#RememberingRobinWilliams: Awakenings

Who are the dead? Who are the living? There are people who live life to be happy and to share happiness. There are people who live to earn a living and feed their families at least three times a day. But there are some people who live in a vacuum--people whose lives are trapped in their own bodies--"living statues".

I was devastated when I couldn't find my CD of my favorite Robin Williams CD "What Dreams May Come", which was shared to me by my mentor Ms. Josephine Bonsol, and decided to borrow it in Video City. Instead I found the movie "Awakenings" (1990, directed by Penny Marshall) and I remember my class in English 11 where we analyzed one of Dr. Sayer's narrative on people with the "Sleeping Sickness". I cried a bucket of tears after watching the movie.

"What is it being like them? What are they thinking?" The epic and most dramatic movie of Robin Williams revolves around a new and socially-awkward doctor Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) who discovered the long-lost encephalitic patients who have been in a catatonic condition at most 40 years. He was trying to uncover the reasons and possibilities behind the mental illness and found out that even though they always seem to be catatonic and to be "living statues", they have this unique reflexes which can be manifested through the will of another person.

After evaluating patients with histories of Parkinsons' Disease and encephalitic conditions, Dr. Sayer was able to make a circle of group whom he would help to possibly recover from their basic state of mind--that is, he would help them bring back to the world after forty or more years. One of his patients, Leonard Lowe (Robert de Niro) was also catatonic after 30 years and Dr. Sayer began to run tests on the drug combinations for anti-Parkinsons and encephalitic medications to possibly see the light behind the empty eyes of his patients. At first, it worked well with Leonard after a small dosage and was able to communicate with others and write his name. After the successful experiments, he tried it to his other patients and yielded the same positive results. One of his patients, Lucy, was able to communicate again and talk to other people. It was a miracle at the time because the disease had been ignored for almost 50 years.

The conflict began when Leonard started to show signs of aggressiveness and paranoia and Parkinsons' disease--that is, the drug had its own side effects and may only last for a brief period of time. Despite this, the best times of the catatonic patients with the ever-patient Dr. Sayer had been the most memorable for both sides. Based on a true story by Oliver Sacks the story truly touches the heart of the people and reflects a win-win situation--Dr. Sayer was able to temporarily revive the patients and bring them back to the world that they know, while the patients taught him to have fun and interact and communicate with more people.

I will never forget how me and my twin sister and my dad laughed at the scene when Dr. Sayer was examining a woman patient and when he showed her his pen for the evaluation she began to be manically hysterical. I also cried when Leonard finally embraced her mom and called out her name after 30 years. I am deeply moved by the story because I can relate with the related mental illnesses that I am currently fighting as well. 

The theme of the movie is essentially about not giving up, the same theme in Robin Williams' 'What Dreams May Come'. Here are some of the unforgettable lines in the movie:

Memorable lines from Awakenings:

Dr. Sayer: His gaze is from the passing of bars so exhausted, that it doesn't hold a thing anymore. For him, it's as if there were thousands of bars and behind the thousands of bars no world. The sure stride of lithe, powerful steps, that around the smallest of circles turns, is like a dance of pure energy about a center, in which a great will stands numbed. Only occasionally, without a sound, do the covers of the eyes slide open-. An image rushes in, goes through the tensed silence of the frame- only to vanish, forever, in the heart.

Dr. Sayer: What I believe in is that these people are alive inside.

Dr. Sayer: I hope we'll bring him back to wherever he is. To the world.

Leonard Lowe: I'm Leonard Lowe. It has been explained to me that I've been away for quite some time now. I'm back. 

Dr. Sayer: They have to be reminded of the beauty of life, the simple things.

Leonard Lowe: I want to walk alone. I want to do the things that you people are taking for granted.

Dr. Sayer: Love is more powerful that the drug. That needs to be nourished. This is what we've forgotten.

We will always remember you, Robin Williams.