This film portrayed Dr. Adams as a good-hearted, exuberant sort of fellow, but I'm curious whether this is an accurate depiction or if it's simply Robin Williams' personal touch. I heard a rumor (from one source) that the real Patch Adams isn't this amiable, but given his dedication to others I am highly doubtful of such an accusation. Has anyone heard talk on Patch's actual disposition? Thanks!
shareI can't say I've met the man, but one of my co-workers has spoken with him. He had called Dr. Adams several times in an attempt to establish some charity work, and after a couple of messages, Dr. Adams personally returned his phone call. My coworker reported that Dr. Adams was very courteous and friendly, and just the fact that he returns his calls personally says a lot IMO.
shareThanks for your reply! You're right, not many people in his position would take the time to return calls personally. I'm glad to hear it!
shareI have met him, and he is every bit as wonderful as the movie character. He's just not as much of a jokester as Williams portrayed him--I think that's reserved for when he's "in character."
Also, Williams doesn't look like him at all. Adams is tall and skinny, with waist-length hair.
Thanks to you, too! So you've actually met him? Wow! Well, I'm glad to hear it from first-hand reference. Waist-length hair, eh?
share[deleted]
Along with the other description, he always wears loud colorful clothes. His personality is very friendly and outgoing, he likes meeting and talking to people, but he tries to be more clown funny then joke funny.
shareYou might like these links:
http://www.patchadams.org (NOT the movie internet site)
http://www.therealpatchadams.com/
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
if you watch the special features on the dvd it gives a bit insight of who the real patch adams is
shareI have gotten 2 letters and 2 postcards from him and I got to talk to him on the phone one night last December. He sure seems a lot nicer than most people you'll probably ever meet, and he's funny too...it's hard to describe how he is because compared to a lot of people, he is certainly something else. He seems to be the least self-absorbed, or however you would put it, never thinking about himself, always putting others ahead of him. In fact, he told me that one of his sons who is 18 is going with him around the world being a clown with him. To me, Patch is certainly something else, and I wouldn't mind meeting him in person one day.
share
What do they teach you in medical school
Bio and physics are the basic rule
This golden crown is missing a jewel
Natural medicine's a potent tool
Vegetable juices and herbal tea's cool
They help in aiding your body's renewal
Everyone into the vitamin pool
A world that's holistic is for what I drool
Misinformation is nothing but cruel
Chemo is toxic and robs all your fuel
Love versus greed is a gigantic duel
Please stop feeding me corporate gruel.
Honestly, about 6 years ago i saw a news add on the real Adams. They gave an adress to write the man, so i did. He was great, very inspiring when he wrote back. I was impressed he found the time to write back to a 13 year old kid. He was really busy building a new wing to the hostpital. I still have the old letters too, written on large doctors notes.
Theres a time to live, but isnt it strange, as soon as your born your dieing.
This guy just spoke at my school and I didn't go to see him but my friend did. She said that he was funny, but he made some sort of comment at the end about Bush being worse than Hitler, and alot of people got up and walked out.
shareI assume you are referring to his speech at JMU, it is true he also called everyone in the military murderers. I lost just about all my respect for him after those comments. Yes he can be funny and has done a lot of good things but when he calls my friends and family murderers for no reason pisses me off. And to say Bush is worse than Hitler is just ignorant.
shareHe spoke at my school and his exact words were, "George Bush is worse than Hitler, and that's not an opinion." At least half of his speech was on his political beliefs, which got really old after a while. And when he took questions, he would somehow turn it against the American government and capitalism, even if it meant not answering the question entirely. I don't like Bush either, but I was still getting tired of it.
It's sad; he's had an interesting life and does so many wonderful things for people, but his obscession with politics just killed my interest.
bush is a idiot...
i agree that he is under stress and what ever but come on when katrina was though killing all he was doing was sitting on a beach relaxing.
yea, Bush definitely couldve stopped Katrina from happening, he shoulda got off that beach and told that mean hurricane to go away. people need to stop blaming the government/president for everything.
sharePatch Adams is a great doctor, for two simple reasons: intellectual insight, and the desire to save or help the lives of those around him.
A doctor such as Adams is dedicated to the preservation of live and happiness, and this entails peace, not war, wherever possible; care for those most in need above all, such as the sick and the poor; and a rapid and massive response to natural catastrophes for the sake of those involved.
I recognize that people get tired of hearing about it, but these same two motivations that drive Dr. Adams' work -- compassion and reason -- would almost inevitably predispose one to criticize the Bush policy in the way he has.
The war in Iraq, an oil-rich nation, and Bush's involvement in the oil business can hardly be coincidental, especially since Iraq, while in a sorry state, was not the worst-off or most potentially dangerous of nations; and it has cost many young lives on both sides, which had so much more to live for.
Bush's lowering of defense after entering office, and the allegation that he was warned in advance that the 9/11 attacks would occur, is also suspect.
His lowering of healthcare accessibility and social security for the elderly, his tax cuts which benefited the wealthy instead of the poor which needed it, and his lack of involvement in environmental preservation, especially since such threats as global warming have already been demonstrated by leading scientists, not to mention the slow response to those suffering in the hurricane aftermath, are all contrary to both reason and compassion.
