But today, I’d like to look at a more serious topic. I know, kind of a bummer. One of the sites I follow is Cracked—seriously—and when I saw their “The 6 Most Cynical Exploitations of Romantic Love in History,” They're going to lampoon romantic movies, I chuckled to myself. I bet Twilight’s number one.
Then I actually read the article. Not what I expected from Cracked. Not at all.
It wasn’t a joke, it wasn’t humorous. It was about actual exploitation of love and it just infuriated me. One of their top six was the Russian spy ring recently broken up in the US. The people in this ring were forced to marry and have children as part of their cover. These kids were then raised here for decades, not knowing the truth. Can you imagine how shattering it must be to find out your parents are a lie? Your birth was merely part of a scheme? It’s horrifying. And it’s all too real.
The other exploitation that really got to me was the whole “lavender marriage” thing. See, a lavender marriage is when a gay person marries someone of the opposite sex to satisfy pressures put on him/her to be “normal.” As an example, Cracked used Rock Hudson, who supposedly married a woman in order to keep making movies (other actors were run out for refusing to marry, even if they didn’t come out as gay). But there are many others in the world who marry for the fabled moniker of normal, have children so no one wonders. Never mind the dissatisfaction of being in a relationship that no matter how caring it is, still remains loveless.
Today is the day we’re supposed to think of the people we love. I think we should also be thankful we can love them and they love us back.
