Pixar Studios has made some of the greatest films of the last decade: Toy Story, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wall-E, Up. Their animated shorts have been just as rousing: Geri's Game, Presto, Night and Day.
Now they've made magic again, this time for a great cause. Several of the folks at Pixar are gay, and in the midst of the new wave of homosexual-related suicides and hate crimes we've seen this past year, they've come together to make a short film called It Gets Better. Various people who work at the studio allowed themselves to be interviewed, sharing their experiences as gays and lesbians in an attempt to make it clear to all those out there who are suffering under the oppression of their experience that they will be okay -- it gets better.
Being heterosexual, I will never know the pain that homosexuals in our country experience having to lie about themselves to their families, friends, and communities. I can't even begin to fathom the self-loathing that must result, and the fear many must feel at being discovered.
All I can say is that the folks at Pixar are right. Things will get better. Even during the darkest parts of my life, I held onto this hope, and while things are not always peachy, they have indeed gotten better. So, we can all take heart in that wisdom.
A student once gave me a gift: a refrigerator magnet she bought for me at The Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. It simply said, "In the end everything will be okay. If it's not okay, it's not the end."
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