Why You Need People Who Won't Coddle You | Chris Colfer on Impact Theory

Last updated: Jun 1, 2023

The video is an interview with Chris Colfer, who talks about his experiences being bullied as a child and how storytelling, particularly in the form of fantasy and comic books, can be therapeutic and empowering.

The video features an interview with Chris Colfer, a multi-talented creator known for his role as Kurt Hummel on the TV series Glee. Colfer discusses his experiences with bullying and how it has influenced his work as a writer and storyteller. He also talks about the therapeutic nature of fantasy and how it can help people overcome limitations in reality. The interview touches on Colfer's Hollywood career, his success as a bestselling author, and his upcoming project with 20th Century Fox and Disney.

Chris Colfer experienced bullying in real life and played a bullied kid on national television.
He was homeschooled because of the bullying he experienced in middle school.
Storytelling became a useful tool for him to cope with his experiences.
He values ambition and drive in himself but fears that he might cross the line.
He identified with fantasy and superhero stories as examples of getting somewhere.
Harry Potter inspired him to become a storyteller himself.
He believes that vulnerability is key to connecting with characters and dealing with bullying.
He is now in a place where he feels he is not a victim anymore.
He is a multi-hyphenate creator with a successful career in acting and writing.

Why You Need People Who Won't Coddle You | Chris Colfer on Impact Theory - YouTube

Chris Colfer's Experience with Bullying

Chris Colfer played a bullied kid on national television and experienced bullying in real life.
He was bullied so badly in middle school that his mom took him out of school and started homeschooling him.
He doesn't allow people to take advantage of him or be unkind to him anymore.
He feels like he's not a victim anymore.
He gets tired of being associated with someone who is bullied.

Chris Colfer's Career

Chris Colfer is a multi-hyphenate creator best known for his role on Glee.
He won a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and three People's Choice Awards for his role on Glee.
He's a number one New York Times best-selling author with 15 published books to his name.
He's working with 20th Century Fox and Disney to turn his book, The Wishing Spell, into a major motion picture.
He hasn't even reached his 30th birthday yet.

Storytelling and Fantasy

Chris Colfer loves superhero novels, graphic novels, and stories about witches and wizards.
He loves those worlds because you get to be whatever you want to be.
Those kinds of stories can be very encouraging and therapeutic.
In a fantasy or comic book, a mouse can slay a dragon if it's courageous enough.
Those stories can be therapeutic for those who haven't quite slayed their dragons yet.

Why You Need People Who Won't Coddle You | Chris Colfer on Impact Theory - YouTube

Chris Colfer's Childhood

Chris Colfer felt ostracized from a young age.
He was the runt of his extended family and got made fun of the most.
He experienced bullying in middle school and was homeschooled because of it.
He used storytelling as a way to cope with his experiences.
He believes that storytelling can be therapeutic and empowering for those who feel ostracized or bullied.

Childhood and Early Interests

Chris Colfer was an eccentric kid who tried to make people laugh to be on their good side.
He was very different from other kids and tried to be like his funny dad.
He alienated a lot of friendships in elementary school because of his humor approach.
He was a talented singer but was made fun of for having a high-pitched voice.
He grew up in a very conservative town where being different was not accepted.

Storytelling as a Tool

Writing became a useful tool for Chris to get anyone to listen to him.
He was a very talented singer but was useless to any choir director or drama teacher.
He sang in the choir and was in a lot of school plays but never had the lead role.
He played the character of Kurt Hummel in Glee very well, but he was very different from that character.
He is much more cynical than Kurt Hummel.

Drive and Ambition

Chris was chosen to put on his own show called the Senior Show in his senior year of high school.
He wrote a musical called Shirley Todd, which was a gender-reversed version of Sweeney Todd.
He blackmailed all of his classmates to be in the show.
He values ambition and drive in himself, but he fears that he might cross the line.
He has never been so ambitious that he was causing harm.

Conclusion

Chris Colfer's childhood experiences shaped his interests and talents.
Storytelling became a useful tool for him to express himself.
He values ambition and drive in himself but fears that he might cross the line.
He played the character of Kurt Hummel in Glee very well, but he was very different from that character.
He is much more cynical than Kurt Hummel.

Using Fantasy as a Survival Tool

As a child, Chris Colfer had ambitions and dreams that he used as a survival tool.
He identified with fantasy and superhero stories as examples of getting somewhere.
He used fictitious characters as his examples of getting somewhere.
He identified with Greek mythology and literature.
He used his imagination to create a treasure map to a better life.

Harry Potter and Literature

Harry Potter was the first book that Chris Colfer enjoyed reading.
He had dyslexia and needed reading glasses, which he didn't find out until later in life.
Harry Potter inspired him to become a storyteller himself.
He identified more with Ron, Hermione, and Professor McGonagall than with Harry Potter.
He found that making the main character the most interesting and intriguing can be difficult.

Using Vulnerability to Connect with Characters

Secondary characters are often more relatable because they are not as vulnerable as the main character.
Chris Colfer believes that vulnerability is key to connecting with characters.
He believes that audiences respond to vulnerability, fear, and desires.
He believes that vulnerability is important in dealing with bullying.
He played a bullied kid on national television and experienced bullying in real life.

Moving Beyond Victimhood

Chris Colfer was bullied horribly in middle school and was homeschooled because of it.
He played a bullied kid on national television and let people know that it was coming from a real place.
He is now in a place where he feels he is not a victim anymore.
He believes that vulnerability is important in dealing with bullying.
He believes that moving beyond victimhood is important in dealing with bullying.

Overcoming Bullying

Chris Colfer no longer allows people to take advantage of him or be unkind.
He feels he has to keep talking about his experiences with bullying because it is still happening to kids around the world.
Adolescence is the toughest time in life because you have no freedom but all the responsibility.
Knowing that you don't have to be in any environment that you don't want to be in is the most important lesson.
You learn good communication skills and how to overcome harassment.

Identity Creation

Deciding what story you're going to tell yourself about who you are is important.
Whatever you repeat to yourself becomes your reality.

Overcoming Doubt

Chris Colfer has been told his entire life that he can't do something.
He uses it as motivation to prove them wrong.
It was never about his ability, but about the world not being ready for him.
He has never felt the need to tell someone they couldn't do something.
His initial emotional reaction to being told he can't do something is numbness.

Conclusion

Chris Colfer's experiences with bullying have taught him important lessons about self-worth and the power of storytelling.
He encourages people to create their own identities and not let others define them.
Overcoming doubt and proving people wrong can be a powerful motivator.

Chris Colfer's Drive and Motivation

Chris had to build on his experiences of being bullied and use them as a stepping stone to create his own ladder.
He takes credit for using his Glee experience to go into many different ventures.
Chris has always been one to work hard and turn blessings into blueprints.
He was always the ant, even when a reward or luck came his way.
Chris crystallized his drive to be the ant during his time on Glee.

You have read 50% of the summary.

To read the other half, please enter your Name and Email. It's FREE.

You can unsubscribe anytime. By entering your email you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Watch the video on YouTube:
Why You Need People Who Won't Coddle You | Chris Colfer on Impact Theory - YouTube