With the end of 2017, I’m hoping for a better year. Now for me personally, 2017 wasn’t a completely awful year. It was, however, a rather negative year. It felt like everything on the news and everything that we talked about around the office Keurig was negative (except maybe Game of Thrones). But I realized that if 2017 was negative, it was because I allowed it to be. So, in an effort to keep 2018 on a more upbeat note, I’m going to do some posts on the people who inspire me or make me feel better about life. There isn’t any real rhyme or reason to who I’m writing about or when I’m writing about them. I hope maybe you’ll get a little sunshine from this, too.
Spring of 1997 I was eleven years old and finishing up sixth grade, getting ready to start junior high in a private catholic school in the fall. One of the biggest topics of conversation those days was the show Ellen. Ellen DeGeneres, the actress and comedian, had come out of the closet, and her character on her eponymous show was also going to come out.
My dad worked second shift, so much of my childhood was spent watching tv after dinner with my mom, and we were big fans of Ellen. I distinctly remember that Ellen coming out was a big deal. At my house, it was noteworthy for its novelty but in no way was it considered a bad thing. But just one street away, at my best friend’s house, she was no longer allowed to watch Ellen. I remember being shocked about this. My friend’s family is Catholic, but her mom was, and is, one of the nicest people I’ve ever known. This seemed nuts.
The show was canceled the next year, but as we all know now, this changed television and America. She was the first, but she certainly wasn’t the last.
In 2003, Ellen came back to our living rooms via her talk show. For me, her show filled the void left when Rosie went off the air in 2002. Soon, however, the country fell in love with Ellen. Everyone watched Ellen. People would tape Ellen so they could watch it when they got home from work. She was America’s Sweetheart. This could have happened to no one more deserving.
But not only did Ellen come back and show everyone why so many people had liked her in the first place, she made the world a better place. If you haven’t balled your eyes out during a segment of her show when she gives money to a deserving family or school or charity, you’re lying.
I know that Ellen herself doesn’t give away all (or probably most) of the money on her show, but she is the catalyst. She brings together people and organizations who have the ability to give and those who need it. And she inspires her viewers to give, to take whatever bit they can add weather it’s money or time.
Whenever I see Ellen, either on her show or elsewhere, she says nice things. She makes people smile and laugh. She brings people together. While I’m sure Ellen the real person has her problems like we all do, the fact that she chooses to use her public image to make the world better says a lot about her. She spent years of her life being harangued and harassed by the world and when she had a chance to be on top again, she used it to make people happy. I can guarantee that some of the people whose lives she’s improved are the same people who said and wrote horrible things about her. We should all choose to take the high road like Ellen has.
Citations:
I used IMDb to confirm some dates.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108761/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379623/?ref_=nm_knf_t1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115338/?ref_=rvi_tt
I was inspired in part by this article detailing some of Ellen’s good works and including video clips of several segments http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1108319/times-ellen-degeneres-charitable-giving-changed-lives
The beginning of this is one of my favorite Ellen moments of all time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u2O-fF8__A
Ellen receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Obama, makes me cry every time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOErQMqCXvM
ethel isn't really my name 