"Prayers For Bobby" -- so emotional!
So, when I was writing from EL I mentioned this Lifetime movie I wanted to see called "Prayers for Bobby" with Sigourney Weaver. Although we left a little late in the day on Sunday (Geneva thought I was going to the movies and was trying to rush, I felt so bad! LOL) I still got home in time to see the entire movie. It was, to say the least, very emotional.
Bobby Griffith is fifteen in the beginning of the movie, living in Walnut Creek, California with his family. He's struggling with a strange attraction to males. He breaks up with his girlfriend when she wants to have sex with him, and from there is where he realizes his sexual orientation. There's this part where he's at his locker (he's in high school) and this cute guy is walking past him and he is initially infatuated and thinks he's so hot. Then, as the guy passes and hugs a girl he realizes what he was doing and gets scared. He eventually confides in his brother that he thinks he's gay and his brother suggests telling their parents. Bobby makes his brother promise he won't tell their mom but he does anyway.
Bad idea. All his mom (Sigourney Weaver) can do is preach and demand he work harder to "cure" himself. The more time goes on, the more his mother continues to make him feel terrible about his sexuality and the more Bobby hates himself. He takes a trip to Portland, Oregon and meets a male friend named David who gets along wonderfully with his parents. When Bobby goes back to California his mom is upset that he hasn't been trying to work on fixing his sexuality. They argue and eventually she blurts out, "I won't have a gay son." Bobby responds with, "then, mom you don't have a son," tears beginning to stream down his face. He didn't scream it at her, he didn't lunge at her out of rage or respond with violence. He simply said it, and the pain was as obvious as the daylight with his tears and his tone.
He eventually goes to permanently live in Portland with his cousin (who he stayed with when he was just visiting), and it is here he nears the end of his rope. They actually flash to this figurative scene a couple of times; where Bobby is tied up with barbed wire wrapped all the way down around his arms (down to his hands) and he can't move 'cause he's bound so tight in this painful wire (he is standing up though) and not only this, but he's blindfolded so he can't see how to escape. It was such a symbol for how he felt.
One day, he leaves his job at the hospital and he leaves his keys on a desk (implying that he already knows he isn't coming back). He's driving somewhere, and while he's driving he sees David kickin' it with another guy. Tears begin again on his face and here is where he drives over the freeway bridge. He gets out of his car at the bridge, walks slowly to the center of it directly above traffic. He steps over the edge and, tears streaming down his face the whole time, he lets himself fall backward over the rim into the on-coming traffic. He gets hit by a semi-truck (apparently, we didn't get to actually see it) and killed instantly.
From here on his mom slowly recognizes her mistakes and eventually comes to the light. She finally understands that God didn't heal Bobby because there was nothing wrong with him; there was nothing to heal. He was kind of heart, sweet, smart, and with a very bright future ahead of him that was stolen to quickly -- by himself. He was in so much pain and couldn't see a way out. I think Bobby knew the only way he could get to his mother was through a profound statement. Unfortunately for them, that statement was suicide.
I felt so bad for poor Bobby. I'm into dramatic movies for one, and I wanted to see this one because I like it when people finally see the light with homosexuality. Now I'm not homosexual, but it doesn't take one homosexual person to sympathize with another. You can be straight as a board and still feel bad for them because they're discriminated against in the worst way. I like seeing movies about racial discrimination too (really, any kind of discrimination), and seeing the oppressors either put in their place or finding the light of love.
I'm probably gonna try to tape "Prayers for Bobby" tonight when it comes on. It was intense and it was definitely worth the watch. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants justice in the homosexual community. Look for re-plays, it'll be coming on again. See y'all later! :)
Bobby Griffith is fifteen in the beginning of the movie, living in Walnut Creek, California with his family. He's struggling with a strange attraction to males. He breaks up with his girlfriend when she wants to have sex with him, and from there is where he realizes his sexual orientation. There's this part where he's at his locker (he's in high school) and this cute guy is walking past him and he is initially infatuated and thinks he's so hot. Then, as the guy passes and hugs a girl he realizes what he was doing and gets scared. He eventually confides in his brother that he thinks he's gay and his brother suggests telling their parents. Bobby makes his brother promise he won't tell their mom but he does anyway.
Bad idea. All his mom (Sigourney Weaver) can do is preach and demand he work harder to "cure" himself. The more time goes on, the more his mother continues to make him feel terrible about his sexuality and the more Bobby hates himself. He takes a trip to Portland, Oregon and meets a male friend named David who gets along wonderfully with his parents. When Bobby goes back to California his mom is upset that he hasn't been trying to work on fixing his sexuality. They argue and eventually she blurts out, "I won't have a gay son." Bobby responds with, "then, mom you don't have a son," tears beginning to stream down his face. He didn't scream it at her, he didn't lunge at her out of rage or respond with violence. He simply said it, and the pain was as obvious as the daylight with his tears and his tone.
He eventually goes to permanently live in Portland with his cousin (who he stayed with when he was just visiting), and it is here he nears the end of his rope. They actually flash to this figurative scene a couple of times; where Bobby is tied up with barbed wire wrapped all the way down around his arms (down to his hands) and he can't move 'cause he's bound so tight in this painful wire (he is standing up though) and not only this, but he's blindfolded so he can't see how to escape. It was such a symbol for how he felt.
One day, he leaves his job at the hospital and he leaves his keys on a desk (implying that he already knows he isn't coming back). He's driving somewhere, and while he's driving he sees David kickin' it with another guy. Tears begin again on his face and here is where he drives over the freeway bridge. He gets out of his car at the bridge, walks slowly to the center of it directly above traffic. He steps over the edge and, tears streaming down his face the whole time, he lets himself fall backward over the rim into the on-coming traffic. He gets hit by a semi-truck (apparently, we didn't get to actually see it) and killed instantly.
From here on his mom slowly recognizes her mistakes and eventually comes to the light. She finally understands that God didn't heal Bobby because there was nothing wrong with him; there was nothing to heal. He was kind of heart, sweet, smart, and with a very bright future ahead of him that was stolen to quickly -- by himself. He was in so much pain and couldn't see a way out. I think Bobby knew the only way he could get to his mother was through a profound statement. Unfortunately for them, that statement was suicide.
I felt so bad for poor Bobby. I'm into dramatic movies for one, and I wanted to see this one because I like it when people finally see the light with homosexuality. Now I'm not homosexual, but it doesn't take one homosexual person to sympathize with another. You can be straight as a board and still feel bad for them because they're discriminated against in the worst way. I like seeing movies about racial discrimination too (really, any kind of discrimination), and seeing the oppressors either put in their place or finding the light of love.
I'm probably gonna try to tape "Prayers for Bobby" tonight when it comes on. It was intense and it was definitely worth the watch. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants justice in the homosexual community. Look for re-plays, it'll be coming on again. See y'all later! :)