Don't be weird
Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2024 11:00 am
This isn't a political post, but I'm using this example to prove a point. A few months ago, Minnesota Governor (and now Vice Presidential candidate) Tim Walz made headlines by referring multiple times to Donald Trump and JD Vance as "weird." Now he could have said all kinds of things about those two, including that they're both terrible candidates and repulsive human beings, and he would have been right. But for some reason, it was the word "WEIRD" that seems to have stuck in people's consciences. Why is that?
When I was in college back in the mid 1980s, a fellow student from my film class approached me and said he wanted me to be in his student film he was making. I barely knew the guy; we never hung out and I definitely did not consider us friends but I told him sure, I would help him out. He didn't tell me what the part was. I found out when I got there that I was to play a drive-thru attendant who gets shot in a robbery.
Years later, this guy's movie achieved some sort of cult status among independent films and even got a BluRay release. I got hold of a copy and watched my scene with the director's commentary track on. And the director and his commentary partner proceeded to laugh at me and the director said, "He was so weird! He was in my film classes and he was kind of a weird guy, and so I'm like 'Dude! I'm gonna rob you on film!'" Just for the record, I didn't mind playing that role, didn't consider it demeaning, and look back on appearing in the movie as a fun life moment.
But it was a bit disappointing to find out, years later, that the reason I was cast was essentially because the director considered me "weird" and he wanted to make me look bad in his movie. (BTW, on the commentary track, he called another actor a "cunt" and said nobody liked him and so he had instructed the actor playing opposite him to spit in his face in multiple takes on film, just to humiliate him.)
Oh, and here's a personal message for that director. I'd rather be weird than a fucking asshole.
When I was much younger, I remember talking to girls and saying something that they perceived as different and being dismissed by the words, "You're weird!" I was a kid then and didn't know how to handle the sting. Cruel words hurt. They diminish your self-worth and it's hard enough being a kid without feeling like you're a social outcast. Years have gone by and I'm in my 60s now but every time I think back to those days, it still hurts.
I guess I *am* weird. I'm a loner who lives by myself, I don't have a lot of friends, I even have sort of a weird job. And...wait for it...I have weird fetishes. Like everyone else here, my sexual proclivities aren't exactly what most would consider normal. Most porn...most NORMAL porn, involves women and men fucking. But I find that boring as hell. Instead, I seek out material where women are tied up, abused, tortured, raped. Pretty sick stuff for your average heterosexual man.
Of course, I'm not open about it in public. This is the only place where I feel comfortable talking about it. I did confide in my one-time girlfriend all my deep dark fantasies and she tried to keep an open mind, but eventually she told her sister and her family and I'm sure they all consider me weird, too. And I'm not really seeing my girlfriend any more, except as friends. We've drifted apart. Maybe I'm just too weird for her?
The bottom line is, I'm convinced that being "weird" is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you don't hurt anybody, but don't expect most people to accept or understand you. People are naturally going to be uncomfortable with anything they consider to be different from them. What is "normal" anyway? Being weird is much more interesting.
When I was in college back in the mid 1980s, a fellow student from my film class approached me and said he wanted me to be in his student film he was making. I barely knew the guy; we never hung out and I definitely did not consider us friends but I told him sure, I would help him out. He didn't tell me what the part was. I found out when I got there that I was to play a drive-thru attendant who gets shot in a robbery.
Years later, this guy's movie achieved some sort of cult status among independent films and even got a BluRay release. I got hold of a copy and watched my scene with the director's commentary track on. And the director and his commentary partner proceeded to laugh at me and the director said, "He was so weird! He was in my film classes and he was kind of a weird guy, and so I'm like 'Dude! I'm gonna rob you on film!'" Just for the record, I didn't mind playing that role, didn't consider it demeaning, and look back on appearing in the movie as a fun life moment.
But it was a bit disappointing to find out, years later, that the reason I was cast was essentially because the director considered me "weird" and he wanted to make me look bad in his movie. (BTW, on the commentary track, he called another actor a "cunt" and said nobody liked him and so he had instructed the actor playing opposite him to spit in his face in multiple takes on film, just to humiliate him.)
Oh, and here's a personal message for that director. I'd rather be weird than a fucking asshole.
When I was much younger, I remember talking to girls and saying something that they perceived as different and being dismissed by the words, "You're weird!" I was a kid then and didn't know how to handle the sting. Cruel words hurt. They diminish your self-worth and it's hard enough being a kid without feeling like you're a social outcast. Years have gone by and I'm in my 60s now but every time I think back to those days, it still hurts.
I guess I *am* weird. I'm a loner who lives by myself, I don't have a lot of friends, I even have sort of a weird job. And...wait for it...I have weird fetishes. Like everyone else here, my sexual proclivities aren't exactly what most would consider normal. Most porn...most NORMAL porn, involves women and men fucking. But I find that boring as hell. Instead, I seek out material where women are tied up, abused, tortured, raped. Pretty sick stuff for your average heterosexual man.
Of course, I'm not open about it in public. This is the only place where I feel comfortable talking about it. I did confide in my one-time girlfriend all my deep dark fantasies and she tried to keep an open mind, but eventually she told her sister and her family and I'm sure they all consider me weird, too. And I'm not really seeing my girlfriend any more, except as friends. We've drifted apart. Maybe I'm just too weird for her?
The bottom line is, I'm convinced that being "weird" is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you don't hurt anybody, but don't expect most people to accept or understand you. People are naturally going to be uncomfortable with anything they consider to be different from them. What is "normal" anyway? Being weird is much more interesting.
, and a vegetarian in a tribe of cannibals is weird because he likes carrots.
