Bloom in the Spotlight

Hello dear readers. It's been a while, hasn't it?

I think the title of this Myth is certainly the most fitting for this return of the series, and one I am very proud to bring to you.

Many of you may know this individual: they are a myth of their own right long before I even typed or scribbled a note about them. A line of myths, even. But some myths, my dear readers, are best discovered directly.

This is one of those situations.

I'll be upfront, an agency actually approached me regarding this one in particular, asking if I was interested in doing an interview with a person they represented.

How could I refuse? I was in the middle of packing, preparing to leave Los Santos for a short time when I got the message. One last story before I left? Sure. Why not?

And then I purposely did something that I am not sure if many would: I did no research online of my subject. No google searches, no scrolling through Birdy. None of that. Because I already recognized the name.

Marty Valentine.

See, part of the Living Myths is to discover the myth inside of everyone directly from them. Marty's posts and influence I had seen in passing in my day to day: posts on Birdy, on Trendy, InstaPic— I didn't want that to influence what we were to talk about. Even when friends asked how I felt about interviewing someone famous. I didn't care.

I wanted to know Marty.

Our conversation happened in a place that is a second home to me: the Library at the University here. It's quiet: the vanilla smell of aged pages, occasional creak of chairs and giggles in distant corners. If I ever wanted to hide away from the world for a while, it's here I would run to.

I think that helped set the tone for our meeting.

Marty arrived and settled right in, and in seconds, we were swept off into conversation.A native of Vinewood, a transplant to Louisiana, and a return home to begin anew - a re-blooming, if you will. Marty started young: dancing and acting came natural to him, appearing on shows when he was a kid. This time in the spotlight as a child left a mark and memory of happiness in being able to bring joy and smiles to others. And while he has not (yet) returned to this art form, he admitted: he never stopped performing. The stage is just now digital.

And a stage that holds a lot of responsibility.

I will not go into the details of Marty's past. Post this interview, I did go look. It does not change anything in how I feel about the man I sat across from that evening and got to know. How passionately he spoke of art and storytelling through acting. How he felt a sense of duty to use his platform, his status even, to try and touch so many lives and do good.

We share a similar space: we both move and project our words and thoughts out here on the digital stage. Where Marty uses his platform to bring joy through his Tamagotchi showcases, his streaming, he also uses it to try and be a good force unto the world.

He takes time in his streams to talk about heavier things. He takes time to donate and give that same time to worthwhile causes. In the first few minutes I could tell there was a wall up between us - an unease that was masked with practiced, polite kindness. Someone who had been assumed to be one thing before even opening his mouth. Before he even got a chance to use his own voice.

When I told him that I didn't look into anything about his background, he really bloomed in front of me.

We spent an hour together talking about the responsibilities we both hold as artists in our own rights to be so careful with how we define narratives out here on this digital stage. How we have to do our absolute best to not cause damage by pushing truths that only benefited us. This is a space, that even I admit, anyone can be anything. Even some interviews I expect in the future might have someone who is pretending to not be who they say they are, as part of their own myth. Something that I argued will always be a thing no matter the time or space: tricksters that hide behind masks.

Something that Marty said that stuck with me: "There's a thin line between acting and lying."

He devotes himself to that acting side; to tell a story, to share a thought. The performance is what it is, but being honest about the performance is what is most important.

Marty doesn't seek this spotlight for attention, while thrives in it's light, he sees the opportunity it can give him. I mentioned before he used it for charity, but also community building through his streams. He elevates others, and even refuses to take on large corporate brand deals. He has a similar mindest to one I was raised in: You leave the world in a slightly better place than you found it.

He knows we can't fix the world by himself, but he recognizes the influences he does have and uses them to his advantage in this goal to just leave some kind of positive mark on this place. Even if it is for one or two people, though I'd dare say, it's far more than just that.

To him, authenticity is a philosophy almost.

As I mentioned, I could tell there was a guard at first, one that I don't blame him for having. He grew up in the public eye, and much of his existence is online, accessible to thousands at a second. People have written about him, his family, and used that to interpreted him and decided what events of his life meant.

Ideas that formed about him, the very thing I wanted to avoid going into this.

"My life was recorded by people who didn't even care about me."

My heart broke at that utterance. I cannot fathom that sensation, my dear reader. I feel as someone who records these stories that they should be treasured more than anything. And even more so, the person telling it. To take a story without care of the source is a tragedy in my book.

I realized I sat across the table from a man fighting to regain his narrative.

There's a difference between having your life documented and having your story told.

He admits he is a "nepo baby" because of his family, he was born into a family that had resources and supports that many don't have. He recognizes it, and the weight that comes with it. He doesn't sit and suffer under it in a state of he doesn't matter, but like I said before, uses it to do good.

It's a way to reclaim the narrative.

A way that I fully support.

Someone can be fortunate in life, but deeply wounded. Humans are flawed and beautiful creatures. It's what we choose to do with what we've been given that says far more about who we are.

Marty still loves acting. He doesn't love what the industry is. I asked him what he planned to do with his time here in Los Santos outside of streaming. At the time, he was getting a studio set up, which by the time of this publication, we've already been seeing pop up on our Birdy accounts. I suggested he go the indie route for movies. Find the passion at the roots level again. The dreamers who have nothing to prove but their visions. I think he could pull it off, if it was anyone who could.

As the night got longer, I came to the question that I ask everyone of my myths: What myth or legend did Marty see for himself? One that really stuck with him.

"Persephone."

It's not kidnapping. It's not simply being a goddess associated with spring, but something that is far more primal: Despite whatever circumstances trap you, however hard the world comes down upon you, you will still manage to bloom every year.

Marty has gone through a metamorphosis of his own right. While the story is mainly remembered for the kidnapping, for the search, Marty focuses on a part that many others forget later: Persephone thrives in the underworld. She becomes Dread Persephone - Queen who rules with absolute power next to her husband. In the workings of people of Greece, they respected her just as much as Hades himself, and to invoke her name was dangerous. You respected her. At all costs.

She adapted, grew, and thrived.

So does Marty.