Soulshine

“Why do nice people choose the wrong people to date,” asks Charlie. Mr. Anderson pauses briefly, then responds, “Well… We accept the love we think we deserve.” The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012 The film The Perks of Being a Wallflower is all about people (high schoolers to be exact) who think they don’t deserve love. Charlie, Sam, Patrick, Mary Elizabeth, Brad, Ponytail Derek: None of these people think they are deserving of real love. Charlie was sexually abused as a child by his Aunt Helen. She died in a tragic car accident as she was on her way to buy five year old Charlie a birthday present. He blames himself for her death and for the fact that she abused him. Sam was also sexually abused as a child by her father’s business partner. Since that time she has accepted sex from every creep who would have her.   Patrick is Sam’s gay step-brother. It’s the 1980s and being gay isn’t as acceptable as it is today. Patrick is bold enough to b...

There is photo that has recently gone viral on the internet. The photo shows two Middle Eastern men. The two men are holding individual small signs in their hands. The man on the left has a sign that says “I’m Jewish and I’m from Israel ,” and the man on the right has a sign that says “I’m Muslim and I’m from Palestine .” Together both men are holding a larger sign that says “Why can’t we all just get along.” And there’s a peace symbol at the top of the large sign. After studying the photo, I thought about how easy it would be to substitute so many other words onto their small signs. Instead of saying “I’m Muslim” and “I’m Jewish,” the small signs could also say "I'm White” and “I'm Black”-- Why can't we all just get along." Or they could say "I'm Gay,” “I'm Straight." Or "I'm American,” “I'm Iranian." Or "I'm Democrat,” “I'm R epublican."—“Why can’t we all just get along.” The list could go on an...