So, here I am, minding my own business and scrolling through one of my favorite websites, 9gag.com when I saw this post. I was like, "Hold up, what the fuck?"
So, okay. First of all, I am a fan of Paul Walker. I may not be a hardcore fan that knows a lot about him. But since I was young, I've watched all the movies with my older brother. My brother sees Paul Walker as one of his greatest idols and childhood heroes. Of course, who wouldn't love Fast and Furious movies? Especially guys. My brother was a fan, and he would always watch the movies in our living room and of course, I would also sit right next to him to admire the hot cars and close my eyes when there are inappropriate scenes for me. My brother and I never bonded much, we never get through a week without fighting and screaming at each other. But when a FF movie comes out, we would always watch it together, and we would shout and scream whenever there was a very reckless scene in the movie. So in other words, theses films were part of my childhood. And Paul Walker was one of my few crushes when growing up. Especially at "Tokyo Drift" he looked pretty hot there, in my opinion.
Now, December 1. I woke up and I immediately grabbed my phone to check the time, my timeline on Facebook and Twitter, and that's when the most unexpected happened. I was scrolling through Twitter and saw a very heartbreaking and shocking tweet:
Fast and Furious actor Paul Walker, killed in a car accident.
At first, it was hard to believe. I thought it was just another Twitter hoax. Because you know, Twitter has a habit of killing off people. But as I clicked on the link, I knew it just wasn't a hoax. My heart dropped when I saw the headlines. Paul Walker?! Brian O'Conner?! I clicked on several links, hoping it was just another fake story and that Paul would immediately deny these rumors. I felt this before, the way I found out Cory Monteith died. Not again, no. I told myself. But I saw Paul Walker's Twitter account and that's when I felt my tears falling down from my cheeks. For real?! He's too young! He has a daughter, right? He's still filming a seventh movie for FF! This can't be real...
Then, I got up and went to my brother's room. He looked at me and raised his eyebrow, probably wondering what's going on. I took a deep breath before finally saying it.
"Kuya, (big brother). Paul Walker's dead. He was killed in a car accident."
He suddenly looked pale, disbelieving. I showed him my phone and I saw him scrolling really fast. He was speechless. Of course, what could you ever say when you find out your idol, your hero, your favorite character, one of the people who you wished to meet someday... Would suddenly die?
He opened the computer and searched. I know he was close to crying. He was wondering what Vin Diesel would do. How was the cast of Fast and Furious? Where did it happen? Is it really Paul? Why? What happened?
Even after a few hours, he still was speechless. He tried searching through Youtube, hoping to gain more news. But of course, it is real. Paul is gone.
I think he and his friends lit up a candle outside the house at that night. And the next morning, he watched more videos of Paul. The movies he made even if it's not FF. Videos fans made. Everything. I guess he still couldn't accept that he's gone. It was truly heartbreaking to see my brother in that kind of state.
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So, now. Back to the present, I see this photo and it just infuriates me. Okay, I have nothing against Nelson Mandela/ I don't know much about him but I've read and heard about him. I don't want to pretend that I know much about him when I really don't. I think he's a very celebrated person in Africa. So, the photo as you can see, is comparing these two COMPLETELY different individuals. So, I know Paul Walker isn't much of a hero. He didn't become president, he didn't save lives from burning houses. But of course, that doesn't make me a bad and ignorant person if I grieve for Paul rather than Mandela? I'm not disrespecting Mandela or anything. But honestly, I barely know him. And that doesn't make me a bad person. WHY JUDGE? I know Paul Walker and I know a lot of teenage guys and adults are amazed by him and thinks that he's an amazing actor, rather than that he's an adrenaline junkie, a daredevil and a racer. Every guy wants to be like that, right? And not just because of that, but recently, I've been doing some research and I saw that he has a charity and he has donated tons of money to people across the globe. There were never a negative comment about him. And at the time he died, he has just left a charity event for the people who were affected by the Typhoon Haiyan. I think Paul Walker is a very great guy on and off camera. That's just me saying it as a fan, and I think others who really idolized Paul will agree with me. And of course, for Mr. Mandela, he has done a lot of great things that thousand and maybe millions of people will always remember. Maybe I just don't know him that much, but if I keep telling people that he inspired me and was part of my life, then I am a very terrible hypocrite and a horrible liar. See? But if I know more about Paul and feel sad over his passing, I am one of the people who are making the society look horrible?
To the one who created this photo. SHAME ON YOU. You're a very pathetic, stupid, idiotic attention hogging little fucker who is so ignorant and doesn't know anything about the world. YOU ARE PART OF WHAT IS WRONG IN THE WORLD. First of all, each and everyone of us has the right to grieve for someone who has been part of our lives. FRIEND, FAMILY. EVEN OUR CELEBRITY IDOLS. And just because they are a celebrity doesn't mean they haven't done anything good for us. So Mandela wasn't a celebrity and has done a lot for others. That doesn't mean Paul Walker is nothing. No, just no. Like me, I don't know much about Mandela but I give my respects to him. I think you should do the same for Walker. Because that doesn't make you a smart person for making such a disrespectful post.
Sorry, I needed to rant this. This was too much. I am still sad and grieving for Paul. My brother has it worse though. But then again, we need to look forward. Because that's the only direction for us to take. ;)
Good day to you guys. :)
- Allie x
