Robert Redford: Celebrating A Generous, Talented and Epic Life – Sandy & Cornelius 1
Satire Disclaimer
The following is a work of satire written in the voices of Sandy and Cornelius, two fictional contributors at Informer.Digital.
The sentiment, however, is sincere: this piece celebrates the life and legacy of Robert Redford.
SANDY (deadpan): Cornelius, do you ever notice how we save the stadium tributes for quarterbacks and pop stars, but never for the people who actually make life a little better?
CORNELIUS (gentle sigh): Sadly, yes. I doubt Robert Redford will be honored at halftime of Sunday’s football game, though perhaps he should be.
SANDY: Can you imagine? “Ladies and gentlemen, before the third quarter, please rise for a montage of Barefoot in the Park.” I’d buy a ticket just for that.
CORNELIUS (smiling faintly): Ah, but we can honor him in our own way. Robert Redford gave us more than enough material. He left us a treasure chest of films, performances, and even an entire festival devoted to independent voices.
SANDY: And he left us those five—or six—flights of stairs in Barefoot in the Park. Everyone who visits that apartment says it’s six because they count the stoop outside. Jane Fonda’s Corie insists it’s only five.
Robert Redford, meanwhile, looks like he’s auditioning for an Olympic climbing team every time he trudges up.
CORNELIUS: A minor architectural debate, perhaps, but symbolically fitting. Marriage itself is a bit like those stairs: exhausting, sometimes petty, but if you keep climbing, you might just reach something beautiful at the top.
SANDY: Or a hole in the skylight and no heat in February. But sure, let’s call it beautiful.
CORNELIUS (chuckling): Still, what lingers is the chemistry. Paul and Corie Bratter—the buttoned-up lawyer and the free-spirited wife.
Two young actors, perfectly balanced. Fonda’s spark, Robert Redford’s restraint.
Watching it now, one realizes how extraordinary it was that Robert Redford would go on to not only be a star but a director, a producer, a founder of Sundance, a champion of independent cinema.
SANDY: Right. Most people would have been content being just devastatingly handsome in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Not Robert Redford. He had to go and build an entire institution for filmmakers who couldn’t get past Hollywood’s velvet rope. Show-off.
CORNELIUS (smiling): He was, in the most admirable way.
Robert Redford directed Ordinary People, which won him an Academy Award. He starred in All the President’s Men and helped an entire nation understand the value of truth-telling. And still, he never stopped carving out space for new artists at Sundance.
SANDY: And yet, if you want to pay tribute to Robert Redford tonight, you don’t need Oscars or political thrillers. You need two hours, a streaming app, and maybe a blanket.
Barefoot in the Park is on Pluto TV for free. That’s your ticket to the memorial service.
CORNELIUS (softly): Yes.
No stadium lights, no arena silence.
Just laughter, tenderness, and the memory of Robert Redford when it all began.
SANDY: Plus, you get Charles Boyer climbing through a window and Mildred Natwick stealing every scene as the mother.
Honestly, it’s worth watching even if you’ve never heard of Robert Redford—though if that’s the case, what rock have you been living under?
CORNELIUS: Eleven times you’ve said his name already, Sandy.
SANDY (smirking): And deservedly so. Robert Redford earned every repetition.
CORNELIUS: Indeed. Because his legacy isn’t just in the roles or the awards, but in the generosity.
In believing that stories matter, that voices deserve to be heard. Those other reasons why you remember someone. That is why Robert Redford is worth remembering.
SANDY: And the man could wear a suit better than anyone. Don’t forget that part of his legacy.
CORNELIUS (nodding): True. Even style can be a gift when it inspires.
SANDY (finishing, with rare warmth): So tonight, don’t wait for a football game tribute that will never come.
Just watch the silly little romantic comedy where Robert Redford and Jane Fonda made us all believe that love, in its chaos and sweetness, was worth the climb—five flights, six if you count the stoop, and every step still worth it.
Mike worked in the radio industry for 35 years which means sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, satirical, trash talking characters to remind you laughter is good for the soul! Let’s have some fun with entertainment, movies and TV, sports, budget food and games, lifestyle and we’ll get ridiculous.
