"Dad, this isn't a stage I'm going through. It's stage I'm living on!"
I'm all for ripping on Millennials, but I'm not sure I agree with this friend-of-a-friend. I think the desire for fame, recognition or attention has always been the same, it's just the playing field has been leveled for all of us who are not football players, thespians or beauty queens. What do you think?
12 comments:
I agree with the overall assessment, but there's another level to this. For years we - the older generation - have been saying we need to come out publically to encourage others and set roles models. How can we now fault them when they listened?
While I think the desire for fame may be inherent in humans, there no longer seems to be the desire to earn fame by having actually achieved something beyond the ability to set up a social media account.
This story has been going around all the gay blogs, and it saddens me with all the negative responses.
These kids posted their video on their YouTube account for their followers. Its Queerty, Joe, Towleroad, and the many others, including you Kenneth, who are reposting it, you who are making it larger than the original audience. And then complain when its you who are broadcasting it?
I am not in the target audience, having come out a decade before these twins were even born. Their audience is their aging age groups, 19 +/- 5 years. And for the 54,000 followers in that age group, it is a video of great emotion, addressing at the moment the biggest personal challenge they have faced in their lives.
I have not forgotten my fateful day and all the angst and fear faced. Nor that of my friend with whom I made a challenge pack to come out to our parents. My happiness crashed by his great unhappiness. And the stories of many friends.
Among these kids followers, their video will give aide and comfort to others who have yet to face this most important challenge. Congratulate them for that.
If you have the need to show anger and frustration, then get on the case of real enemies to equality -- the Tony Perkins and Bill Donahues and their ilk. Get on the case of those who still make it so tough on all of us, particularly our very young brave kids who now face being themselves.
These days it's all about instant gratification. This generation is obsessed with posts, followers, likes, etc. Some things should just remain private.
Every generation has probably felt that they live their lives on a stage at least since we've had the tools to describe it. I'd show the Shakespeare quote from "As You Like It" as one example. For something more recent, many of the characters from Doonesbury when it began narrated the events in their lives. In the analyses of that comic strip, most analysts considered that sort of narration to be a part of personal growth, which would eventually be discarded when the person "grew up."
The narcissism accusation is a different animal and its volume at least would best be blamed on the advance of technology for amplifying our voices and fears.
@Mike: I never posted it!
i'm sure it's a touching video, i'm happy for them and wish them the best, but i haven't watched the video, and i don't need to watch it - i don't know these guys.
social media makes it easy to keep in touch with friends and family, especially when it's over long distances, but some things should remain private. would a text with a pic not have worked to tell their friends? why shoot a movie?
I agree with that guy. What is the point of videotaping all of these happy and not-so happy moments? They are hoping/expecting for melodramatic reactions specifically to garner attention on social media. It's a little disingenuous (or, at best, naive) for people who get upset that their parents react negatively when those reactions are getting them the attention they are seeking. And those reactions must not be all that surprising if they have video cameras there anticipating them. "Look at me!", "Look at me!" It is nothing new (it reminds me of people who look at themselves crying in the mirror or who divulge deeply, dark personal facts to complete strangers.) But, like a virus it has mutated and is affecting everybody now. Those videotaped proposals are a different, though, similar animal. But at least those are capturing what they hope are the beginning of a beautiful life together.
No, not "everyone wants to be a celebrity", I'm quite happy to live my life online behind a fake screen name.
Apart from my age, I'm totally not the target audience for this type of thing. I don't think it's interesting in the slightest to know that someone went to dinner with friends last night or whatnot.
Everything old is new again... http://www.pbs.org/lanceloud/american/
Andy Warhol was right.
I got a lot of flack for posting this on my FB page and being critical, basically saying that these two weren't really interested in advancing understanding of the coming out process but really more interested in advancing their brand. I stand by what I originally said.
Here is the thing - even Stevie Wonder could see these two were red, hot flamers from a short glimpse of their Instagram or Youtube productions so I don't think the dad was terribly shocked nor do I think there was any real chance their dad would have had a negative reaction. This was just ... sad and phony.
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