It is unclear whether certain patterns in attention are created and reinforced by the awareness of them, or exist independently--and are even real at all or imagined. The standard example is thinking of a Volkswagen Beetle, and suddenly seeing them everywhere. Surely the thought does not alter the number of such Beetles in existence. What is not clear is whether one is noticing one's own thought and perception, or whether the thought stems from the fact that there do indeed happen to be more Beetles around at that particular moment.
Such is even more unclear when it comes to themes and ideas in culture. Culture follows trends and comes in waves much more freely and apparently than does more concrete reality. It is less of a stretch to suppose that there really are more disaster movies lately, for example, than it is to posit that there are more Volkswagens. Is it something within or external to me that that is responsible for all the media in my path dealing with the despair of being gay in the 1950s? If it was just the desperate, lonely, and painful truth of gay life in general, it would be obvious. Surely I seek out such media from experience and fellow-feeling. But the specificity of the 1950s version of that story, of which this is only the most recent specimen, feeds the larger question heartily.
It would be entirely on brand for me to incline in the direction of media that reinforced my (baldly unhealthy) narrative or being cursed and doomed. This particular book came my way through a friend, however, as I had no knowledge of its existence previously. I worked its way up through the stack of books until reaching the top, and I dutifully worked through it. Well written, even inspired at points, and filled with delicately nuanced imagery and symbolism, the book is obviously a gem. But did I really need to reminded yet again what a trial it was to be gay in the 1950s, when it is a lived trial even today? I did not.
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