Coming out can be a terrifying and even risky decision, which is no doubt what 18-year-old Tyler Owens was thinking when he recently got up the courage to speak his truth to his loved ones. However, when the big moment finally came, his family stepped up in a huge way to show Tyler he had nothing to worry about: When Tyler came out of the closet, his family paused the 2007 Eddie Murphy movie Norbit for an entire 20 seconds to give him a thumbs-up.
Truly touching. In what was likely the most vulnerable moment of his life, Tyler’s family found it in their hearts to completely pause Norbit for almost half a minute and shoot a thumbs-up in Tyler’s general direction.
It’s always beautiful when a coming-out story has a happy ending, but for Tyler’s family to remain completely silent and give him a thumbs-up in the middle of Norbit really is something special. Tyler’s dad could have said, “It’s fine you are gay, but please shut up during Norbit,” or his mom could have only given him a thumbs-up for five seconds instead of 20 seconds. But instead, they paused Norbit right then and there and gave Tyler a thumbs-up for 20 continuous seconds!
Tyler’s story is all the more incredible when you consider the fact that both of his parents grew up in the kind of small, religious community where people were much more likely to give a thumbs-down or turn the volume way up on the movie Norbit if they thought a family member was trying to come out to them. But today, when Tyler took a chance and bared his soul to his family, Tyler’s mom reached for the remote, paused Norbit right in the middle of the iconic scene where Eddie Murphy is dressed as an obese woman going down a water slide very quickly, and led the family in giving her son a thumbs-up for long enough that the DVD menu for Norbit actually came up for a second.
So beautiful. It must feel absolutely incredible for Tyler to be able to come out in such a supportive environment where not one person feels the need to be watching the movie Norbit or says that they wish Norbit could be un-paused. If more people were like Tyler’s family, the world would be a better place!
