rogue

Watching X-Men: The Last Stand, I got very aggravated with the character Rogue. As a kid, growing up, she was my favourite. I wanted to be her: to have red-hair, to be able to fly, to absorb mutants´powers, to have her boyfriend (the Frenchie named Gambit), etc. She was a very strong character, torn by her past, frustrated by her present (as she could not touch anybody) and terrified of her future. She was tough on the outside, but tender on the inside. Hm, interesting.

Nevertheless, the third movie to the X-men trilogy was a disappointment in that Rogue, who from the get-go was poorly slated, chose the have a procedure so that she would lose her mutant power. I understand why her character did that -- everyone just wants to be loved -- but, really? At such a young age? Maybe Bobby would up and leave her for Kitty, leaving Rogue alone anyways.

It seems as though normalcy is what some people strive for today. Perhaps it´s because there are just too many people in the world for each one to be extraordinary. In the end, I guess what appears as normalcy is just that, superficial.

To me, every person I have ever met has had something extra-ordinary about them. Although some people are deceived, thrown off, by the appearance of things, what lies beneath is that amazing human potential at greatness. I look at many of my friends and think, they are just so wonderful. Even strangers or new acquaintances who have a slight quirk fascinate me. Although we all look alike, for the most part, want to belong to a common group, for the most part, as individuals we are so unique.

I believe that more and more people are beginning to wake up to this reality. Now, what we must consider, is how to make each individual work within a society or community. I do not believe that the North American independent society is a bad thing. Great things have developed and flourished there. However, I do believe that we can combine forces and thoughts with other societies, to learn from, on amore holistic level.

For instance, here in Buenos Aires, I have met extra-ordinary people, however they maintain their sociality (is that a word?). They greet one another with besos on the cheek, they have coffee all afternoon with family, stand in circles and sip mate with friends. The strangest thing I saw at a beach was the way that the families set-up their chairs and blankets. In North America, everyone points their blankets and chairs either towards the water or the sun. In Latin America, they form circles so that they can sit and have conversations all day long. Bizarre, but refreshing.

As I rant and nearly forget where I was going with this, my point is that we can still embrace our differences within and look for those who will accept us back. We are humans and need constant love and attention from others. We need a community because we are social creatures. We are social creatures because we are unique individuals who contribute unique gifts to a group. Normalcy should not be the answer. Pretending you are something you not should not even cross your mind. We shouldn´t try to fix ourselves to be accepted in the opinions of others. If you are everything you want to be, your group will find you.