Saturday, May 21, 2011
I'd recommend Nineteen Minutes to all bullies in this world, and that's how much I wish Sing You Home can extend to the homophobes within our society.
Yet the thing is, you can't get an American to read a CSC textbook and, likewise, a Chinaman to read any of Jodi Picoult's titles.
Bullies reading anti-bully prints? That's probably the end of the world.
Which is why there will be no end to such deviant acts.
And if you've read these 2 books, this "deviant" ain't tagged on a murderous nerd or a misplaced teenager or a gay couple. Instead, it's on the people who victimise the minority as though they haven't had enough frustrations of their own.
Imagine if you wake up to a world of exact opposites.
Where girls assume dominance; where popular kids turn into outcasts; where autism is the norm; where being straight becomes a sin; or where parents take on no role in the family.
Imagine that.
How are you going to face this foreign world for the rest of your forever?
Everyday, someone reminds you that you're weird and mocks you for that.
Sometimes, that someone can be your supposed friend.
Sometimes, that someone is youself.
You are not accepted by others.
You are not special, just abnormal.
Nerds/emos/autistic adults/gays are abnormal.
That's how people look at things.
But the thing is, are they really that different?
They still love their family and friends, and probably even more than an average Joe would, because it means everything to them.
Because they are afraid.
Afraid that they'd lose them, all of them, when they realise their 'abnormality', even if they've never planned to give it away.
The irony is, this shroud of secrecy prevents them from getting nearer, closer and true to their loved ones.
And it's not easy to live your secret life alone.
Especially if it's complicated to start with.
Next time, just think on behalf of them.
What if you're ugly, autistic, gay, emo, nerd, depressed, black or jewish?
And people look at you from the corner of their eyes, and snorts and struts away.
And finding all eyes on you, even if it may not be the case.
I am scared of eyeballs, aren't you?