Prayers for bobby the movie
Prayers for Bobby is a film based of a book written by Leroy Aarons in 1995. This film is a true story about Mary Griffith and her gay son, bobby. This story begins in 1979 when Mary Griffith, a devoted Christian, found out that her son is gay (aged 16 then). According to her beliefs n what the bible says, being gay is an abomination and she is set to 'cure' bobby his illness of being gay. Mary believes God can cure him of what she considers his 'sin' and persuades Bobby to pray harder and seek solace in church activities in hopes of changing him. Desperate for his mother's approval, Bobby does what is asked of him, but through it all, the church's apparent disapproval of homosexuality causes him to grow increasingly withdrawn and depressed. Guilty over the pain he is causing Mary, Bobby moves away, yet hopes that some day his mother will accept him. His subsequent depression and self-loathing intensifies as he blames himself for not being the 'perfect' son and is eventually driven to suicide. After the suicide of bobby, Mary begins to question her faith when she receives no answers from her pastor concerning her devastating loss. Through her long and emotional journey, Mary slowly reaches out to the gay community and eventually becomes a gay activist. - Summary partially taken from imdb
I really love this movie as there are a lot of meaningful and interesting quotes that you can't forget. Sigourney Weaver (the doctor in AVATAR) did a great job in playing Mary in this film. Her acting is good and realistic in the film. Her speech and the despair she felt due to the loss of her son is portrayed so well that my tears just can't stop flowing.
Of cos there are some cons in this film. The Bobby in the film was so innocent n even had a boyfriend. Agreed that his life is not perfect but why the sudden suicide? I don't think it's Ryan Kelley fault cos I think he did a pretty good job acting as bobby as well. After reading the book, I understand the suicide better. I guess 2 hrs is simply too short to film the despair that Bobby Griffith felt in 4 years.
Overall, I think this is a very interesting and touching film that is worth watching. If you are hoping for a gay love story, I would say sorry. There is no gay's love inside. But this film shows an interesting aspect of the reality of the problems that gays faced back in the 1980s and even till now. These problems exist as it is deeply rooted in the minds of many (such as the Christians) and i believe it will continue to exist for the next few decades as well.