Wilder’s death was somewhat of a surprise to the public, because we didn’t know he was sick. Because he purposely didn’t tell us. Because – ohhh, lord, the waterworks; they flow – he didn’t want kids to know. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease three years prior to his death, but, according to his nephew, he wanted to prevent children from knowing about the disease, because “he simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world.”
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Stop right there, because my heart just died. Here comes dat boi again, truly worrying about the well being of our children. He knew that you can’t simply look around and view paradise when Willy freaking Wonka is deteriorating in front of your eyes, or worse, his own. So he said nothing. So shines a good deed in a weary world.
#3. Leaving With a Lullaby
That brings me to the final circumstance (literally, as you’ll see) I want to share with you, because good deeds do not go unnoticed. Gene Wilder passed away holding the hands of his family, all of whom surrounded him in adoration.
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As he took his last breath, one of his favorite songs called to him from the music player, which was set to random. Wilder had met Ella Fitzgerald some years ago, and a picture of the two of them is one of his family’s most cherished possessions. And, as if the Universe reached out to bestow some sort of existential gift upon this man in return for those he gave to us, Ella crept her way through all those randomly queued songs and began to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow as he faded away.
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Stop crying for a second, and think of the parallels between his iconic character and that equally-iconic song. “Where troubles melt like lemon drops” – like candy – much unlike the Everlasting Gobstopper, which never melts and actually caused Wonka some significant troubles. It even parallels the lyrics of Pure Imagination: “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land that I heard of once, in a lullaby.” “Living there, you’ll be free if you truly wish to be.” “Someday I’ll wish upon a star.” “Hold your breath, make a wish, count to three.”
Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures
Music has an otherworldly way of sweeping us up over the rainbow in an instant. I think Wilder knew that too, because he wanted to find the child in all of us. He wanted us to dream, and imagine, and love, just like Wonka and Charlie did. He wanted us to make our own music, because he knew that we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams… and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.
UGLY. CRY. For the love of God, somebody please bring me a bottle of gin. I mean, candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.
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