A few years ago I created a list of my favorite movies. In retrospect I see that so many of them had been written or produced by Rob Reiner, a truly brilliant and remarkable filmmaker. His movies ran the gamut of genre but they all seemed to have a common theme that celebrated the honor and goodness of people. From them I understood that Rob Reiner was a kind man who liked to laugh and celebrate the best of humanity with stories that tug at the heart.
Rob Reiner was only a year older than I am so I suppose that in many ways we were influenced by some of the same events as we were growing up. He was the son of Carl Reiner who literally blazed the trail of comedy in television during the early years. He too was a genius who brought so much joy into homes in the fifties and sixties. Then came All in the Family where Rob Reiner played the part of an idealistic and progressive Baby Boomer married to the daughter of the outrageously conservative and prejudiced Archie Bunker.
I don’t think I ever missed an episode of All in the Family and I certainly identified with Rob’s character known as “Meathead,” an insult constantly launched at him by his father-in-law who struggled to understand the progressive changes happening in his once comfortable and familiar world. The challenge of a future world in which we all strove to understand each other from “Meathead” versus the old prejudices of Archie kept us thinking and laughing because the plots were so real.
Rob went on to become one of the best filmmakers in Hollywood and along the way he demonstrated a loving understanding of the human condition. His characters were so memorable that they still ring true decades later. My granddaughter loves When Harry Met Sally as much as I did when it premiered decades ago. The classic The Princess Bride is as enduring as ever and watching it over and over never grows old. The Shawshank Redemption is a character study that remains real even as the years go.
I could go on and on and on about Rob Reiner’s incredible career but in the end I began to know him for his love of our country and his hopefulness that we would learn to respect one another and to protect freedoms no matter whether or not we agreed with our fellow Americans. He was a true American patriot who was always willing to call out those who would use their fears and prejudices to harm people who appeared to be different.
I struggled to understand how to use Twitter in the beginning but with some determination I became rather adept and even learned which people I wanted to follow. Rob Reiner quickly became one of those individuals. I appreciated his honesty and dedication to our nation.
There came a time when he tweeted memories of his father. I responded that I had enjoyed the humor of his father while sitting next to my father at the age of six while he roared with delight as he watched his favorite comedians on our television. In those early days the programming was so new and innovative and Rob’s dad was at the center of so much of it. I mentioned to Rob that my father died when I was eight but that all these many years later I still remember the joy he had in watching the shows that his father created. I have a vision of him laughing so hard that his belly jiggled.
To my surprise Rob took the time to quickly respond to my post and for a brief moment we went back and forth describing our fathers and how much we loved them. After that I saw that he had chosen to follow me and now and again he would pop onto my tweets and encourage me to keep my thoughts coming.
I was greatly saddened by the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife. It was doubly horrific because it appears that his son was the one who killed his parents. I learned that the son had struggled with drug addiction for years and that Rob had encouraged him to tell his story in a movie that he helped to produce. He believed that the film might help others who were enduring the tragedy of a family in chaos over addiction. It was so like Rob to be honest and to hope that in the telling of the story perhaps both his son and other sons and daughters might find ways to overcome the horror of such situations.
It was a dark Monday for me and so many across the globe. We had learned of the shooting at Brown University and the murders at a Jewish celebration in Australia. At the same time I was watching my ninety six year old father fight for life after being seriously injured in a fall. It was so much sadness to bear and yet Rob Reiner has left us all a legacy of films that suggest that even in the darkest moments there is hope in the innate goodness of the vast majority of people who travel through life in this world.
We have endured great loss in only a matter of days but Rob Reiner would remind us that if we look to our better natures we have the chance to turn things around. He was sure that in every tragedy there will always be a few good men or women to keep us aright.
Thank you, Rob Reiner, for the gift to the world you have been. May your memory be a blessing!
All It Takes Is A Little Love 