Entertainment: Inspiration for Life's Strangest Moments

As a gay man, I used to have this need to identify with something other than myself. That may sound strange, but it's true. I was never entirely sure if I was living my life or someone else's. I suppose that might be due to the fact that for roughly 18 years, I lived 2 lives. One as a secretly fashion-loving fairy, and another as normal straight boy.

This is probably why I'm so addicted to movies like X-Men, Spider-Man, and Superman. I also watch a lot of Smallville (a TV series depicting the teenage life of Clark Kent before he donned the cape and tights). The characters in these shows are hidden from the world, and yet somehow they survive in it. They lead dual-lives, have secret identities and are special in their own little ways.

There were times when I used to dream that my life wasn't my own. That I was special in ways that others are not. Yeah, that's a big egotistical, but also fantastical (yes, that's a word). But when reality set in again, I found that I was not the only one of my "kind", there are others who were just like me. In fact, many young gay men identify very strongly with characters of this type because they are afraid to reveal themselves to the world. Comics in general, use this theme to draw in certain kinds of readers.

The reality of the situation was that the more I tried to identify with characters like Clark Kent and Peter Parker, the more isolated I felt. I wasn't like them, in fact, I'm perfectly normal and not powered by super-abilities. But still I tried. I day-dreamed my way through 18 years of duality. And even though those fantasies remained fantasies, my survival and endurance were real. I gained confidence and inner strength I never knew I had.

The world of entertainment exists for this very purpose. To make us feel like we have role models we can aspire to, people of character and strong moral judgement who rise above the oppression sustained by the general public's fear. These are we people look up to, idolized and revered.

When life throws you a curve ball, the easiest thing to do is retreat into a fictional world where nothing is real, and yet portrays characters in situations that often could be real. That is the magic of television. Which brings me to my point, that even though the worlds we see on the screen are made-up, they can inspire us to better ourselves and to rise above our own problems.