After a very eventful weekend in the city, I was doing some admin(facebook) and had my iTunes on shuffle when up popped a song that makes me ashamed I have never really paid attention to the artist. the man in question is Bob Dylan and the song Times they are a changin" Its quite interesting how I discovered this song and why I was blown away by the excution of where it was used. Theres a reason why it works so well and with that comes a story…
Growing up in small town Benoni, South Africa in the 90's and being gay was hard. I was on the receiving end of insults, taunts, fists(not the porn kind) and spit. I felt my life was robbed of any "normality" because I did not play soccer or hang with the boys, it was lonely and confusing. I had few to turn to my friends were young and my family were going through a troubled marriage. I really had no one, I found myself lying in bed with tears filled with thoughts of just ending it all and asking why me? to the ceiling.
Who knew that one day a cartoon show on K-TV about super hero’s, which resulted in a 18 year old hobby, would be responsible for defining my beliefs and more importantly the man that I am today. I’m talking about The Uncanny X-men.
A bunch of mutants born different from Homo Superior who are feared and hated by the very same people they protect. Over the years of following their exploits, these men, woman, whites, blacks, American, Asian, Canadian, Russians, Germans, Irish, alien, were and still to this day my other family. This family gave me the ability be my own hero and give strength to those who need it.
The ideas of acceptance and fighting for what you believe in, is the same ideas found in Bob Dylans – Times they are a changing. So what a surprise was it when the opening sequence of Watchmen, a movie based on a comic book about super heroes in the 80’s, blasted me with slo motion shots creating a worlds history very close to ours and timeless message in the background. Its sad tho that my X-Men were not present in this but they were there in spirit.
Be a hero, understand, accept, help, change, believe.....
Watchmen - Minutemen intro from José Pedro Gomes on Vimeo.
Growing up in small town Benoni, South Africa in the 90's and being gay was hard. I was on the receiving end of insults, taunts, fists(not the porn kind) and spit. I felt my life was robbed of any "normality" because I did not play soccer or hang with the boys, it was lonely and confusing. I had few to turn to my friends were young and my family were going through a troubled marriage. I really had no one, I found myself lying in bed with tears filled with thoughts of just ending it all and asking why me? to the ceiling.
Who knew that one day a cartoon show on K-TV about super hero’s, which resulted in a 18 year old hobby, would be responsible for defining my beliefs and more importantly the man that I am today. I’m talking about The Uncanny X-men.
A bunch of mutants born different from Homo Superior who are feared and hated by the very same people they protect. Over the years of following their exploits, these men, woman, whites, blacks, American, Asian, Canadian, Russians, Germans, Irish, alien, were and still to this day my other family. This family gave me the ability be my own hero and give strength to those who need it.
The ideas of acceptance and fighting for what you believe in, is the same ideas found in Bob Dylans – Times they are a changing. So what a surprise was it when the opening sequence of Watchmen, a movie based on a comic book about super heroes in the 80’s, blasted me with slo motion shots creating a worlds history very close to ours and timeless message in the background. Its sad tho that my X-Men were not present in this but they were there in spirit.
Be a hero, understand, accept, help, change, believe.....
Watchmen - Minutemen intro from José Pedro Gomes on Vimeo.
So, I bought The Watchmen DVD on sale at Musica last week for their 2 for R100 sale, along with Tupac Resurrection, Dirty Dancing, and House of Flying Daggers. And when I woke up yesterday hung over from a long weekend I decided to watch it again. It is most definitely one of my favourite super hero/villain movie, because lets be honest they're all a little bit super hero and villain. I love the intro...and it made me fall in love with Bob Dylan's music yet again. Funny how our lives are kind of parallel! Matty you the best!
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