06/03/2025
"Better Man": What Robbie Williams’ Story Teaches Us About Self-Worth
I recently watched Better Man, the new biopic about international music icon Robbie Williams—and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
While Robbie is best known in the U.S. for his hit song Angels, his global fame is staggering. He sold out stadiums, broke concert records, and captivated millions of fans. But behind the spotlight was a man quietly battling something far more powerful than fame could fix: his self-perception.
What made this film so deeply impactful was the visual metaphor it used to tell that story. Throughout much of Better Man, Robbie is portrayed with a CGI monkey face—an unmissable symbol of how he saw himself. While fans screamed his name and celebrated him as a superstar, he couldn’t feel it. He saw himself as “just a performing monkey.” Despite his success, his deep-rooted negative core beliefs told him he was never enough.
This, to me as a therapist, was one of the most striking and honest portrayals of the impact our internal beliefs have on our lives.
No amount of success, money, or admiration can heal the pain of not feeling worthy. And this is something I see often in my work: the disconnect between how the world sees someone and how they see themselves. What Better Man makes clear is that healing doesn't come from the outside in—it comes from the inside out.
If you struggle with feeling like a fraud, not good enough, or like you’re constantly “performing” for approval, you’re not alone. These are signs of negative core beliefs—deep stories we carry, often from early life, that tell us who we are (and usually, what we’re not). They’re painful, persistent, and powerful. But they are not permanent.
Therapy offers a space to examine and shift those beliefs. We work together to rewrite the script—to help you see yourself not as a monkey in the spotlight, but as a human being worthy of compassion, confidence, and peace.
If you’re ready to change the way you see yourself, I’d be honored to support you in that journey.
Because how you see yourself is what truly matters—and it can change.
Robin Green Gilman is a therapist in New York State. Robin is meeting with patients to see patients online and uses CBT and DBT techniques. She is currently accepting, Aetna, Cigna, Oscar, Oxford and United Health insurance. Please visit our site at RobinGreenGilman.net to make an appointment.
