Chernabog_Rocks wrote:My friend has always said I'm a straight acting guy as well, I've never really understood what she meant by that....meh I'll take it as a good thing for now
Well, it's true that there's no such thing as straight or gay "acting." When you're just being yourself, you act however's in your nature.
Since we're all swapping stories- I'll tell mine.
When I was growing up- I was one of those rare cases of someone who didn't know what anything was. Nobody talked to me about anything. I was sort of taught (and not the, "sit down, son" type either) to figure things out on my own. So I did. As I started growing up- I observed people and things closely. I made acquaintance with a lot of people, got the jist of their stories, and got a lot of insight from a few people that seemed to connect all the other smaller pieces together.
Which meant basically, I didn't have a personality of my own. Except when it came to my interests. That's probably why I was never known as the Gay Guy where I grew up. I don't know if I was the only gay person where I went to school, but it sure seemed like it. Before I even knew what gay was, at this point I was still somewhat sheltered, I had already seen more boobs than most people (I was addicted to late night Cinemax and HBO, back in the days of course where they showed more horror and action and goofy comedy than bad softcore porn). And it just didn't do anything for me.
So of course, that's why I tell the conservatives constantly that you can't be programmed to be gay. Because by all accounts, I should be grown up straight, considering all the Schwarzenegger, horror, and heterosexual-aimed comedies I consumed as a young person. So if you can't be programmed- it's obviously natural. And therefore, not a sin in any way.
But whatever, I know we're talking about how gay or straight-acting a person is. I had 1 person ask me whether or not I was gay. Like a freaking total moron, the dickhead (sorry, kids) asked me in front of a large group of people. I said, "no." Because- hello! It was the mid-1990's. Matthew Shepard happened less than 2 years later. I was no fool. Besides, who's business was it?
When Coyote Ugly came out- I blasted it for the trash it was. And the reaction I got was, "why do you care, you're a guy- you should like girls dancing around in tight tops." So, keep that as a gauge for how "flamboyant" I was or wasn't.
As for how I dressed and how I acted... I was a huge Daria fan. I decided she as a character was so smart, she must have some point. So, I looked at the people around me and just decided to be different than them in all the right ways. So I hated trendy clothes (they're just clothes- why pay more for something that won't be trendy in a year?), peer-pressured activities (alcohol is a depressant- you
want to be depressed? / most of the people who smoke dope are trashier looking than Shaggy in Scooby Doo- you
want to look like that? / most people who vote for Republicans think women should have less rights and gays should have none- that's a dynamic we all deep down inside wish would change), and anything else that seemed profoundly pointless and stupid.
I guess most people saw me for who I wanted to be seen as- just a normal, schlubby guy. A nobody, who just happened to make a big impression on several people, and take many more by surprise. My Eight Grade Current-Events teacher once told me: "Of all the students I've ever had, you are the one I'll never forget." I could tell he meant that as a half-compliment, half-not exactly insult but not-at-all compliment. And he could not have said anything more perfect than that.
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