I've written an article about Jim and how he influenced me to be who I am today. For those who do not have a Retro Junk account/profile, you won't be able to see the full finished project with pictures, but I can at least put down the text of it.
I feel this article is more of an opinion piece so for those who don't feel the same way, I understand. For those that do; we have something common.
I decided to do an article about the famous funnyman we know as Jim Carrey. As we all know, we grew to enjoy watching this man give the strangest faces, voices and movements.
Anyway, I'm not doing an informative thing about Jim Carrey since we already know much about him and there are several thousands of websites devoted to him (including JimCarreyOnline, whom I'm a member of). I decided to give my own personal reflection of Jim's influence.
Growing up, I was a eratic kid, always getting into trouble; conjuring up reasons as to why I did what I done. I yearned for friends. I was made fun of, to the point of going into a depressive-like mood every time I stepped off the school bus. When I would get home though, I would run to my door, throwing my backpack and coat on the floor to the VCR to pop in a movie. I thought of movies as a getaway from reality. I was young, like 8 or 9 and felt that with a creative imagination I've somehow was concieved with, movies was a way to forget the day. When I first saw Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, I thought itw as some boring adventure movie and nothing even close to comedial. That was my thought until I heard Ace speak.
One thing that really got me interested in the character of Ace was the hair. I wanted to wear it. After many failed attempts with hair glue, gel, hairspray and moose, I did achieve it only to be shortlived when my mother found me. Then I got a poodle like perm for short hair. I mean come on, it was worse than sticking your finger in a light socket. Ace had lines that rolled me onto the floor, clenching my stomach from laughter. I used his lines like crazy in school so that I would find some sort of peace when I was there. I soon realized that everyone was laughing at me; but not to make fun of me. I felt better when someone wanted to laugh because it made me feel better. I didn't have to listen to the nagging insults from others. In 4th grade, I was even mentioned and voted as the "Class Clown". All I did was mock Jim Carrey. I didn't really think it would win the entire class.
Through middle and high school, I created my own persona of comedy, ranging from slapstick to dry humor. While I experimented, I got more laughs. I had plenty of people that made fun of me because of how I looked, talked; just like every other kid you just wanted to pick on. Instead of crying and bitching about it, I used laughter as a weapon. Being a fat kid when I was 9 (trust me, I was a plump child) I woudl put on shows to carry on who I really was. Yeah, kids still laughed at me with their rhetorical remarks but it didn't phase me at bit anymore. I grew into a loving warm person who always wants to make someone laugh when they are down or angry. My mom use to say the reason that other kids made fun of me was because they were jealous. At the time, I didn't believe her. Now that I'm older and none the wiser (ha, ha) I know that she meant well when she explained that to me.
I found out later one of the boys who use to pick on me did like me as a friend and thought I was a real funny person. We are real good friend now and we still pick on each other, but it's all in good fun.
I can thank Jim for who I became to be. Well, not all of me but for a way to deal with constant bullying. He dealt with the same shit when he was growing up, living in his sister's backyard in a tent. He found humor to numb and to subside the pain, turning it into something better.
I don't know who said "Laughter is the best medicine", but I know that they were right when they said it.
So...as korny as it sounds, I'm still doing it. Jim: Thanks for your humor. Without it, I don't believe I would be able to subdue the constant finger-pointing, whispering, ridiculing and jerring that I had to deal with at a young age. Your pain was brought onto you and for that I'm sorry that you had to go through it, but you changed that pain and hurt into something beautiful that you can share with everyone in the world.
Now..Retro Junkies, as I always say at the end.
I've lead you down the road to Nostalgia, now it's your turn.
That was text of it all. I hope everyone enjoys it.
