Andrew Robinson
Here at Dork Daily, it is our mission to be accepting of everyone. We love Pokemon, we love memes, we love Marvel, we love DC, we love horror movies, we love old movies, we love cartoons, we love theatre, we love music. Above all else, it is our mission to accept others for who they are, and allow them to truly be themselves.
Too often in this world, this mission that should be held by all is overlooked, scoffed at, and discarded.
We all strive for companionship, love, and meaningful relationships with others. We all want to be accepted; we all want to feel like we belong, and that our opinions matter to others.
Nothing is harder than when we are put down by someone; when we feel unloved, or unwanted. It is up to us – to our ability to make people besides ourselves feel loved – to not let people slip through the cracks. Today, our political climate, racial issues, and international affairs may lead to divide and rudeness that is both unnecessary and unloving. Amongst our children, things such as social media, kids’ insecurities growing up, and intense competition in grades, sports, and extracurricular activities can lead to behavior that results in the very best of us – the most innocent and loving of us – being left feeling alone and without a place in the world. The fact that this happens as often as it does is nothing short of a travesty, and it is on us to fix it. No one is exempt; no one is left without the responsibility of being a decent human being. “Watch carefully the magic that occurs when you give a person just enough comfort to be themselves,” an ancient philosopher named Atticus once stated. It is up to us all to do that; to be kind, caring, decent human beings.
Even in the screwed up climate of today – even in the oftentimes toxic environment that our children are forced to grow up in – we can still give everyone we meet the best chance to succeed by following these very simple ideals. We can still be a community.
What we consume as entertainment today can often be looked at as ripe with conflict. We find many television shows – Survivor, Game of Thrones, Shameless, etc. – to be entertaining largely because people are horrible to each other.
While there is nothing wrong with enjoying these shows – GoT and Shameless, in particular, are both fantastic – where we fail is in applying the wholesome messages of what we consume as entertainment to real life. We watch our favorite characters curse each other out, fight each other, and even kill. While the vast majority of us don’t go around engaging in physical altercations and Red Weddings, we still emulate these characters more so than we may want to readily admit. It very well may be hilarious to watch our favorite characters fight and yell at each other, but we fail to realize that said hilarity doesn’t translate to real life. It’s a double standard, yes, but the same things that are funny in Survivor, Shameless, and any other pieces of entertainment predicated on people being horrible to each other simply aren’t humorous in real life. In any form of entertainment, it is important to recognize the wholesome messages present, no matter what else may show up for comedic or dramatic purposes. Shameless, for instance, heavily promotes the importance of being there for one’s loved ones. This is the message that should be taken from the show – not that it’s funny to hear people – children, mainly – constantly curse each other out and tear each other down. We need to take the positive messages from our pieces of entertainment, and apply them to our daily lives.
Life is hard. #Analysis.
Things are almost never easy, and there are always obstacles to overcome. However, we are a community, and we need to pick each other up when we have fallen. What we are doing now, as a society, isn’t enough. What we’re doing right now can’t fly because people are getting lost, and people are getting hurt, and people are getting killed. No matter one’s religious beliefs or political ties, everyone should be able to agree on the point that humans are not meant to harm – either physically or emotionally – other humans. People were not put on this earth to quarrel, fight, and kill. Even shows like Black Mirror, which reminds fans stand-alone episode after stand-alone episode of how bleak the future looks, have moments such as in the universally-beloved “San Junipero” episode, when love and kindness take precedent. We are meant to love, and we are meant to be loved. We are not meant to emotionally scar and harm others yet, with the rise of social media, this culture has become more and more prevalent.
When others are in need, it is our job – our duty – to help them. Simply walking by and watching their struggles isn’t good enough. The Impossible tells the story of the devastating 2004 tsunami that swept the Indian Ocean, killing hundreds of thousands of people. What is most notable about the film is how willing nearly everyone is to help each other. They are all in a fight for survival, yet many of them are very willing to help each other in their greatest times of need. This is what we do not do nearly enough in 2018; this is what needs to be fixed as we enter a new calendar year. We focus on ourselves, and our own needs, with others being placed on the back-burner.
Even if it’s not on a large, natural disaster-esque scale, it is our job as human beings to be there for others in even the most seemingly-insignificant of ways because what seems insignificant to us may be what keeps them going.
Now, for the kids. Our innocent, beautiful children are being swept away by hatred and consumed by insecurities in their greatest times of need and emotional development. We can’t live our kids’ lives, and they will inevitably make their own mistakes, and deal with their own struggles. However, we can be there for them; we can show that we care, and will always be behind them. They may not want to talk about it; they may want to go to their rooms, play their video games, and slam their door on us. This doesn’t matter – we cannot get angry, nor can we get frustrated. We must remain present for them at all times, no matter how strenuous our relationship with them may become.
What we need to do is remember how difficult growing up was for us, and then multiply that by about ten to get to a level that today’s youth is dealing with. Social media and technological advancements have made some children even meaner, and have brought bullies out of the woodwork that may not have been present in a non-cell-phone age. Our youth needs love and support more than ever before, as the wonderfully awkward, hilarious, and heartbreaking film, Eighth Grade, illustrates. It is our job to let our children know that we are always there for them, even when they may be pushing us away. It is important to respect their boundaries and not push things, but to simply create an environment where they know that they can talk about anything – no matter how embarrassing or difficult – with us. As with our relationships with other adults, our relationships with our children need to be filled with love and acceptance. We are not doing a good enough job at being there for people in need, especially the youth, and we need to get to that point. What is happening all around the country in this regard right now is sickening, and it must change. It begins with us.
All things considered, we need to be a community. Here at Dork Daily, we embrace our dorkiness and our idiosyncrasies. This embracing of people different from oneself needs to be had throughout our entire society. As Jonathan Byers eludes to in the unmatched excellence of Stranger Things, normalcy has never accomplished anything. As a society, especially amongst the youth, we tend to make fun of people who don’t conform to “normal” attitudes and direction. This is absurd, heartbreaking, and results in suppression, loneliness, and depression. This should never, ever occur. No one should be suppressed, and the differences between people should be celebrated, not mocked.
Everyone has their own special strengths and, as stated earlier, we must allow people to be comfortable being themselves. Bullying, mocking, and otherwise making fun of people in a sad attempt to make ourselves feel better about our own lives is a disgusting act that needs to be banished forever.
This all begins with us, and it ends with us. We need to do better. We need to be a community again.
