In
20MALEGAYNYC,
filmmaker Blake Pruitt offers us a peek into the minds of a group of
gay New Yorkers in their early 20s. Pruitt, 19, had heard several gay
men say in passing, "I hate gay guys," and wanted to explore why, in an
age of unprecedented miracles in the courthouses of America, so many gay
men find themselves deeply at odds with each other out on the streets.
The film has just been accepted into the Johns Hopkins Film Festival.
First posted on Andrew Sullivan's
Daily Beast blog
in December 2012, the 10-minute-long compilation of video interviews
has since inspired hundreds of impassioned comments on that blog and on
websites like
Advocate.com and
NextMagazine.com.
Many of the responses take aim at the men's views on the desirability
of masculinity and femininity among gay men. The interviews suggested
that a masculine man is both the sexual prize and the personal ideal,
while a feminine man is not only sexually unwanted but sometimes
repulsive on a personal level.
One perplexed commenter rightfully noted that some of the
interviewees embody the very same feminine qualities that they so
despise in other men. Another commenter wrote, "They are all so
insufferable and self-hating." A contrasting voice rebutted, "Those of
you who are attacking these young men are only doing so because they are
speaking truths that are painful to you because they are so real."
Indeed, there are many soundbites in
20MALEGAYNYC that we
can roll our eyes at or brush off as culturally insignificant, but a
closer look at Pruitt's film reveals a selection of seemingly ordinary
men, each of whom is struggling to reconcile his beliefs about what
makes a man lovable with the reality of the man looking back at him in
the mirror.
This struggle is not uncommon; many gay men find their own qualities,
perhaps apparent to everyone else but them, extremely discomfiting in
other gay men. We slither in embarrassment for them or laugh uneasily
and toss snide remarks. Comments about
20MALEGAYNYC are full of this type of response, belying a self-righteous anger that simply does not coexist with self-awareness.
A self-aware man instead asks himself this challenging question and
affords himself the compassion to answer truthfully: "What qualities do I
find upsetting in other gay men, and do they reside in me?"
Author Simon Peter Fuller wrote, "What angers us in another person is
more often than not an unhealed aspect of ourselves. If we had already
resolved that particular issue, we would not be irritated by its
reflection back to us."
Often, a quality in someone else that provokes a deep, visceral
reaction has been within us all along, yet we choose to blame them
rather than admit that they've simply reminded us of our own dark
thoughts.
The saving grace of this "mirror" perspective is that the qualities
we so admire and desperately seek out in others have also been within us
all along. The sexiness, the strength, the confidence. They reveal
themselves when we dance to our favorite music when no one is watching
or think about being stars at our dream jobs. In exhilarating moments
like these we feel what it would be like to unleash the fullest possible
version of ourselves.
We are quick to disconnect from such images of glory, rejecting them
as fantasy or narcissism. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be sexy, strong
and deeply at peace with myself?" Looking at our mental list called
"Things About Me That I Need to Change Before I Can Be Happy," we
conclude that because of what we have done or have not done, we are
unworthy of the power that owning our sexiness, strength and confidence
would bring us. We have the fabulous qualities; we would just rather
that someone else own them for us. This is how many gay relationships
begin. And it's how many end; we may ultimately feel unworthy even to be
loved by someone who has the power we want for ourselves, so one way or
another, we unconsciously drive it out of our lives.
But it is not narcissistic or arrogant to think that you deserve an
amazing life. It is humble. The evolutionary impulse of the universe
effortlessly turns an acorn into an oak tree. It does the same thing
with a zygote, turning it into a fully functioning adult human. And this
evolutionary impulse wants to do the same thing with the circumstances
of your life: grow and expand them to their highest potential. We need
only get out of the way and allow the universe to do its job. When we
truly forgive ourselves, we automatically release the judgment we have
held toward others and humbly accept our rightful destiny as sexy,
strong, powerful children of the universe.
Of course, these life lessons apply to all human relationships, but a
gay man is on a spiritual fast-track to learn them, or at least he can
choose to see it that way. His primary relationship is with himself, and
all others are mirrors of it. An honest investigation of what irritates
him about or attracts him to another gay man can hasten his own quest
for personal power and authenticity.
The miraculous shift in perspective that begins to evolve your life
is going from saying, "I totally hate that guy," to asking, "What is he
showing me about myself?"
-- by
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-bach/the-gay-hate-mirror-disco_b_2950073.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=4103252,b=facebook
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