Conversion camp movie
“I’ve never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual.” ~ John Smid, former Executive Director of Care in Action.
In the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from their list of mental disorders. In response anti-gay groups formed “Christian Ministries” to “cure” homosexuality through a mix of talk “therapy,&#; exercise, prayer and electroshock &#;therapy.&#; Some organizations have allegedly resorted to beating and raping their &#;patients.&#; While adults could prefer to enroll voluntarily many minors were placed there against their will. The legality of these programs has come under stern examination.
In the Fall of two films are opening about the subject of conversion “therapy.” In preparation I decided to peruse their source novels and observe other films on the topic. The plot generally goes enjoy this: The young protagonist is sent by their family to a conversion “therapy” center. The staff puts them through exercises to “cure” their homosexuality. Eventually the protagonist finds the power to escape the center, sometimes with
The Best Conversion Camp Movie Was Overshadowed by ‘Boy Erased’
From teen comedies to horror movies, the cruel, abusive world of conversion therapy camps has served as inspiration for many movies in the past few decades. Some, like ’s But I’m a Cheerleader, manage to capture and poke fun at the ridiculous, pseudo-scientific set of ideologies this kind of “therapy” espouses. Meanwhile, others, such as the slasher They/Them, fail to properly harness the horror of these institutions and turn them into something cinematically terrifying. Between these two extremes are those movies that tackle the issue of sexual conversion without subterfuges — straightforward dramas that purport to verb us the pain and trauma caused by these places for what they are. This approach has produced what is by far the best movie about conversion camps ever made, a heartfelt indie gem by the name of The Miseducation of Cameron Post.
Directed by Desiree Akhavan, The Miseducation of Cameron Post stars Chloë Grace Moretz as a teenage girl sent to a Christi
Below are recommended movies and memoirs about being victimized by gay conversion therapy, which is defined in the opening to Netflix&#;s new documentary Pray Away: &#;Reparative or ‘conversion’ therapy is the attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender by a religious leader, licensed counselor, or in peer support groups. All major medical and mental health associations have denounced the practice as harmful (emphasis mine).&#;
I. Pray Away ()
Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: &#;&#;(T)he main storylines center on four former leaders of the ex-gay movement from a generation ago&#;.skillfully interweaves present-day interviews with archival footage of these prominent figures in the movement — all of whom hold renounced their roles and are now living as out gays or bisexuals.&#;
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: &#;A sobering account of Christian intervention rooted in toxic homophobia.&#;
Dan Callahan, The Wrap: &#;&#;(W)e notice footage of many so-called &#;ex-ex-gays&#; when they were being tortured by their ministries alongside footage o
Come as you are
It is uncommon to find movies rightfully tackling the topic of conversion camps. Yet, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, or Come as you are, a movie from Desiree Akhavan released in , manages to do so. The story takes us into Cameron’s life, a young lesbian girl sent to a conversion camp after her family found out that she had a relationship with a girl. In a total immersion in this religious structure, the movie allows us to understand its functioning and to realize what is inflicted to these young people.
Conversion therapies, still taking place in a lot of countries nowadays, are practices aiming at the healing of any deviance from heteronormativity1. and cisnormativity2. They display homosexuality or transidentity as a shame that young people must get rid of. Since the s3and often carried out in the United States by austere religious organisations, those practices remain unknown by most people. Indeed, by looking at the cultural industry, and globally, at its productions, it is rare that this topic is approached.
The Iranian-American scriptwriter and p