Thursday, November 11, 2010

Glee deals with impressive content. It did so again this week.

Perhaps though its surprisingly substantial stories are lost in the bubblegum pop (and for the record, any show that can make a Katy Perry song sound incredibly sexy deserves a field of Emmys). But they are there, and for anybody who can relate to Kurt Hummel, there are shockingly familiar.



This past week dealt with romance - and that sense that romance doesn't exist for those who are anything other than straight. How painfully familiar. It also highlighted how useless allies are, because they are not gay. They can stand up to hatred, but they can never make a gay man feel normal - feel as though they belong with the rest of society - as though every thought that they have is just as valid as the thoughts that one's friends has.

And then Kurt Hummel meets Blaine. Suddenly he has an ally who, like him, knows the pain of everything. And everything is painful when you are gay, coming out of the closet, and incredibly lonely and isolated.

Last night I went out with a bunch of friends, all of them straight. Some of my best friends. And I felt isolated (despite them knowing that I am gay). At one point the thought crossed my mind that they were "holding me back from being me". How selfish of me, but is this possibly true...?

A friend who is gay is totally different than a friend who is straight...

Also, I hate the term "no homo." But, just like "that's so gay", one can always say "no hetero". I think....

1 comment:

  1. Neal, you've hit the nail on the head. Sure, friends are great, straight or otherwise. But, believe me, from my experience, there's no comparison between straight friends and gay friends. If you hung out with close gay friends, you'd be a very different person from who you are with your straight friends. You would know in your heart that you could be yourself completely and not be judged in the least for it. Among your straight friends, you are more inclined to act straight because, consciously or unconsciously, you are aware you could be thought of as less than them because of your sexual orientation. Does this make sense?
    Something to think about, anyway.
    Thanks for your honesty in this post. You gave me something to think about, too.

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