I responded to a craigslist posting about 2 weeks ago looking for red heads to participate in a documentary. It piqued my interest with all the recent reports of red heads going extinct so I sent a picture and short email to the address on the posting. A few days later I received a phone call from the USC student/director doing the project. He also is red headed and wanted bring to light the myths surrounding red heads and the stories and experiences of SoCal redheads.
The director and his crew were very nice and capable. I had a great time talking about my experience being red headed and I think maybe felt some sort of vindication from the process. Red heads are supposedly the smallest minority in America but no one really thinks much about us.
Last night the director had a party at Eslyian park near Doger stadium. The goal was to bring as many red heads together as possible. I wanted to go just for the novelty of the whole thing, and to see how many people actually would show up (scoping out potential red head acting competition). When I first arrived I was shocked that most of the red heads there were legit red heads. I know I am kind of an asshole for saying that but so many people say they are red headed and are like strawberry blond or brown. There are a lot of shades of red that I would say fall into the category of red head, but some people I have seen show up for castings as red heads? - c'mon. Any way I told the camera so and then realized that the camera op was a light red head. Hopefully I didn't offend her because she has a nice shade of red and is really cute. I also had said in my first intervew that I generally don't find red headed chicks attractive so I kind of really stuck my foot in my mouth. There were several hot red headed girls there so it was nice to see my theory disproved (I am glad to be disproved about some things). I felt compelled to tell one of the women that I had to renege on my previous feelings after coming to the event tonight. I didn't mean to sound like I was hitting on her but my wife informed me that I was.
The best part of the evening was just before we left. I stood in a group with my wife and kids and three or four other red heads just talking about different red head things. It was really cool to hang out with people with a common part of their identity. I felt like I had known them all forever. I am usually good at meeting people and carrying on a conversation but this was different. Not that we have been repressed or persecuted much or more than other "minorities" but there are some common names we are called, things people say, (old people hit on us..gross) and the general experience of being red headed. I left the party with a feeling of camaraderie.
What shocked me the most was how it opened my eyes to minority groups and how they must feel and why they do many things they do. Again, I am going to sound like an asshole, but I used to think, "what is wrong with all these people who have to have groups for 'their people'? Can't they just be normal and get over it?" I know that sounds really harsh and I still think that much activism comes out of frustration and hatred for how that group has been treated. There is however, still something about being around people who have had common experiences, hardships and the same general outlook on life. I am by no means trying to compare being red headed with some of the things other groups go through in their lives, but red hair is still something we all share that is different from everyone else.
White Americans generally don't seem to understand because they are part of an established group that is enormous. I see a problem in America (many times for good reasons, but a large part is from resentment) where we are moving toward a segmentation of our society as we recognize every ones little idiosyncrasies and are rejecting having a common bond. (A side note about the state of our nation) I have discussed with several people recently how America seems to be losing it's defining character. 50 years ago there were certain things that were American: apple pie, cheeseburgers, patriotism etc. It now seems that the only common thread in America that I can detect is materialism and selfishness. An announcer on the radio stated that most people don't vote because you have to have a house, kids - things to protect to vote. This is appalling! What ever happened to people giving a fuck about their country? It's disturbing and does not bode well for the future.
Anyway, off my soap box, I would like to thank Michael the director of this documentary for getting red heads some attention. I am not going to start a red head club but it was nice to meet some of my fellow red heads and be pleasantly surprised to know there are attractive red head females.
Better Red Than Dead!
2 comments:
Um, minority groups still SUCK and are a sign of weakness! I may be a white male, but my sexuality is a minority and I don't have to find other people to identify with to make it through life.
MINORITY IDENTIFICATION = INDIVIDUAL LOSS OF IDENTIFICATION
You basically just proved what I said about most people not understanding. I am not advocating minority activism as a whole but it's the same thing as a union. Unions are people with a common interest uniting to protect their ideals. Unions can be great but they can also cause a lot of problems. Same with minority groups.
So you would say that being a male you don't identify with typical male behavior? There are two distinct sexes, and sure according to statistics there are more women than men but in general you don' t go through major portions of time being the only male in "x" situation. Claiming male minority is not really equivilant to say being a black person in China. There is a difference.
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