Roger Ebert
June 18, 1942-April 14, 2013
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| Roger Ebert |
Mr. Ebert was not only an extremely talented
critic, but he was also my idol. His wise words, humorous take on movies, well
thought out critiques, and dedication to the art of reviewing movies inspired
me. After reading my first review by him, the review for the recent horror
comedy smash Cabin in the Woods, I knew I wanted to do the same thing. From
that review and on I was hooked. I found myself looking at his old reviews and continuing
to follow up on his recent ones. One thing never changed and that was his
humor. It was a special, sarcastic brand that only a few got, and when you got
that humor there was no turning back. Each review was more thought out then the
other and you could tell that the man behind these articles was someone who
cared, someone who wanted you to know the truth behind the movies, and someone
who truly was just a simple movie man at heart. From his first review to the
last, his pride and love for the art shined throughout each article. Even when
ill, Ebert was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer, salivary cancer, and
other forms of cancer which resulted in his loss of speech, he never failed in
sharing his reviews with the world. Ebert’s success became widely known after
his show, “At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert” came out and after Siskel’s
death he began to host his own show, “Roger Ebert and the Movies”. In 2000,
however, Ebert finally found another host for his show in Richard Roeper. The
show was titled “At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper” and was a huge success.
During all of this he lost his speech during surgery and never recovered it,
but still kept his voice through his reviews and his loving wife, Chaz Ebert,
who translated his thoughts during presentations. One day before Ebert’s death,
he took to his blog to tell everyone he was diagnosed again with a form of
cancer and would be dialing back the amount of reviews he did for the sake of
his health. He told of his dreams to actually just review the movies he wanted to
review, but said that he would still be present in reviews. In the article on
his blog, the “Leave of Presence” sounded more like a farewell to good friends.
The article brings tears to my eyes, knowing these were some of the last words
written by my hero, but I do not fret. I know where ever he may be now; he is
still watching the movies he loves and looking down on us with a smile on his
face for all the up and coming critics who looked to him for inspiration. In my
career I hope to become half as successful as him and to tell people twenty
years from now when they ask who got me started on my path to becoming a critic,
I can say Ebert, Roger Ebert. Now just like his last words, I leave you all
with just a taste of Ebert. I look up from the laptop I am writing this from,
with a smile planted on my face and I say to you Mr. Ebert, “I’ll see you at
the movies.”
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