This morning I was scrolling through Facebook. I know. What a waste of time. But I did happen to find an article about Daniel Craig. Now, I happen to like him as an actor and I enjoy Bond films, so I thought, “Alrighty then, let’s see what this is about.” I was so sorry that I did. The entire article (I wish I had bothered to comment so that I could now go back and give the source, but I did not and cannot find it now) was about “evidence” that Daniel Craig is gay. The evidence consists of things like: He goes to gay bars. He has been seen kissing men. He has kissed men on screen. And so on.
I found myself completely disappointed in the article. It was full of a bunch of toxic masculinity perspectives. It did quote Craig as saying that he attends gay bars because they feel like a safer place to get together with friends than a regular bar where fights often occur. Valid point. He also was quoted as saying that he is known to kiss everyone as an expression of affection. Well, hopefully he gets their consent before doing that. And as to him kissing men on screen…well…he is an ACTOR. Very few actors who want to stay employed have not done that.
But apparently his marriage is destroyed by his attraction to men. What? Are you serious? If this were a woman being attracted to women would the marriage necessarily be destroyed or even reported on?
So now I am left wondering who actually cares? I know I don’t care if he is or is not attracted to men. I don’t even think that it is any of my business or anyone else’s business. Why is this…THIS…the thing that is being reported? Is this a smear campaign? And in this day and age of sexual liberation, what exactly is it supposed to be smearing? Click bait like this annoys me because you think you are going to be getting something of substance and instead you get trashy reporting such as this. I am not just saying this because I like Daniel Craig as an actor. This crappy stuff has been happening to many a celebrity, even those I cannot stand but do not feel deserve this to be done to them.
I think it is a sign of our times. I am surprised that, in 2022, the focus is still on things like this in the media. Yet I have also been acutely aware that our social media has been spiraling downward for some time. And what makes it do so are the keyboard warriors who think that they can say anything they like through the keyboard, when they would not dare even think of saying it to the person’s face. Those are total cowards. The cancel culture is taking over and it is up to others to make it stop. Common people are now living in fear of being cancelled in their communities. This is nothing more than a form of fascism. If you are not allowed to think, say or do things that are different from others, then there is no room for creativity or individuality. The next thing you know the religious right will be in charge of everything and we all know how much of a quick slide into hell that would be.
I encourage people to fight back. One of the best ways to do that is to stop caring about what others think about you. They do not walk in your shoes and therefore are not experts in any way when it comes to your life. People have often tried to challenge me on whether or not I care about what others think of me. They end up shocked that I do not care what THEY think of me and that the only ones I do care about in terms of their opinions of me are my dogs. People can just suck it. Yes, I do have a habit of rubbing people the wrong way with my comments of social media. Part of that is that they just don’t get my humor or my sarcasm. Part of that is that they don’t actually expect people to speak the truth to them, no matter how much the truth may hurt. They want to be coddled. Sorry, you have come to the wrong place if you are searching for a soother to suck on. You will not find it here.
Cancel me? Laughable. I will always find a way to have a voice. No matter what, my self-expression (something for which I have had to search for years) will not be tamed by anyone.
So when you come across articles like the one I just read, express your opinion. But make sure that the opinion is your own and not something that media or social media has spoon fed to you. Make your own grown up decisions. And then make them known.