Have you heard? The Dalai Lama is here in Toronto. I for one think that's pretty cool, and had I known ahead of time I might have made the effort to see him. :-/ Now if only we could get him to go to Israel to spread a little of those peace blessings.....
(side note: I had a dream last night that there was a HUGE bombing in an Israeli town. I was relieved when I got up and checked the news and saw everything was fine. sometimes I get a little freaky that way, or maybe all the news in Iraq is starting to get to me, who knows)

Last weekend I had my two little cousins (two boys, ages 8 & 10) staying overnight with me whilst the parents went off to a wedding. In my efforts to entertain them (which included glow-in-the-dark mini golf, pizza and junk food) I also rented some movies with them. I let the boys pick the movies because I had no idea what they had and had not seen before, and I was fairly confident that my idea of a good movie and THEIR idea of a good movie would likely be vastly different. Anyway, the movies selected for the evening were "Good Boy" and "School of Rock". Good Boy was about a boy and his dog (from outer space) and School of Rock is about a guy who teaches a group of kids how to rock (he creates a rock band with the kids).

Ok? Now then, my point in all this is that I noticed an interesting phenomena....both movies had very subtle gay characters in them. In Good Boy it was really very subtle, as the next door neighbours to the boy were two men. I understood it to be a gentle and subconscious way to maybe get the next generation comfortable with the idea, and that by showing the scenario in a movie (ever-so-subtly) it would teach them that this is perfectly normal. I thought it was a good thing, though it was so damn subtle that I don't think the two boys even picked up on it.
In School of Rock it was far less subtle, as one boy is made out to be clearly gay, as they focus on his artistic talent for fashion and give him a very slight lisp. Many a joke ensue as he designs the costumes for the bands, and he confesses to liking Liza Minelli. In other words, they make him "stereotypically gay". And because of that it was NOT missed by the two boys I was watching it with. During the movie one of the boys piped up and said to me that he didn't like "that one kid". I asked which one, and he said "the kid that talks funny". Knowing exactly which kid he was referring to I asked him why, as I was interested in knowing if he understood why he didn't like the kid. He said he didn't know, just that he didn't like the kid. I found this extremely interesting. They already don't like the kid coz they know he's different, but they aren't old enough or have been exposed to enough, to understand the jokes or what the character is meant to be.
What does all that mean? I have no idea, but it had me mildly concerned, though curious at the same time. *shrug* Who knows.....I guess we'll see how their values develop as they get older.

Anyway, I had more to write, but I gotta get moving. I have family in town, and I'm supposed to have 'brunch' with them in an hour or so. Later on I am going to an Israeli Market that's set up just for today. I like to go and shop around, as they sell everything from jewelry to housewares to food, and I like to spend a little in support of Israel (for those in Toronto, if you wish to do the same it's at Beit Rayim Synagogue (9711 Bayview Ave) from 1 - 5pm.
Maybe I'll come back tonight and finish my thoughts...