Boy Story: The Road Taken - 66. Epilogue

Epilogue

A reader had written to me feeling like the story of Matt & Parker was leading to some momentous climax where someone dies or this whole happy relationship comes crashing to the ground. “Say it ain’t so, Joe!” After all, that’s what we’ve come to expect in most gay-themed movies and television shows of today, right? In entertainment today, there’s a fascination about gay couples facing all sorts of adversity from AIDS to gay bashing to untimely deaths, and then at the end, the audience is hoping for some sort of emotional vindication (think of Tom Hanks’ character in Philadelphia). Frankly, many gay-themed movies are huge downers. That’s why a movie like Get Real was so refreshing when it came out…although it was not without its teary-eyed moments.

“I want to have friends who like me for who I am. I want to be part of a family who love me for who I am and not someone I pretend to be to keep their love. I’m sick of hiding…of being sad…and scared. It’s only love. What is everyone so scared of?”

Hollywood routinely takes its formula and applies it to a story to give it some sizzle. So we get superhero movies with lots of car crashes and gay-themed movies where someone dies or gets killed, or sometimes the protagonist overcomes all sorts of hardship before the end.

Where do we position a story where two boys love each other? A story where a blond boy named Parker will forever walk around naked in front of his partner Matt, not because he is trying to tease him but because he feels comfortable enough to do so? A story where each time the two gay boys have sex is as exciting as the last time, yet is as natural to them as a river flowing or rain falling or the earth turning. A story where two boys are constantly experimenting in and out of bed to determine what they like and what they are all about. After all, that’s what boys do. Why should we expect anything different just because the boys are gay?

Not every story has explosions and villains and zombies to advance the plot line. That’s just what the Hollywood formula adds to keep audiences coming to the theaters. Sometimes we need to be reminded that a story can simply unfold. A plot device that we don’t see so much today, but was used to a great extent in the mid-20^th century (especially by Walt Disney), was to end on “And they lived happily ever after.”

Matt and Parker are doing our best to see to that.

q

Thanks to everyone who have taken the time to read my story. I've marked it as complete and have moved on to a new story. If you enjoyed reading Boy Story: The Road Taken, feel free to leave a review.
Thanks again!