The Ladi Doth Protest Too Much

unicornology:

iguessthatscool:

moviesinframes:

Dead Poets Society, 1989 (dir. Peter Weir)

I saw this movie for the first time in English class when I was 14. Up until that point, I was a terribly shy, socially awkward girl. I was overwhelmingly concerned with being liked and what others thought of me. I was terrified of what they might think of my quirks and idiosyncracies, so I lived mostly in my head, where everyone was far more accepting of my strangeness and the things that brought me joy.

But this movie, it broke something in me. Some wall that was holding me back came down. I didn’t want to be afraid like those boys, I didn’t want to be trapped. I was overwhelmed by a flood of conflicting emotions that boiled down to one coherent thought: to hell with it.

So what if I’m odd? So what if my sense of humor comes at you sideways? So what if I believe in the impossible? This is who I am. If people don’t like those things about me, then they’re not people I really want as friends anyway. This was a big epiphany for a 14-year-old girl just entering the “conform-or-die” world that is high school, and the change certainly didn’t happen overnight, but I found that being honest about who I am makes me happier. And that there are a lot of people who love me just this way.

To this day, even a still image or brief clip from this movie will bring a rush of overwhelming emotion, I have a huge lump in my throat as I’m writing this. It’s a reminder. To be me and that only I get to decide what that means.

To those who say that a movie can’t change your life, I say: you are totally and completely wrong. I am living proof.