Don’t Judge A Book by Its Cover

I can honestly say that I try my hardest not to judge people on their appearance when I first meet them. I would be lying if I said that I did not. However, I catch myself when I do make the horrible mistake of judging individuals. The reality is that we live in a diverse country. America prides itself on being a melting pot of different cultures and races. Within those different cultures are different people such as homosexuals, women, Hispanic males, Asians, etc. Since we are a country of diversity, there is a sense of competition within us. We like to believe that our train of thinking is the best, which makes it harder to accept others for who they are if it goes against our train of thinking.

(This is an image of children holding a globe together. There are hands that represent all ethnicities and both genders. The one thing the share is the globe, which represents their home and future,)

The story of Johnny Lee is an excellent example for this point. “Korean society, as many will tell you, is generally not accepting of gays” (Lee, 879). This statement proves why it was so difficult for his family to accept his sexual orientation. Our stubbornness to always think that we are right has the power to blind us from accepting our loved ones. This is so bizarre to me. I’m not a parent, but I can imagine myself handling Johnny’s situation in the opposite manner. I am a strong believer in the Bible; I can say that I do not follow every word it says, but I do believe in its content. Perhaps since I have not read the scripture in the Bible that states being homosexual is sin may be the reason why it is so hard for me to grasp the fact that every homosexual will burn in hell. I agree with the last psychiatrist, Pastor Richards, when he says “’I don’t know why God would create gays and say that being gay is wrong’” (Lee, 878). This relates to back in the day when being black was viewed as something wrong. I’m pretty sure that non blacks would say that I and all blacks would go to hell. My African-American grandfather died when I was three. I would like to think that he is heaven because of his desire to help others and not in hell because he is black.

Maybe the correlation between slavery and homosexuality hits close to home is the reason why I have NEVER viewed homosexuals as devils or hoping that they burn in hell. I strongly feel that society is afraid of what they don’t know. Just like when we were kids and we did something bad; we would be frightened by the punishment that awaited us once our parents found out what we had done. Not being able to know the reason or future of something drives people crazy and allows them to draw to absurd conclusions such as “’You [can] be cured right away’” if a homosexual visits a “special doctor” (Lee, 877).

We all have the capability of accepting everyone we come in contact with. We will not always agree with the practices of others, but we should impose our views as right when confronted with different lifestyles from our own.

Not judging a book by its cover ties in nicely with Oleanna as well. The Professor, John, mistook Carol as an innocent student with desperate need of his help in understanding the course. In the words of Ryan Edwards “the stupid bitch” had her own hidden agenda for talking to her professor during office hours. He thought she was “an incredibly bright girl” with the capability of starting over and beginning on a clean slate (Mamet, 10). This one mistake by the Professor cost him his career and drastically changed his family.(This an image of Carol sitting in John's office. She looks timid and shy, but deep down inside there is another person waiting to come out.)

He let his personal problems consume him and allow the opportunity for a young woman to slip in overtake him during a vulnerable moment. Sexual harassment is a serious charge and will stick with a man for the rest of his life regardless if he’s guilty or not. We discussed this in depth in class so I don’t want to be repetitive, but this point cannot be stressed enough. The hugs I love to give people when I see them can be taken out of context if I was male. So where do you draw the line? Don’t touch at all. This is a sad point but I believe is the only a problem like this can be avoided. It is true that when the Professor touched Carol, it was to console and calm her down. But when looked at by crazy girls like Carol or when being provoked by outside sources, a simple hug or touch on the shoulder can do serious damage.

With the no touch rule, Professors don’t have to look at their students, females in particular, and determine if touching them will result in life changing outcome. After all when they would be looking at their students, judgment will be involved and as you can see the eye can be tricked by the front certain actresses or actors can pose.