Spring Cleaning
by Matthew Chase

Well Happy Easter everyone! I hope that the holiday weekend was a success, and that everyone filled up on Jelly Beans and family! I myself worked through the holiday, but I don’t mind because this holiday, for me, marks the true beginning of spring! I am really looking forward to warmer weather, and flowers and all the wonderful changes that mean summer is not far behind!

Easter has always been a holiday that I have trouble remembering, though as a child, I remember waking up before the sun, coming downstairs and finding an Easter basket placed on the table with candies and usually a nice pair of dress socks. (Why is it always socks???) I would always get a hollow chocolate bunny as well. I remember one year the bunnies were EasterKitty236w.jpgmissing and there was a note from the Easter Bunny, telling my brothers and I that this year he had hid the bunnies somewhere in the house and we had to find them! I found two out of three bunnies that year. One I found hidden underneath a cushion on the couch, the other was slyly on the bookshelf masquerading as a novel. I can’t for the life of me remember where the third Bunny was or who found it. I wonder if one of my two brothers knows where it had been… I also have a vivid memory of going through my Easter basket while my mother was fixing dinner in the kitchen, it was dark out and we were preparing to go to the “Sunrise service” for our local church, she was running a bit late I think, and our cat, “Ebony” was also in the kitchen looking to be fed. This particular cat, (I remember her fondly.) had the habit of weaving in and out of your feet whenever she wanted attention. On this particular day she managed to trip my poor mother up a couple of times so she got frustrated and did what she called “Kicking the Cat” this wasn’t as awful as it sounds, but she would get her foot under the cat and then: WHOOSH!, Slide her foot in such a way that the cat would slide across the linoleum floor and into the waxed floor of the den. Still on all fours, the cat would retreat to a position in the den until she felt she could return to harassing my mother and her savvy feet. It was always a sight to see the poor creature slide a good ten to twelve feet across the house. And even now it gives me a chuckle recalling that particular morning.

Ebony, stayed with my family until I turned about 11 or 12, that year she contracted Feline Diabetes, and we had to put her down because she was in so much pain. It’s funny though, she used to have this habit of sleeping with me at night right on my chest, rising and falling with my breathing, and to this day I sometimes wake up with the feeling that she still sleeps there. Though neither of my cats sleep in a similar position on the bed. Those mornings I tend to feel a bit rejuvenated and calm. I miss that cat, and hope that when my days on this plane are up, I will see her again. Easter as I have said marks the beginning of spring for me, and like the waking of the season, things are changing for me too! I am relocating to an area in Vermont that I have always felt connected to, and I will be altering my days and nights again for this period of rejuvenation. I think I will reinvent parts of myself that I am unhappy with, and try to improve the parts of me that I feel need modification. If there was a time for New Year’s resolutions, I think that now would be a better time for those decisions as opposed to January, when everyone is still feeling the winter blues. So I will resolve to get out of doors more often, to take the bad things more lightly, and to find a new hobby that will be productive and conducive to my newly forming lifestyle.

Now then, with that out of the way I’d like to take a moment to bring up something that has always bothered me a little bit, and I’m sure that someone will disagree with me about it, however I was talking with a friend of mine the other day about good and bad movies, and he mentioned to me that he was going to see “Shindlers List” again. It was at that time that I
brought up the fact that I had no interest in seeing that film, Or the “Passion of Christ” either, Nor “World Trade Center”. Now I am not particularly too sensitive about any of the events in any of these movies. Blood, Gore, and explosions are nothing that I haven’t seen before. My reasons for not wishing to see these films are because the events portrayed in them are real, or at least, based on real events. “Passion” being largely a myth, because proof of that time is sketchy at best, however I do believe that Jesus existed. The thing is, folks, is that these things HAPPENED. The events of the Holocaust were real, disgusting, and awful. The events of 9-11 dude%20wheres%20my%20cross.jpgwere sad, shocking, and altered the way we as a country perceive the rest of the world. Many lives were lost in both events. It is, for me, just heart wrenching to know that these stories aren’t made up by some story-teller. That the horrific events actually happened, to people like me, my neighbors, and family.

