Robbins Draws Inspiration From New York (Jaded Actor Pretends Greenwich Village Is "Working Class")

Yahoo! News ^ | October 20, 2003

[PJ-Comix]

NEW YORK - Tim Robbins says he drew inspiration from growing up in New York for his latest role in Clint Eastwood's movie "Mystic River."

Robbins was raised in New York City's Little Italy and Greenwich Village, playing with children from working class families.

"We'd play hockey in the streets after school. Working class families," Robbins said in an article for Sunday's edition of Newsday.

"Mystic River" tells the story of three childhood friends from a blue-collar Boston neighborhood — his co-stars are Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon — who are reunited by murder.

Robbins plays Dave Boyle, who was abducted and sexually abused as a boy. No one ever talked about it afterward.

In Dennis Lehane's book, which inspired the movie, Robbins said there's a great scene "about Dave's mother and father pretending that nothing ever happened — as if by pretending it didn't happen it would all go away."

Said Robbins: "And it says something about being a man, too, and working class, that you don't admit emotion. You don't cry. You can't be beaten. And it's such a strong ethic in those kinds of neighborhoods."

[PJ-Comix]

This is HILARIOUS! Tim Robbins wants people to forget that he was born and raised in the MOST BOHEMIAN place in the world---Greenwich Village. How does he do that? By pretending that somehow Greenwich Village is populated by "working class" people. Anybody out there ever been to Greenwich Village? When I visited NY as a kid, my dad used to take me to Greenwich Village so we could laugh at the weirdos. It was very entertaining. A typical sight would be a guy with blue eye shadow and a bikini walking his blue French Poodle or some drug crazed "poet" ranting meaningless line out loud.

Hey, Timmy Boy. Toledo, OH or Paducah, KY are "working class." Greenwich Village most definitely is NOT. All this is a pathetic attempt by Tim Robbins to rewrite his boyhood so he can make himself sound like he grew up in blue collar...ooops, I mean "working class"...surroundings.

Face the fact Timmy. You grew up in a freaky bohemian area that has NOTHING in common with blue collar locales.

[LenS]

Ah, but you have to understand, Tim's parents were Communists. Thus, by definition they were "working" class no matter where they lived or how they earned a living.

[FeliciaCat]

I dont know what the Village was like when Robbins was a kid, but now its one of the most expensive places to live in NYC. Alot of artsy cafe's and shops, alot of NYU kids and big tourist destination.

[PJ-Comix]

Here is the FIRST LINE from a Tim Robbins bio. It sure doesn't sound "working class" to me:

The son of folk-singer Gil Robbins, actor-writer-director Tim Robbins came of age on the LSD-drenched streets of NYC's Greenwich Village...

[PJ-Comix]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I just found more info about Tim Robbins' incredibly bourgeousie bohemian background. No wonder he wants to rewrite his boyhood history. Sorry, Timmy. You can't join the theater in Greenwich Village at the age of 12 then spend the next seven years as part of an acting troupe and then somehow pretend you had a blue collar (or "working class" as he puts it) background:

He was raised in New York City's Greenwich Village, where he first performed onstage with his father, folksinger Gil Robbins. At the age of 12, Robbins joined the Theater for the New City. He spent the next seven years as part of the acting troupe. At Stuyvesant High School, he joined the drama club, appearing on stage and also directing.

[Ribeye]

Robbins is a massive tool.

And Sarandon wears the tool belt.

[Ribeye]

Robbins is a massive tool.

And Sarandon wears the tool belt.

[Damocles]

At Stuyvesant High School...

You've got to be kidding me! Check out the alumni section of Stuy...

[KellyAdmirer]

Working class boys would have kicked Robbins' kid-actor butt. What a poseur.

[Damocles]

Stuy High School Alumni worth noting:

Dick Morris - Class of 1964

Jerrold Nadler - Class of 1965

James Cagney

Lucy Liu - Class of 1986

Paul Reiser - Class of 1973

Eric Holder - Class of 1969

[Damocles]

And one other

Thomas Sowell - Class of 1948

Sounds like a real working class kind of place...

[Cheapskate]

I suppose it could be consiered working class if you're a young boy trying to turn tricks or something.

[miss marmelstein]

I have no use for Robbins but certainly Little Italy in the 1940s and 1950s was distinctly working class Italian-American (today it is being swallowed up by Chinatown). I'm not sure about Greenwich Village - there were, of course, wealthy parts but also "bohemian" areas with low housing costs. I have no doubt he sat on the stoop or played stick ball with working class kids. So did I and I'm no man of the people.

[PJ-Comix]

I'm not sure about Greenwich Village - there were, of course, wealthy parts but also "bohemian" areas with low housing costs.

Robbins was born in 1958. When he was growing up in Greenwich Village it was already full of weirdos. It was DEFINITELY not an area full of blue collar types, unless you want to count the Village People. Didn't they have a cowboy, a construction worker, a cop, etc.?

[miss marmelstein]

But remember: there were rent control/stabilization laws at that time as there are today. The Village also has some pretty awful tenement buildings (as well as beautiful old townhouses). Many struggling, single people in publishing and the arts lived there although I don't know about stereotypical "working class" people - laborers, factory workers, etc.

I think the Village People were a phenomenon out of L.A. - you know, Allen Carr's invention.

[pinz-n-needlez]

I grew up in Toledo, OH! Stop by and let me know, anybody, if you need some 'working class' wisdom. lol

Pinz

BTW, Jamie Farr, Danny Thomas, Joe E. Brown, and Gloria Steinem (yech!) also grew up in Toledo.

[B-Chan]

Mr. Fred Ladd, the man who gave us Gigantor, also hails from Toledo. Mud Hens forever!

[pinz-n-needlez]

lol Now my life has meaning. :-D

That investor guy who swindled folks out of $billions is from Toledo, too.

So many interesting folks have left the city, no wonder it is in such dire straights.

Thanks,
Pinz