This fourth article is again courtesy of True Blood’s official YouTube page. Jim Parrack (Hoyt Fortenberry), Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur), Carrie Preston (Arlene Fowler), Ryan Kwanten and Chris Bauer (Jason Stackhouse and Andy Bellefleur) made “It Gets Better” PSAs for the Trevor Project. They talk about personal experiences with bullying.
Jim Parrack talks about being a bully:
“I’d like to be very honest with you all and let you know that growing up I made things very difficult on people around me at school, I was a jerk, and that’s gotten better too. Somehow I had it in my mind that if I could lash out at other people or hurt them that somehow I could secure something for myself. To address that I just want to say, you never get anything at all from putting someone else down. There’s no substance to it, there’s no real value to it, there’s no change. All you end up doing is hurting other people, and then being stuck with that realization some day… For those of you who are being victimized or brutalized by people like that, it’s all going to stop. The day is coming where you get to walk out into life, choose the road you’re going to go down, choose the people you want to spend your time with, and you’re free of it all.”
Todd Lowe offers one way to cope:
“If you find yourself the victim of bullying or discrimination, one of the things you can do to empower yourself is to write a story about your bully or tormentor… and make sure it has a happy ending. They go off and live their life, you live yours. Remember, it gets better.”
Carrie Preston talks about community:
“You may be feeling like you’re being bullied because you’re different from everybody around you. I just want you to know that it’s temporary, life is temporary. You are surrounded actually in this world by a much larger community who is made up of gay people, and straight people, and bisexual people, and transgendered people. But I think that we’re a community that’s not really commonly brought together because we have a certain sexual orientation — we’re a part of a community that’s humane, a part of a community that accepts people, a part of a community that loves people and will love you for who you are. So seek us out, we’re here for you. We want you to be who you are, and we will support you in whatever it is that you choose to be, seek us out we’re out here. It gets better, I promise.”
Kwanten and Bauer share being an outsider in common:
“We’re here to talk about bullying. Not the most popular of subjects but one that we must face. Look, Chris and I are both very much kind of outsiders. As much as it wouldn’t seem like we are. And we’re here to tell you that we don’t think we’re alone, we now know that we’re not alone. And if you also feel like an outsider, feel like that no one’s listening to you, believe me there are places to go, there is someone to turn to, there is a comfort, a security network that you can turn to. And if you’re one of the pickers, if you’re one of the bullies, you’ve gotta be kidding me! And you’re not alone. There’s a lot of people going through what you’re going through. Reach out, talk about it. Ask a caregiver, ask a coach, a teacher, anybody who’s there. You can get the help. And I promise you, it gets better.”
Truebies, if you feel picked on or alone and need help, please call 1-866-4-U-TREVOR or visit TheTrevorProject.org or GLSEN.org.
Source: True Blood official YouTube page
