My roommate hadn't seen my "Christian Grey" room in a while, so I when we bumped into each other doing laundry downstairs, I offered to show him. I took him over to the room I keep locked in the basement, opened the door, and stepped back so he could see inside. He grinned when he entered, and he LOL'd when he saw my newly-added bondage/examination table (and of course the Sweeney Todd chair). I could tell he was impressed, and it was hard not to feel a swell of pride; the last time he'd seen my playroom, all it had was a dog cage...and a wall of leather restraints.
"Wow...this has come a long way," he admired. "It's really a shame Hallmark doesn't make a card for an occasion like this! I'm thinking something like: congratulations on your evolving profile!" He was about to add something else, but I was behind him in seconds with handcuffs & chloroform...
(Kidding.)
After thirty years of like an outsider in a world full of normal people, I've recently noticed several "mainstream" examples of personality/anxiety disorders similar to my own within the leading characters on national TV shows.
Here are a few examples:
"Wow...this has come a long way," he admired. "It's really a shame Hallmark doesn't make a card for an occasion like this! I'm thinking something like: congratulations on your evolving profile!" He was about to add something else, but I was behind him in seconds with handcuffs & chloroform...
(Kidding.)
After thirty years of like an outsider in a world full of normal people, I've recently noticed several "mainstream" examples of personality/anxiety disorders similar to my own within the leading characters on national TV shows.
Here are a few examples:
1. Special Agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) on NBC's Hannibal. Graham struggles with Aspergers Syndrome, and his mind thinks "in pictures," which helps him reconstruct crime scenes. The show attempts to demonstrate the Aspergers' thought process by taking a crime scene and mentally removing/rearranging clues one-by-one, like layers.
2. Detective Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger) on FX's The Bridge. Cross also has Aspergers Syndrome, though the series focuses more on her social anxiety (rather than her visual thinking). There was one scene particular that got to me, in one of the early episodes. Cross was lonely and cruising a singles bar for sex. Her social anxiety was crippling, and watching her interact with the bar patrons made me wince - as it hit so close to home.
3. Sheriff Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor), on A&E's Longmire. Tough Walt doesn't have a diagnosed personality disorder, his character demonstrates the schizotypal trait of "silent strength" - and making calm, intelligent decisions while everyone around sees his strength as weakness.
4. Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi), on NBC's Community. Abed has difficulty interacting with others, and his thought processes are extremely visual - and often mimic schizotypal/metaphorical thinking. Many of the show's storylines involve Abed's imagination - and how hard it is for him to distinguish fantasy from reality during times of crisis.
And of course when it comes to my dungeon in the basement, I'm in good television company with CSI ("Lady Heather"), Archer, American Horror Story (the rubber man), and even Mad Men (and Don Draper's control fetish) to name a few. And that doesn't count cable television (Nip/Tuck, Queer as Folk, Dirt, Rome), or the many different guest-villans on any given crime drama. And don't even get me started on S&M in film...
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I hate to end this blog like an SNL skit, but the point I'm making is that I feel a little more normal each and every day. It's like the world is catching up to me, and the things I've struggled to explain for years have finally found the mainstream…and are becoming understood by everyone.
As I write The Casual Cafe, I know that my second project will connect with a much larger audience…
As I write The Casual Cafe, I know that my second project will connect with a much larger audience…