A note about All's Fair in Love and Advertising
Someone sent me a link to this post that brings up an issue about All's Fair in Love and Advertising. I decided that I didn't want to engage in that conversation, but I do want to address one thing here that's very important to me.
In my story, the main character Max considers himself a "recently converted gay man." For the record, I do not believe that people choose their sexuality. I am completely aware that right-wing groups use that line of reasoning to try to deny gay people rights. I do not support that and am very sorry if my story has been unclear in ways that make it seem as if I do.
Max is an unreliable narrator. He thinks people are all out to get him, and they're not. He thinks he's the only one in the room with a good idea, and he's not. He thinks he's suddenly turned gay when actually he's undergone a process of self-discovery. In an earlier draft, I had Max thinking back to times in the past when he's been attracted to men, but it felt as if I was trying too hard to establish his bisexual credentials, so I took that out of the final draft. I thought, hoped, that the last scene he has with his therapist showed Max starting to realize the truth, starting to see who he is, who he's always been. There was only so explicit I felt I could make this revelation since the story is told very tightly from Max's POV and he's so unaware, but perhaps I should have made it more clear.
To any gay men who have read the story and felt hurt by it, to you I say that I am very sorry, and I do take this as a learning experience to carry forward into future work.
In my story, the main character Max considers himself a "recently converted gay man." For the record, I do not believe that people choose their sexuality. I am completely aware that right-wing groups use that line of reasoning to try to deny gay people rights. I do not support that and am very sorry if my story has been unclear in ways that make it seem as if I do.
Max is an unreliable narrator. He thinks people are all out to get him, and they're not. He thinks he's the only one in the room with a good idea, and he's not. He thinks he's suddenly turned gay when actually he's undergone a process of self-discovery. In an earlier draft, I had Max thinking back to times in the past when he's been attracted to men, but it felt as if I was trying too hard to establish his bisexual credentials, so I took that out of the final draft. I thought, hoped, that the last scene he has with his therapist showed Max starting to realize the truth, starting to see who he is, who he's always been. There was only so explicit I felt I could make this revelation since the story is told very tightly from Max's POV and he's so unaware, but perhaps I should have made it more clear.
To any gay men who have read the story and felt hurt by it, to you I say that I am very sorry, and I do take this as a learning experience to carry forward into future work.