Robert Osborne

One year ago today, fans of classic film were hit by the sad news of Robert Osborne's passing.  Apparently one of the most well-liked human beings on the planet (I've never come across a single negative thing said about him), Mr. Osborne was a lifelong ambassador for classic film.  I knew him as the person who intro'd movies every night on TCM.

In watching his introductions, I was immediately struck by his intelligence.  Seeing him speak about old movies was probably one of my first encounters with someone treating film like something that could be taken seriously.  Another thing that nobody who had even a passing familiarity with him could miss was his love of the movies.  As someone who always felt like I ought to apologize for loving film as much as I do, Robert Osborne was a model of the thoughtful, intelligent fandom I wanted to exhibit.

Today, I've seen a lot of tributes to Mr. Osborne.  It might seem strange to the casual onlooker that so much digital ink is being spilled by film lovers over someone who wasn't even a filmmaker.  I think that view really misses the point, though, because the life of a film doesn't end with its release, and a film's post-release life is often as important as its initial run in theaters.

One of my favorite quotes from Before Sunset is the Ethan Hawke character's observation that "...a memory's never finished, if you really think about it."  Robert Osborne's legacy is one of championing, and contextualizing the films he brought to us.  He may not have made Casa Blanca or Gone With the Wind, but he was there to tell us why those movies are great and/or interesting and worthy of our time and to give us a little of the history behind them.  In that way, he became an important part of the "afterlife" of these films.  He kept them in our minds and was integral in framing our memories of them.  As with a memory, a movie's never really finished until we're done thinking of it, and the contribution of people like Mr. Osborne will be felt for decades to come.