Mister Stephen Fry
The man is undoubtedly my hero. An unlikely hero you might say, especially for someone like myself, but having just read his letter to his 16 year old self on the Guardian website, I think it cemented it even more than I ever thought possible. He is intelligent, charming, hilarious, and in all honesty I can say there isn't a word that comes out of his mouth that isn't passionate and meaningful. What he said in the aforementioned letter just made me realise how puny and pathetic most of our inner turmoil and 'personal problems' are in the scale of the world. We fail to put these things into perspective and in the current climate, we just sit back and think 'who can blame me?' Well, right now, I'm saying we should blame ourselves. Feeling hard done by is not a position to be in. We should be proactive, we should try harder, because if we just live in self-pity and doubt we'll end up in the place we are, perpetually low in the hierarchy of life.
Whilst I may not know him, or have had the pleasure to meet him, his struggles with his sexuality, and his well publicised problems such as his bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia just serve to make him all the more worthwhile as an idol to so many things. He's a national treasure; not only because of his intelligence or the example he sets, but because he stands for everything that we should too. Values such as gay rights, a good education system, better diagnosis of mental disorders and general equality, along with a love of gadgets produced by Apple.
But that's not only why I look up to him. The way he compares the differences of adult life and adolescence in the letter just bring out so much for me. The analysis is so beautiful, the words so perfect in description and yet there is a part of him that can't quite decide which is best; to be happy as an adult, but uncomfortable with his age, or to be filled with angst and anger as a teen, but happy with where he is to an extent. I think he sums up just about everything I could ever wish to put onto paper, and through it all, he's just an ordinary man with an extra-ordinary mind.
So chastise me if you will, but don't tell me I'm wrong.
"You poor dear, dear thing. Look at you weltering in your misery. The extraordinary truth is that you want to stay there. Unlike so many of the young, you do not yearn for adulthood, pubs and car keys. You want to stay where you are, in the Republic of Pubescence, where feeling has primacy and pain is beautiful. And you know what ... ?
I think you are right."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/30/stephen-fry-letter-gay-rights
Whilst I may not know him, or have had the pleasure to meet him, his struggles with his sexuality, and his well publicised problems such as his bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia just serve to make him all the more worthwhile as an idol to so many things. He's a national treasure; not only because of his intelligence or the example he sets, but because he stands for everything that we should too. Values such as gay rights, a good education system, better diagnosis of mental disorders and general equality, along with a love of gadgets produced by Apple.
But that's not only why I look up to him. The way he compares the differences of adult life and adolescence in the letter just bring out so much for me. The analysis is so beautiful, the words so perfect in description and yet there is a part of him that can't quite decide which is best; to be happy as an adult, but uncomfortable with his age, or to be filled with angst and anger as a teen, but happy with where he is to an extent. I think he sums up just about everything I could ever wish to put onto paper, and through it all, he's just an ordinary man with an extra-ordinary mind.
So chastise me if you will, but don't tell me I'm wrong.
"You poor dear, dear thing. Look at you weltering in your misery. The extraordinary truth is that you want to stay there. Unlike so many of the young, you do not yearn for adulthood, pubs and car keys. You want to stay where you are, in the Republic of Pubescence, where feeling has primacy and pain is beautiful. And you know what ... ?
I think you are right."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/30/stephen-fry-letter-gay-rights