My friend’s argument was valid enough, that those who do not understand the future are doomed to repeat it, that the films are made out of respect and reverence to those people who passed away under such awful circumstances. I suppose that this is quite true, Steven Spielberg himself being a Jewish man, must have felt a great connection to his Masterpiece of cinema. From what I hear, it is a heart felt, and honest depiction of the events surrounding the Holocaust. I do not doubt the reasoning behind films based on true events. What my problem is, that I know, that someone somewhere, is making a profit on the deaths of all those people. Now before you jump on me about the fact that most of the profits go to causes for refugees, the families of the deceased, and many foundations, that is all true. Most of these films are made to benefit one or more separate causes. That’s great, but the rub here is the key-word: “Most”. Most of the profits…Why not ALL of the Profits??? Why don’t the actors DONATE their time in honor of those lives lost? Why is someone still making money off death? Should someone you don’t know make money because your Aunt passed away?

Should some musician make money because your parent’s died in a tragic accident involving a chicken coop, a radio, and the latest edition of “Who’s Who”? I don’t think its right for people to take money that has real blood on it. People died in horrific ways that are unimaginably worse than anything I have seen on “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. Instead of revering the dead and mourning the loss, we seem to have made a habit of deciding that this would make the perfect weekend blockbuster film! When did real death become a source of entertainment? I don’t find death funny. (OK I do when watching really bad horror movies, but those are completely made up, with funny dialogue.) I don’t think that all those gay men, lesbians, Jews, and other minorities who died horribly in the fires of the holocaust, should be made into entertainment. Education, maybe, and I am sure that a couple of these types of cinema will wind up in the schoolrooms across the nation. But why do we not distribute them for free? As a means of waking up America? Why does someone manage to collect money on all that true horror?

It just doesn’t sit right with me and so I refuse to watch them. It took me a very long time to watch “Titanic” for the same reason. For all those people to have died so horribly just makes my heart hurt. I finally did see that particular film, at my sister-in-laws request. It was very well done, epic, and sweeping. A very moving film and I believe James Cameron made a very fitting tribute to those lost souls. But I do not believe that anyone should have made money on it either. I suppose that it is simply my opinion about these true-life films. But at times it really makes me upset to know that someone, somewhere, just got a check that thousands of people died to generate. It just makes me Ill. I suppose I’ll leave on that note. I’m sorry that it’s a rather upsetting one especially for me. I know that many of the profits for these films go to good causes, but I wonder why it is only a portion, and not the whole amount. I think people should donate time and services to create a proper tribute to those we have lost in time and to tragic events. Not expect payment for the exhibition of death. May you all find happiness in the weeks to come, and may you rejoice in the spring air. Find joy in the little things, and the big things are sure to follow! And don’t worry about me, I’m a drag queen, what do I know?

Diary Of A Vermont Drag Queen Archives

Comments

"those who do not understand the future are doomed to repeat it"

Those who do not understand the PAST are doomed to repeat it. You can't repeat the FUTURE because it hasn't happened yet.

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haha OOPS! My bad... You're right! I flubbed my own proverb! Thanks for catching that! It's been a long week recovering from this cold flu thing..and I re-read my article like 3 times! *giggle*

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The problem with "Passion" was the presentation, regardless your opinion of its basis in reality, I chose not to view it anyway. The "World Trade Center" thing was an Oliver Stone movie, and although I don't follow directors around, he is one I avoid when possible, but I don't think I would want to see it anyway. "Schindler's List", however, is a great film and you really should see it. Don't think of it as entertainment as much as educational. Interesting side note, Speilberg declined payment for his work on the film for the same reasons you mentioned.

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thanks! I might just give It a chance with that new information! Much Appreciation!

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