It is therefore Dr. Adams' responsibility, as a man dedicated to helping peoples' lives, to criticize a leader which infringes on this principle. He is therefore correct: we need leaders who will help those in need and prevent destruction wherever possible, not the opposite. We need one who will live by the kinds of principles taught by such figures as Jesus Christ, not just one that purports to be spiritual in word alone. The actions determine the worth of the man.
How is he doing anything by going around to colleges and saying Bush is worse than Hitler? He has a right to criticize leaders, but how does this make him a better person? I can't believe the bone people have for this guy. I know he's a good doctor, but is he really comparable to Jesus Christ??
shareIncredible how given enough time, Americans can turn ANY kind of discussion into a political debate. I wonder if the same thing went on in the Roman Empire, pre-collapse.
shareI have the feeling it did; even the Roman writer Ovid decided to end his "Metamorphoses" (hardly a political fable) with a sly praise to the Caesars. And in earlier Greek times, Socrates -- essentially a renunciate moralist -- never failed to make a quip against the government of his time. And of course, history shows how even religions that were initially apolitical quickly turned into political instruments (compare Jesus' criticism of governmental heirarchy with the heirarchy of the church a few centuries later).
I think it's because everyone wants the world run THEIR way! (Plus, discussing ways for the world to be run is kind of fun!)
So, what was this discussion board about again?
(Hmm, come to think of it, I just realized that Cato the Younger and his contemporaneous Stoic politicians are a much better example, since they lived in Roman republican times while Socrates and Ovid did not. While Stoicism began as strictly apolitical (its founder Zeno was an anarchist), Stoics of Roman republican times began to become deeply involved in politics. Not to bore anyone, just wanted to correct myself!)
share[deleted]
Are you severely retarded?
Soldiers KILL PEOPLE. OF COURSE they are murderers, what else would they be because of their actions? Just because you agree with their cause doesn't take away from the FACT that they end other peoples lives at the commands of a leader.
You just make yourself sound brainwashed when you can't even acknowledge the reality of the matter.
[deleted]
He was in my country (el salvador) like 8 years ago, he visited our only hospital for children and did some charity, he even learned how to make salvadorean tortillas
"For now, I just want to say it was a blast -- absolutely exhilarating and exhausting. This was only my second year (Roger's 38th, I believe), and I met some of the most brilliant, interesting, warm, funny and articulate people I've ever encountered -- and one person who gave off such black-hole vibes I learned to flee whenever he entered the room. I've never had such an instantly negative reaction to someone in my entire life; my "phony-dar" went berzerk the moment he began to speak. Well, that's part of what makes the whole experience so fascinating. More later...
(OK, OK, I'll give you a clue: He's a fascistic "holistic healer," a stern, authoritarian autocrat with a messianic complex -- everybody's nightmare of a medical sociopath with delusions of grandeur. He claims that laughter is the best medicine, but comes across -- in public, at least -- as utterly humorless, angry, and interested in nothing but himself. He doesn't know how to listen, only to grandstand and boast and berate anyone and everyone who fails to pay sufficient obeisance to his mammoth ego, his self-proclaimed selflessness, and his inerrant wonderfulness. It's as if John Wayne Gacy thought he was the Dalai Lama. And, yes, there was a movie about him a while back.)
(P.S. In fairness: I haven't met Kim Jong Il or Sean Hannity, so I suppose awfulness is relative.)"
?????
"For now, I just want to say it was a blast -- absolutely exhilarating and exhausting. This was only my second year (Roger's 38th, I believe), and I met some of the most brilliant, interesting, warm, funny and articulate people I've ever encountered -- and one person who gave off such black-hole vibes I learned to flee whenever he entered the room. I've never had such an instantly negative reaction to someone in my entire life; my "phony-dar" went berzerk the moment he began to speak. Well, that's part of what makes the whole experience so fascinating. More later...
(OK, OK, I'll give you a clue: He's a fascistic "holistic healer," a stern, authoritarian autocrat with a messianic complex -- everybody's nightmare of a medical sociopath with delusions of grandeur. He claims that laughter is the best medicine, but comes across -- in public, at least -- as utterly humorless, angry, and interested in nothing but himself. He doesn't know how to listen, only to grandstand and boast and berate anyone and everyone who fails to pay sufficient obeisance to his mammoth ego, his self-proclaimed selflessness, and his inerrant wonderfulness. It's as if John Wayne Gacy thought he was the Dalai Lama. And, yes, there was a movie about him a while back.)
(P.S. In fairness: I haven't met Kim Jong Il or Sean Hannity, so I suppose awfulness is relative.)"
?????
Yes! I met the real Patch Adams about a year ago. He came to speak at my college and I can say that he is a truly an amazing man. His whole being just changed the way I think. The movie portrays him well as far as crazy dress and personality goes. He often dies his hair different colors as well (like blue). He said he didn't like the movie just because it just showed one side of what he does. He travels across the world healing and helping people. He is truly an activist and he felt that the movie didn't really bring that out.
shareGlad to hear it! BLUE hair -- now that's the second scientist/doctor I know of who regularly dyes their hair (the other being Polly Matzinger, of immunology's Danger Theory fame; I have no idea how to spell her name, but she's a pretty interesting person as well).
I guess that's a good thing, if someone's BETTER than the movie makes them look! Maybe he wasn't as involved in activism while he was in medical school -- but I guess they could have made a reference to it at some point.