When we are younger, or of any age for that matter, and are looking for role models, inspiration, and hope, we latch on to a variety of positive things out there. They don't have to be gay, but may just be confident individuals, successful sports players, motivating actors, a really muscular model in the International Male catalog, or someone who is borderline normal just living their lives.
For the life of me, I would have never thought Slimer from Ghostbusters would be an inspiration to anyone. We all have something different that clicks with us and this is quite different. Read this excerpt from Horace Richdale's blog and see if you can understand where he's coming from.
For the first 28 years of my life, I was in denial of who I really was. I’d been attracted to people of my own gender since I was a little boy, but for years, I did everything in my power to muffle those feelings, to conceal my true identity out of fear that I’d be rejected by my loved ones and by society. But that all changed in 1984, when, on a whim, I decided to attend a screening of the action film Ghostbusters, where a fluorescent homosexual beast named Slimer oozed onto the screen and gave me the courage to be myself for the very first time.
If you’re unfamiliar, Slimer is a green, hairless teenager from space who loves eating garbage and is unabashed in his gayness. He flies around leaking his festive sour discharge wherever he goes, flaunting his queer identity—a kind of openness that, as a young man, I’d never before encountered.
When I first saw Slimer in Ghostbusters back in 1984, he was being chased by the film’s titular mercenaries, who were trying to capture him in a ghost cage. He was just out there, caroming naked and carefree through the halls of a fancy hotel, making no effort to cloak his homosexuality from a world that was hostile toward his lifestyle. He was so sassy and fearless! Instead of hiding or surrendering, he chose to confront his pursuers head-on, dousing one of the Ghostbusters in his lovely bodily gravy.
It was so inspiring to see someone gay like me putting himself on full display like that, especially since this was at the peak of the AIDS panic. For this glowing, wailing orb to simply be himself in a culture with so much anti-homosexual hysteria, it must’ve taken an unfathomable amount of bravery. It made me want to be brave. Surely, if Slimer could exhibit such confidence and strength at a time like that, then I could, at the very least, start being honest with myself about my own sexuality.
I was finally able to begin a process of inward acceptance, no longer trying to suppress the homosexual urges of my biological reality. But unlike the viscous, green power bottom who inspired me, I was still afraid to come out of the closet. Luckily, it wasn’t too much longer before Ghostbusters II came out, followed by a variety of Ghostbusters animated series. And whether he was on TV or the big screen, Slimer was always simply being himself—merrily devouring trash when there was plenty of normal food available, wildly spraying his private syrup at the slightest provocation, and, of course, being brazenly, unapologetically gay. Watching him emboldened me in ways I never thought possible, and eventually, I could no longer justify the lie I was living.
So, I came out of the closet. – www.clickhole.com
How did that turn out for blogger Horace Richdale? Head on over to www.clickhole.com to see how this story ends.
Do you see his case? The beauty is, you don't need to. And the beauty is clickhole.com is satire. It's all made up and just there for fun. But it does bring up a good point. We see a great deal of comments come across our messenger, on Facebook, and Twitter that "stop showing this person's videos" and "who the hell cares about that guy any more." The most recent being "stop with the crap. No one is interested in this child bride." I could point out the top three that many of our readers have an issue with, but the funny thing is, for all of those complaints, those three are responsible for the headlines people click the most. So for all those that could care less about this star or that star coming out and would rather never hear about that person again, someone may be thinking the same about who inspired you.
Whomever you polarize with, go with it. No matter if it is a "green power bottom" ghost from an 80's movie or if it is that video blogger that everyone cannot stand. Believe me, there are some well know people we share on here that I cannot stand. But I understand that they, being who they are, most likely are inspiring someone out there, just not you.
Do you have an off the wall fictional / real person or character that has inspired you to be yourself? Did someone help you come out of the closet? I've been trying to think of who inspired me to be me. My mother always comes to mind first, but for some reason the Tasmanian Devil pops into my head, too. I need to think about this one a little more.
Thanks again Horace for sharing your personal story, no matter how fictional it may be. It did get us thinking … it takes all kinds to make the world go round … and … there is inspiration everywhere. We definitely want to see what you blog next. Thanks for keeping it real entertaining.
Wanna play fill in the blank? " Gave Me The Courage I Needed To Accept My Homosexuality."
Who inspired you to be who you really are and come to terms with your sexuality?
Was it a real person? Was it a famous individual? Was it a fictional character?
Share below.