A Strange World Indeed
I keep a list of possible blog ideas in a folder in case nothing presents itself as “topic enough” in a timely, weekly manner. It’s not a secret, it just makes good sense. I haven’t yet had to dip into this idea pot but I thought for sure I would since I knew the majority of this week would be spent stationary while elevating my leg post knee surgery. Isolation and recovery doesn’t exactly place one in the lines of interesting goings-on.
Little did I know or expect that my pre-op surgical team would ease my anxiety by entering into conversations we had no way of knowing we’d be on the same side of.
As two nurses busied themselves with IVs and vitals one of them, I imagine to distract me, asked what it is I do when I’m not… having surgery. I found myself explaining to interested ears that I am working on a docuseries about LGBTQ+ representation in the media and before I could say any more we were in a full-fledged conversation surrounding the necessity of it and the ridiculousness of “Don’t Say Gay” bills. I found myself taken slightly aback at the passion being directed at me but it was refreshing and I listened.
I’m used to being the one having to sell this idea that the LGBTQ+ community deserves representation. I’ve developed the understanding that more often than not, I will be talking to someone who doesn’t “get it”, never has, and could very ignorantly get away with never having to. So I am often caught off guard when I am out of my comfort zone, say, in a hospital room, where there are no inklings or context clues into who I might be talking with. Last week I was pleasantly surprised as well as given a perspective that isn’t my own, to fight from.
One of my nurses asked if I had heard about the drama surrounding the teacher in Florida getting suspended for showing the movie Strange World to her class. I had and was equally furious about the situation. For a short recap: Strange World is an animated movie where a teenage boy tells his father that he is in love with another boy. There is no drama and this information changes absolutely nothing in the story. It is treated as it always should be, as normal. However, for that teacher in Florida where “Don’t Say Gay” is actually being enforced, things changed for her pretty dramatically.
Our conversation shifted to how happy she (my nurse) was to be able to show this movie to her young son and how things won’t be seen as normal until people start seeing representation depicted AS NORMAL. In that moment I was reminded that though the fight for LGBTQ+ representation is for those in the community it is also so important for those outside of it.
It is the quintessential scenario where unless you see something portrayed as normal then you’re not going to see it as such. As important as it is to see yourself represented I would agree that it is also integral that others see you represented. Especially with children. If in one's formative years you are only shown a select race, gender, class, sexuality, etc then that is how you will decide what is normal and what is… not.
There needs to be more media aimed at our youth that challenges the range of what normal looks like. It is the same story, really, as what we are fighting for. There needs to be diversity in the creative teams and writers rooms. We need large, influential companies to stand up and say that these stories and this representation matters. Queer stories need to be everyday stories, because they absolutely are every minute of every day stories.
