Haha, I was about to say the same thing, but checked the site (I often read in my e-mail) and it was fixed. I had just bought The Sundown Motel and I thought, “well, that’s a bummer” 😂
Late catching up on my reading, but thanks for this. My kids both attend an arts-focused K-12 school which is in all aspects a wonderfully accepting environment, and many kids (even young ones) have been able to express feelings about their identities that we never could have dreamed of back in our day (I turned 50 in September, so similar experience albeit in small-town Canada).
When I hear folks complaining about cultural feminization or the increasing visibility of transfolk, etc I just can't understand how they fail to see what's so obvious to me--that these kids have *always* been there, but in the absence of a supportive culture they've lived miserable lives, unable to be fully themselves. I hope the arrow of progress keeps pointing in the direction of compassion for our fellow humans, but reactionary bullshit like what's happening in Texas, the "gender critical" movement etc keeps me clear-eyed about the necessity to stand up for the future I want to see.
The global rise of right-wing populism is a huge factor; keeping people in their supposed proper roles seems to be an inevitable component of that kind of thinking. The Weimar Republic was pretty open and accepting of GLBT+ folk too, and we all know how that turned out.
"By the time I reached high school, it was very clear to me that there were no gay kids in any of my schools."
This wasn't just true in The South (TM). This was true in a good chunk of 80s High Schools all over the country. I suspect it was true even in places that did not vote Trump in 2016 or 2020 (though I grew up in a place that did). I vaguely recall meeting people in college who did NOT have an anti-gay HS experience like yours (and mine), but they were, to my perception, from rarefied privileged places.
I'm gonna lift one more quote because it also hits home: "I didn’t really understand how to maintain relationships over time, and I thought my entire job was to just fit in and get along."
Prior posts of yours made it clear you moved around a lot. It might not even require a LOT of moving, but that happens enough (could even be once or twice) and that feeling you describe really takes hold and runs deep.
Your pre-QUICK-BITES essay is very good, and I've shared it with my family already. Part of me wants you to unlock this one for the world, another part doesn't want my comments visible, and the rest of me knows that's not my decision anyway. Thank you.
I am very conflicted about Station Eleven. There are certain themes, scenes, and episodes that I am 1000% on board for, but it swung wildly for me to the point of wanting to flip the table. I've been on the other side of that equation enough times, loving something that takes the chance to be wildly idiosyncratic and which doesn't land in a big way with a wider populace, and so I would certainly never begrudge anyone their own personal experience with a piece of art like this. I'm glad it exists for those people that it directly speaks to even if I wasn't one of them this time.
No bold? Rough week! ;)
D'oh!
I fixed it on the archive. Big fat end of the night oops from me.
The video games got bolded, so there's something!
Haha, I was about to say the same thing, but checked the site (I often read in my e-mail) and it was fixed. I had just bought The Sundown Motel and I thought, “well, that’s a bummer” 😂
Late catching up on my reading, but thanks for this. My kids both attend an arts-focused K-12 school which is in all aspects a wonderfully accepting environment, and many kids (even young ones) have been able to express feelings about their identities that we never could have dreamed of back in our day (I turned 50 in September, so similar experience albeit in small-town Canada).
When I hear folks complaining about cultural feminization or the increasing visibility of transfolk, etc I just can't understand how they fail to see what's so obvious to me--that these kids have *always* been there, but in the absence of a supportive culture they've lived miserable lives, unable to be fully themselves. I hope the arrow of progress keeps pointing in the direction of compassion for our fellow humans, but reactionary bullshit like what's happening in Texas, the "gender critical" movement etc keeps me clear-eyed about the necessity to stand up for the future I want to see.
The global rise of right-wing populism is a huge factor; keeping people in their supposed proper roles seems to be an inevitable component of that kind of thinking. The Weimar Republic was pretty open and accepting of GLBT+ folk too, and we all know how that turned out.
"By the time I reached high school, it was very clear to me that there were no gay kids in any of my schools."
This wasn't just true in The South (TM). This was true in a good chunk of 80s High Schools all over the country. I suspect it was true even in places that did not vote Trump in 2016 or 2020 (though I grew up in a place that did). I vaguely recall meeting people in college who did NOT have an anti-gay HS experience like yours (and mine), but they were, to my perception, from rarefied privileged places.
I'm gonna lift one more quote because it also hits home: "I didn’t really understand how to maintain relationships over time, and I thought my entire job was to just fit in and get along."
Prior posts of yours made it clear you moved around a lot. It might not even require a LOT of moving, but that happens enough (could even be once or twice) and that feeling you describe really takes hold and runs deep.
Your pre-QUICK-BITES essay is very good, and I've shared it with my family already. Part of me wants you to unlock this one for the world, another part doesn't want my comments visible, and the rest of me knows that's not my decision anyway. Thank you.
I am very conflicted about Station Eleven. There are certain themes, scenes, and episodes that I am 1000% on board for, but it swung wildly for me to the point of wanting to flip the table. I've been on the other side of that equation enough times, loving something that takes the chance to be wildly idiosyncratic and which doesn't land in a big way with a wider populace, and so I would certainly never begrudge anyone their own personal experience with a piece of art like this. I'm glad it exists for those people that it directly speaks to even if I wasn't one of them this time.