When the Mask Cracks...

Come, sit and stay a while and listen to my story. It’s a cautionary tale. A tale of intrigue, love, and deceit.

A tale about a devilishly handsome, dark-haired, blue eyed man who’s stolen the hearts and admirations of millions of people around the world. How did he do this you ask? He traveled across the world, lavishing stories of pain, rejection, childhood obesity. Eyes widened. Hearts melted. Then he added tales of painting little space men and playing virtual games, acting out his childhood fantasies of heroes slaughtering the evil dragon or playing the pale-haired outcast who traverses the world saving village after village from unworldly creatures. These stories gained the admiration and support of a large group of people. Geeks. Misfits. People tired of the status quo; tall, skinny, blonde-haired and blue-eyed beaus and beauties. Plastic dolls come to life, living in an echo chamber that dictates what is cool and what is not.

For many that have been cast aside, they started to look at this tall dark-haired, blue-eyed man as a hero, someone too look up to in the world. Someone they could finally relate to. This man defied all logic. Tall, muscular, and extremely handsome, yet kind, funny and one who liked to partake in activities that mainstream culture looked down upon and make fun of. A hero who championed for animal welfare and promoted health and fitness to the people. Or so he claimed.

For over twenty years this man repeated his tales to the world and gained a reputation for being the muscle man who was deep inside a geek. A man who modeled his behavior after a legend who had unlimited strength, both literally and figuratively. Even if he wore tights and a cape. A man who stood up for the little man. And woman.

But then two years ago, something changed. Was it sorcery? An evil spell cast upon our hero? To this date, the reasons are unknown. However, what people did come to realize is that something happened to their humble hero. A fake blonde had entered his life, and the man hasn’t been the same. She appeared out of nowhere, and soon the gossip spread from town to town. Who was she? People didn’t know. Some scholars had taken it upon themselves to search far and wide to find out who this woman was and what she was about. They scoured libraries across the world.

What they found was shocking. You see, this woman had grown up a bully. One who lavished in riches and often made fun of those she deemed beneath her. It was perplexing to people. Their hero had claimed to have been bullied as a child for being overweight, odd, and shy. Why would he romance such a hideous person?

And then there were tales of this blonde woman partaking in deeds often seen in peep shows or those places some do not dare go to venture. Things that most women wouldn’t do. At least not the ideal woman their hero often boasted about desiring for a romantic partner. Something was wrong.

And then something happened. Our hero suddenly attacked his admirers for questioning his lady love. He preached about the gossip, told his people to fuck off. Eyes widened, and jaws dropped. This wasn’t like the hero. He had never acted so high and mighty with his fans. People became confused. After all, he was the one who introduced her to the world and his admirers. If he wanted privacy, then why advertise the relationship? The talk around the towns began to spread. More people were wondering what spell had befallen their hero. His actions were contradicting his past deeds and beliefs.

People shook their heads. Their humble hero had developed an inflated ego. He was unrecognizable. Before long he was no longer championing for animal rights, visiting town after town to sell fart powder, or showing off his beloved canine companion his admirers grew to love as if he were their own. No, he was showing off his lady love. Yet when many looked at him, they saw that something was sucking the life out of him. His skin began to appear pale and wrinkled. Dark circles emanated from his eyes. And when they looked into his blue eyes, they only saw sadness, exhaustion and loneliness. This wasn’t normal for their hero. Oh, how they wished they knew how to break the curse cast upon their hero. The darkness was consuming him, and they could do nothing but watch.

Rumors spread across the towns that the hero and his lady love had been seen together, though a lot of people refused to believe such gossip. You see, from the beginning of their courtship, odd images of them began to appear. They didn’t look natural, as if multiple artists had composed the images. The hero would appear to be less pristine than his lady love, messy. And they didn’t look natural…in love. Soon many began to speculate that their courtship wasn’t what it appeared to be. Was it an arrangement to stifle past rumors of their hero’s romantic life? To perhaps better his public image? These things were known to happen in his world, a world known to many as Hollywood.

Things only seemed to get worse for their beloved hero. You see he made a career entertaining millions of people across the realm. He was in demand, and creatives around the realm wanted to work with him. Yet as the darkness overtook the hero, people began to grow leery to work with him. Soon, he was no longer promoting charitable causes he had once boasted about caring about. Jobs that he had were starting to disappear.

He grew selfish, only promoting himself and his lady love to the public. He was no longer the man who strived to live like the legend he admired above all. Money had become his obsession. Before long, a great sickness had begun to appear in towns across the realm and it spread like wildfire. Cities had been shut down; roads to and from the towns were closed. Townsfolk were confined to their homes. Many lost their businesses, their livelihood. And many more lost their lives.

This did not deter their hero. He boasted about being lucky to travel to various towns, riding in expensive carriages that only the richest could afford. He was blind to the pain so many were suffering. Or he didn’t care. Many became disillusioned by the hero’s actions. He wasn’t who they though he was. Who was this stranger before them? He was selfish. Living in his own world while the real world around him was crumbling.

A year after his courtship the hero finally appeared at a major entertainment gathering with his lady love. He looked drained, defeated, unkept. Yet his smile for the crowd gave off a sense of happiness. In his mind he still portrayed the legend he idolized. He was a man’s man. He was Richard Gere. But his lady love was no Julia Roberts. So much information about her had come out that she was nothing but a money-hungry mean girl. A w****. Someone their hero would have never associated with. But he didn’t seem to care. You see, the hero thought that one could apply lipstick to a pig and call her a lady. An executive. A fraud. Some bought the act, while others didn’t. Many began to distance themselves from the hero, feeling sadness because he wasn’t acting like the man he had portrayed himself to be for many years. They could no longer watch the self-destruction of their idol.

So what happened to our hero? For now he is still cursed. Overcome by the darkness. He is no longer the tall, handsome and happy hero so many admired. He’s become another casualty of Hollywood. He doesn’t live by high morality. He doesn’t like classy, worldly ladies as he has claimed in the past. He likes money. He likes privilege. And he likes the company of w*****. Cheap women who belittle and bully to get what they want. Women who follow him from town to town across the realm like a dog.

He is not worth the admiration. He is not worth the many coin tossed at him for his entertainment. He is not worth the sadness, disappointment, anger that stirs in our heart and soul.

His mask has finally cracked.

You see our hero…

is a fraud.