Rhetorical Blog: "Blake Stone"

“The Biography of Blake Stone” by Jeramey Kraatz is nothing what I expected. I thought it would be about a real person, such as the author’s relative or the author himself. The story is about an 11-year-old boy who joins an AOL chat room and creates an alternate version of himself to have some online fun. The reason for Jeramey Kraatz creating a perfect alter ego hits home, though, because most people at 11 years old are uncomfortable with how they are in real life. In this sense, it makes the story a little more relatable because almost every kid wants to be the real-life “Prince Charming” or “Cinderella” while in middle school. This is especially true for boys who are going through puberty and have changing voices. Going online is the simplest way for “pubescent boys” to create their perfect selves, and Kraatz just took advantage of the opportunity (Kraatz 3).

When I was first reading the description of Blake Stone, I imagined the most beautiful man. The man Kraatz created as Blake is the type of man that every girl wishes to find - he is the man of myths and dreams. The description made it so I could actually picture Blake Stone in my mind (3). Of course, I never thought that I would need to imagine this perfect man in the form of an online creation. Although it is in an online format, the ballroom seems like a beautiful, elegant place taken straight out of a modern-day fairy tale. From the gardens below to the chandelier above, the detailed descriptions make it come alive (4). As the narrative continues and the characters start talking, it makes it seem like we, as readers, are there in the chat room interacting. All of the flirting, dancing, singing, and chatting is right there for us all to read. Just by reading the conversations Blake had with these women in the chat room, I felt like I knew what they wanted, even if I don’t approve of what they were doing on a chat room geared towards kids.

Chat rooms were so prominent in the ‘90s, similar to social networking websites are now, that it doesn’t come as a surprise that an 11-year-old boy in Odessa would join one to break the monotony of middle school life (3). It’s the conversations on the chat room that make it different from most others that boys join. On this “Masquerade Ball” chat room, Kraatz found self-confidence through Blake’s online interactions with these women (4). When “CalendarGAL” kissing Blake on the cheek makes Jeramey feel better, the chat room becomes more than a way to waste time (6). At that moment, it becomes something of a therapy session for Jeramey to become comfortable with his “pudgy, changing body” because he sees Blake as the online version of himself (3). Instead of having real social interaction with his peers talking about sports, Jeramey develops self-confidence by garnering affection from these women online. Chat room interactions seem normal at the time this took place, but to Jeramey, it was like turning into another person who was confident and secure with himself and what he could do.

After reading everything about Blake Stone, I started to recognize some problems that go on every day online. The first thing I noticed was that Jeramey was in the kids’ section of AOL, which is a place that is designed to be safe for pre-teens to have well-regulated and monitored fun. The fact that he was able to jump into a chat room filled with older people who are using it as a way to find legitimate relationships contradicts it being in the kids’ area. Jeramey’s story of Blake and “CalendarGAL” is like all the stories parents warn their kids about when telling them not talk to strangers online. This type of thing happens all too often when boys and girls are online and become easy targets for older women and men to form friendships and try to translate that into actual relationships. The underlying meaning of Jeramey’s essay is about how you should never think the person online is really who they say. If nothing terrible happens, such as stalking or harassment, then it sometimes ends up in disappointment. Although I doubt Jeramey thought he had a chance with a 32-year-old nurse from Georgia, he probably did think that she truly liked him and that is what gave him that self-confidence. When “CalendarGAL” broke down in an email to Blake about how she wanted a real relationship, Jeramey realized that this was not just a game for whoever was the real face behind the screen name (8). The woman who was known as “CalendarGAL” thought Blake was indeed a 22-year-old man who looked as handsome in real life as he did online, and a man who would not want anything to do with “an overweight 30-something woman” (8). This shows yet another problem with chat rooms and social networking sites. They can break people’s hearts and self-esteem by seeming so much like real life.