me at 14: wow, protagonists in media my age! how relateable!
me at 28: WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CHILD SOLDIERS? WHERE ARE ALL THE ADULTS? WHO LET THIS HAPPEN AND WHY ARE THEY NOT BEING PROSECUTED BY LAW WITHIN THESE FICTIONAL UNIVERSES
In the same vein:
Me at 14: oh protagonists that are 17-20-ish, they’re basically adults, right?
Me at 28: Oh my Gods you’re babies who left you in charge?!
Ariel: Daddy, I love him! Me at 14: Yeah, girl, you tell him! Me at 30:
the screenshots here are from near the end of the interview, which i think makes it even worse, because the interviewer listened to everything he’d said and still didn’t treat it very seriously. there are other parts where she seems very smart and intuitive, but then other times he’d say something like “i hate myself to death and feel like i’m an empty shell” and she’d just laugh and move on while i’m just like !!!
i was really impressed by how open he is about it though, even the “ugly” symptoms that aren’t really talked about normally — like how he said he used to lock himself in his apartment alone and drink and “bang on the walls” because he didn’t know how else to cope with all the pain he was in, and he even mentions hurting himself and talks about scars and refers to himself as a “masochist” and says a coworker once referred to him as “someone constantly trying to hurt himself.” the fact that he was able to talk about all this so openly, despite the reaction he got, was so impressive and amazing to me
it’s really heartbreaking though because he’s obviously never had the support he needs — at one point he mentions that the first person he ever opened up to about all the pain he was in (back in his mid-20s, when he says it was much worse) was a director who was considering hiring him, and he later found out that that director had told people she thought “someone like that” would be “too difficult” to work with, and it caused this rumor/pre-conceived notion about him to spread that affected the way his coworkers treated him. now that he’s famous and has had other work he’s literally known for how charming and nice he is to everyone, but at that point his coworkers all thought he was moody, pretentious, and rude and always avoided him on set because of this, all because he opened up about his severe depression to the wrong person
speakng of raising awareness: the movie he’s being interviewed for here is “silenced”, a film he initiated production of. it’s based on real events that happened at a school for deaf children, where kids were sexually abused for years by their teachers. of the six rapists, two received prison sentences (and were out within a year), while the others were freed immediately because the statute of limitations had expired - and all were reinstated at the school
gong yoo read about this a few years later and said to himself “what can i as an actor do to help,” and he made a movie about it. millions of people saw it and there was mass public outrage, and because of this movie the case was reopened, the school was shut down, the rapists got much harsher punishments, and a law named after the movie was passed that abolished the statute of limitations for all sex crimes against minors and disabled people
when they were making the movie, gong yoo was convinced by the director he’d found to star as a teacher who tries to help the victims, but at first he was hesitant (because before this he’d only been in romcoms and he thought he lacked the acting ability to pull off the emotional depth required for this subject) but he eventually agreed because he wanted to use his fame to bring attention to the events
like… i have nothing but admiration for this guy. gong yoo is incredible and i want the world to know
I hope his courage gives strength to other Koreans who are suffering from the same burden.
phrases like “you don’t owe anyone anything” and “relationships aren’t transactional” have the power to be used in ways that are very backwards and harmful
for example, no you don’t owe anyone anything in that if some creep is trying to get with you, you can block him without feeling bad. you don’t owe kindness to people who are transphobic or racist or bigoted.
but, you can’t use this as an excuse to fuck over people who have helped you. “you don’t owe anyone anything” isn’t an excuse to allow yourself to forget compassion and basic empathy, it isn’t an excuse for you to be an asshole just because you find it easier to be one
relationships aren’t transactional in that if your partner does something nice for you, you are indebted to them. they do these things because they love you; it is their choice to express love through these gestures
but they are transactional in that you both actively need to be putting time and care into the relationship. ignoring the dynamic of one person caring too much (and putting in excessive (emotional an literal) work and labor) while the other does nothing isn’t healthy. one person can’t solely take and the other person can’t solely give- that’s dangerous, and you can’t put the bandaid of “this isn’t transactional” over a relationship that is draining you in all capacities
i’m tired of seeing these things being misconstrued and used as an excuse to hurt people, while framing it as a way of taking care of yourself
in 2019 we’re not gonna purposely make ourselves sad anymore!!! no more looking at that blog bc you know it’ll make you sad! no more clicking on a link to a song that brings back bad memories or a post that reminds you of bad times just to make yourself feel bad!! we’re gonna start to love ourselves in 2019 and strive to be happy bitch!!!!!
Dads be like. I have trauma. I will never talk about or acknowledge this. One day u will come across a picture of my childhood and realize that I have a entire flesh and blood brother still alive who I have never mentioned or acknowledged. Anyway why dont you tell me anything about ur fucking life.
i was a hopeful one for 2k19 until yall told me theyre turning a one direction wattpad fic into a movie so. guess its another three hundred days of hell ahead
