I am a big X-Men fan and so I was really excited to hear that the new X-Men movie First Class was going to be released in a few months. The film industry spend millions on marketing and building up a huge hype proclaiming that "this will be the best movie of the year!" or something hyperbolic like that.
However, when I mentioned how keen I was to watch the movie, many friends said that it's not going to be good – even though they had not watched it yet since it was not even out in theatres. But they were adamant and loud in their opinions and advice that I should not watch it; that I should stick to movies that they recommended or liked. I did find some good reviews on Google that said "actually it was not a bad movie"; “it's an exciting and thrilling movie" and "that it went in a new direction than the previous three X-Men”. But who do you trust? The minority that says that its okay to watch this movie as you may like it or the vast loud majority that claim that X-Men: First Class was intolerable and Matthew Vaughn should be hung for directing such a bad film. So I end up thinking that maybe I shouldn't even bother watching it.
But what if I did watch the movie? What if I watched it and I liked it? Everyone is saying this movie is bad yet I liked it. Does that make me weird? Different? Abnormal? Strange? Everyone will probably say that I have a bad or odd taste in movies and I don't know what I am talking about. They will probably stop inviting me to hang out with them as we don't have the same taste in movies.
You can read all the reviews and listen to what your peers have to say but, at the end of the day, you won't know what movie you like until you tried it. And while X-Men: First Class may not have lived up to the hype, my life didn't change that dramatically from watching it. Although I did have to hear "How could you like such a horrible movie" over and over.
Just like anything, it all depends on your personal taste and preference.
I like it when some scientists say that "homosexuality is a mutation" as it makes me feel that I am an X-Man.
Being gay is similar to movies and peoples opinions of them. There are many sources that insist that being gay is wrong. They claim that it's not natural, its defies Natural Moral Law, it upsets God, it's disgusting. It is all very distressing when you think about it. But it is society that makes a big deal out of it. Out of nothing, really.
Society dictates that if you are gay then you are a mistake. God's creation, yes, but with an anomalous result. Once a boy or a girl realises who they are, they are labelled as different, irregular and in some cases, a mistake. From my first thought of what it would be like to kiss a boy, my fear was that this made me different and being different meant that I would not be accepted into society and more important, my circle of friends. Not that I fancied any of them but I didn't want my being gay to define me or to be judged by that aspect of me. Could they not like me for me and not for my sexual preference?
The X-Men say that being a mutant does not make you any less of a human. And just like X-Men I am gifted with being different – I can either hide it and let it destroy me or accept who I am , stand proud and forgive those who hate me.
Society view what is different is automatically bad. In X-Men, Jubilee asks why people hate mutants and Storm replies "people fear what they do not understand". In X-Men: Days of Future Past, Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), sets out on a mission to study, unite the human race and to eradicate mutants from Earth because he feels they are dangerous. Similarly, you can find pages and pages of (mostly) unresearched and poorly written drivel on how evil and dangerous gays are. A case in point is Craig James speeches in Texas - proving how narrow minded society really is. And this attitude is not just directed at gays but at anyone who is perceived to be different.
Where is our Professor X who will show the Trasks of this world that, “yes we are different but we are not evil”.
God doesn't care. Why would He?
Because of one line in the Bible, many flaunt the argument that homosexuality offends God (Leviticus 20:13). I heard an argument (I think this oner was by the Westboro Church) which claims that the evil and suffering in the world today is God's way of punishing us because of certain choices some people make (homosexuality, Religious freedom, etc).
I cannot believe in a God that hates us because we are “loving thy neighbour”. Did Jesus not say "treat those how you would want to be treated"? So why does society not let people live their lives the way they want but require everyone to conform? What gives them the right to be the judge and the jury of what is normal or right? Why does two guys or two girls in a relationship threaten their status quo?
Who are we to pass God's judgement when we are all judged equally in God's eyes?
We have seen time and time again how narrow minded society and backwards thinking can lead to devastation. Hitler alienated Jews, Blacks, Gypsies, Gays, anyone who did not fit his idea of a perfect race. He claimed they were the devil, filthy vermin living off of the wealth of Germany. When in fact those Jews, Blacks, Gypsies, Gays, and anyone who didn't fit his Aryan world were just Germans, who because of a confused, angry society, lost their home and identity. Hitler corrupted the minds of millions of Germans with hate, many of whom did not even understand why they hated.
Lest We Forget
Once a year "#lestweforget" trends on social media worldwide. The hypocrisy is that while we remember those who have died, we conveniently forget the cause they were fighting for. They died fighting for our freedom to live as individuals, to not be persecuted or suppressed for personal choices, like sexual orientation and religious beliefs. But their death may have been in vain because the way some politicians and "humans" judge and hate others proves that we are still shackled to the ignorance and hate that dictates our culture and society.
