These days, western media kind of fetishizes the idea of “being different” and they’re trying to make it sound like that’s a good thing.
Now, I know it depends what kind of different we are talking about, if you’ve got a big dick or big tits kind of different then yeah, it’s a good thing, although the first one is difficult to spot, but I’m talking more about the behavioral/personality bit.
Let me be short with this: Although the western world has made great progress in understanding and accepting all kinds of conditions and people, being different is not “cool” or easy.
When you’re different, you come with terms and conditions that not everybody is eager to accept or put up with. You are not easily accepted in groups and, when you are, you need to be careful how you balance your position within the group in a way that makes you a part of it and not a burden, because nobody likes burdens.
It took me a long while to understand these kinds of things, and it usually takes me even longer to want people’s friendships and company.
Especially since I don’t want to be hurt or to hurt others, something that happens between humans, but I profoundly dislike it.
But I am not fussy when I get close to people, I have friends with difficult pasts, with diagnosed cognitive conditions, people that others would brand both “normal” and “weird”, but is not easy to get close to them, this is the process that I am cautious with and as I get older, it seems like I only get more cautious.
Sometimes I truly wish I was what people call “boringly normal”, but I guess that is too late for that. These days? Rather than being that definition of normal, I’ll just take a few $ million and enjoy life the way I am, but I still can’t forgive Hollywood for selling fake hopes that “people like me” are special in a good way. No, it’s a lie. Treating it as a lie and selling acceptance is much better and beneficial for everyone than selling the lie.
One of my favourite media villains, President Snow from the hunger games, had a request to Katniss the first time he met her: Let’s not lie to each other. That’s all.