceptible to was an idealist mentor-type, even if it was played by a beloved actor. But Williams’ Dr. Sean Maguire, a counselor who becomes a father-figure to the troubled title character in _Good Will Hunting_, punctured even my teenage gloom. He wasn’t jokey, he wasn’t zany, he wasn’t any of the things I had come to associate with Robin Williams, but his warmth was wholly recognizable and I was in awe. And then there’s _Dead Poets Society_, one of the ultimate teenage movies and Millennials just lucked out that it was available by the time we were coming of age. Though I was only five when _Poets_ hit theaters, the film enjoyed cult status among kids throughout the ’90s. The movie’s plot, which centers on a conservative boys school where a radical teacher works against the system to inspire his students, is hardly original and I knew that even back then. But the zeal and honesty that Williams poured into John Keating almost single-handedly elevated the movie from a cliché to an actual inspiration. Like any teenager, I was a bit disillusioned by school in general, but books and learning and truth were still things that could lure me and Williams’ Keating made a great case for them. To this day, I still can’t resist Williams’ line, “But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” Yet even with the years of cinematic evidence, I didn’t quite realize how much of an influence Williams had on my generation until today. When I woke up this morning, every single Facebook status in my News Feed and every single trending topic on Twitter— two clear indicators of Millennial mindsets — were related to Williams. Everyone seemed to have their own personal memory about watching his films growing up. He was the teacher we always wanted, the baby-sitter we would have loved, the best friend who knew exactly how to make us laugh. It feels like I have always known that Robin Williams was an amazing actor, but I never understood just _how_ amazing. Because looking back on it, I realize that his best roles didn’t define him — they helped define us. ## Transcript Good morning Vietnam! Hello! Welcome back. [ MUSIC ] Help me. [ INAUDIBLE ] Remember me, Mork from Ork? You once called me the nutso from outer space? [ MUSIC ] [ LAUGH ] Big kisses. Look at this thing. Look, Flipper! [ LAUGH ] [ LAUGH ] [ BLEEP ] [ LAUGH ] [ BLEEP ]. Oh, yeah! Oh, you just seem like the only normal person around here. I love this guy! You ain't never had a friend like me. Yes sir, we pride ourselves on service. That's right, learn to become a redneck in your spare time. Just kidding. Wanting to be in America. Don't ask for green card. Follow me. Ow! It's Flubber! I just wanna thank Reynolds Tobacco people. [ LAUGH ] Graham Norton you better not put that up on a camera! [ LAUGH ] I'll **** slap your big **** around the stadium. [ LAUGH ] For God's sake pinky down! Ow! All right make your fingers like I am, all right? Yeah, and stop trembling. Hold the knife boldly! Yes! You sure, you sure you're okay? I'm fine. What is this? It's, it's fuzzy. You so jealous. Just a moment. I hear people wanting something. Me! Golf is one of the few sports where a white man can dress like a black **** and not look bad. You know what I'm saying? What am I? I'm Popeye the sailor. [ MUSIC ] [ LAUGH ] I know. But it's okay. That's really [ INAUDIBLE ]. How much money have we raised? [ LAUGH ] So, I pee in a bag. P- U! Good God, was that you? Uh- huh. Look at me. [ NOISE ]. Be gone. Be gone. [ CROSSTALK ] That was gross. Boys you must strive to find your own voice. [ MUSIC ] Annie! I wont be distant. I'll come back in the morning and I'll call ya if you let me. [ MUSIC ] But I still don't drink coffee. You don't know about real loss. Cause that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself.. He's fighting Mrs Lowe. He's losing. Seize the day gather ye rosebuds while ye may [ MUSIC ] Seize the day eyes make your lives extraordinary. It was an honor serving you sir. Hey I'm sorry. Good day. I just flew in from a biology lab. I'm back and I'm flapping free! Seeing as how the VP is such a VIP shouldn't we keep the PC on the QT because if the leak's in the VC he could end up MIA and then we'd all be put on KP. And I know many of you have been looking for Sarah Palin's book. It is a **** to find, good luck. [ LAUGH ] I found it somewhere between fiction and non- fiction in the fantasy aisle. [ LAUGH ] For my first question. [ LAUGH ] [ LAUGH ] This is for $ 5. [ MUSIC ] Fosse, Fosse, Fosse. You do Martha Graham, Martha Graham. [ LAUGH ] I do a great impression of a hot dog. Thank you, boys, thank you. 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