In Memoriam: Harold Ramis

Of all the different genres of film to create, I believe that comedies are the hardest to create. Humor has an ethereal quality that ebbs and flows as society changes. With that said, it's an amazing accomplishment to make a comedy film that is actually able to stand the test of time. Most comedians are lucky if they can perpetuate one joke, so no one could possibly mistake Harold Ramis's career as anything but pure skill and talent. Since the mid-1970s, Ramis had an immediate impact on popular culture. He was a member of the Second City comedy improv group that featured contemporaries like John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radnor. Moving from the stages of Chicago, to the radio with National Lampoon's Radio Hour, to the small screen with the pre-SNL sketch show SCTV, Ramis's unique combination of subversive social class commentary and blue, dorm room sensibilities could not be contained. Ramis's talents belonged on the big screen, and his first screenplay credit, National Lampoon's Animal House proved it with flying colors (or food).

Whether he was acting on screen, wielding a pen, or behind the camera, his charm permeated the movies he made. I wouldn't be surprised to still here people quoting Caddyshack 30 years from now. Every new generation will be treated to Ghostbusters. It will continue to be hard to not visualize the Griswold family's ridiculous adventures when driving in the car 8 hours to your long-awaited or dreaded destination. One of the most amazing qualities of the 4 films I've mentioned so far is their ability to make people laugh of different ages, genders, and cultures. Humor is fleeting, and audiences are fickle. When the zany humor of the 80's gave way to the cynical, snark of the 90's, Ramis was right on the cusp with the coffee-black film Groundhog Day. He even tried to transition into the current generation of comedians with the lackluster Year One, which ultimately just dreamed too big.

It's unfortunate that Ramis had to die of a disease that was so debilitating. He had to learn how to walk again but was yet again forced back into a chair. Autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis kills your blood vessels through chronic inflammation, so it slowly took away his legs. One thing that disease could never take away was his ability to laugh and to make others laugh, which are equally important in the comedy business. For an example of how amazing of a career he had, I haven't even mentioned his roles in making Meatballs, Stripes, Analyze This, and Multiplicity. Even his lesser films like Bedazzled, The Ice Harvest, and Year One have good qualities that just couldn't make an great whole. Harold Ramis, you will be missed.