it gets better- critique two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeEunG9M2s0

“For LGBT and having a difficult time being whom you were born, if you’re in high school, if you’re in middle school, and you’re finding it difficult to go to school, to be excepted by your family, I’m here to tell you- it gets better. Not everything gets better...but most everything in life will get better- because you’ll be older, you’ll be wiser, you’ll have experience and if you’re in a really unpleasant situation, in a year in two years in three years in a few years you’ll be out of there. I know it may seem like a lot of time now but when you start to get older and your thirty-two like myself a year two year three years is not that long.”

Hilton’s video starts with a great message by saying “it gets better, [but] not everything gets better”. The way that Hilton says it in the video you can tell that he really does mean it, and is being truthful to whoever is watching this video. One problem with the videos is that they seem to talk about problems and then it gets better and there doesn’t seem to be any more issues. Hilton’s message is great because it’s the truth. Not everything gets better. Since Hilton is a celebrity more people will probably see his video instead of some random persons, like Henry’s. So this message of not everything getting better is great to broadcast to a wider audience.
I think that many older people will understand exactly what Hilton is talking about with time in this section. Two years can be a long time—especially for a younger person with fewer years on this planet. Hilton tells these kids probably what they’ve heard before, but it’s also the truth. They will eventually be out of high school. The environment will eventually cease to exist (for them). The same thing goes for living in your house—the individual person is much more responsible for this—they have to make it happen—but living at home does not last forever. You can eventually get out. Hilton doesn’t address what to do in the mean time while you’re waiting years to get out of school—which is a problem, maybe one he doesn’t even want to grapple with. It’s a depressing statement kind’ve, but Hilton’s message in this area is simply, these environments do not last forever, you will eventually get out of this, and in his opinion, that is when it gets better.


“Perez Hilton is very gay. And proud of it. So you should be proud of who you are because it’s not a choice to be who you are, you were made this way…So if you’re having a hard time, talk to someone, talk to a friend, talk to your parents if you feel you can, talk to a stranger, call a hotline, talk to somebody online, talk about your feelings because suicide is never the solution to difficult times—I have been there. I went through a point in my life where I was suicidal daily. I was so depressed and miserable, hating life. I felt like I was in a black tunnel and I saw no light at the end of it. I was thinking daily of how I would kill myself…But you know what got me through that? Time. Over the course of time my problem got better, things changed. I got fired from that job that I hated and it was a blessing. So things that you may be experiencing now that you think are bad, in hindsight, in the future, may turn out to be some of the best things that ever happened to you…So also, email me. My email is perez@perezhilton.com. If you need somebody to talk to, if you want advice, if you’re having a hard time, I am here for you. Okay? So know that you are special, and you are loved…and your life, and your spirit is of great value.”

Saying that someone should be proud of who they are is probably not helpful to the person. Especially when the person is dealing with abuse at home or school. At a time like that it’s like saying to the person that they should have be proud of something that, in their immediate world, everyone hates and is against. It would be very hard to feel proud of one’s self in that situation, and would take a lot of work. What Hilton says next is amazingly startling. He relates that he himself was once extremely suicidal. This takes a lot of personal strength—especially from a celebrity, whatever one thinks of his character. He states that for him, time, is what got him through that dark tunnel. Getting fired was a blessing. Who knew? Hilton touches on, maybe, a universal truth in this video. Things that are miserable, bad, really just heartbreaking, are maybe some of the things that will ever happen to you, paradoxically, because they propel you to places you otherwise would’ve never gone. The gift of pain is immense, a sunken valley, it's odd but it teaches you. But a lot can happen in that valley—eventually. Hilton ends by extending a hand out, and seems very genuine.