Perspective

 The second season of Umbrella Academy has been very emotional for me. I didn't expect that. I understand why it was though. With most of the season taking place in the 1960s, it's clear how much has changed in America. 

Alison is involved in the Civil Rights movement and at one point holds a sit in at a diner. All she and the others do is just sit at a counter in a diner while black, but that is enough to earn them anger and violence. It's so easy to forget how recently it was that people were treated with such little dignity. I realize we are NO WHERE near where we need to be in terms of racial equality, but it used to be so much worse and I'm glad we've made the steps we have. 

The episodes we watched tonight tackled Vanya's gay relationship with a married woman and how much power that woman's husband had to mess up their lives. He had Vanya arrested and sent to the FBI on suspicion of spying. Even Alison's decent husband still feels he has ownership over her and rights in their marriage that seem overbearing by today's standards. Again, it is good these things have changed. 

I often think that people who don't fall into minority positions fail to see the ways in which being a certain kind of person can impact almost every aspect of your life. Can you imagine losing your job just because you put your marriage announcement in the paper? Can you imagine not being allowed into a store just because of your skin color? Can you imagine what life would be like if you saw people all around you doing what seems like the most simple of things and realizing those things were out of your grasp? That shouldn't be the way of our society.