Boy Erased (2018)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boy Erased is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered in 2018.

 

A young man (Jared) is outed as a homosexual. His parents are deeply concerned. They do not accept this situation.

 

Jared is sent to an institution called Love in Action which offers conversion therapy. This drama is about what happens to him while he is a client at this institution.

 

Here is some basic information about this drama:

 

** Writer and director: Joel Edgerton

** Based on the book Boy Erased: A Memoir by Garrard Conley (published in 2016)

** Language: English

** Subtitles: English

** Run time: 115 minutes

 

The cast includes the following:

 

** Lucas Hedges as Jared Eamons – the son

(this character is based on Garrard Conley)

 

** Nicole Kidman as Nancy Eamons – the mother

(this character is based on Martha Conley)

 

** Russell Crowe as Marshall Eamons – the father

(this character is based on Hershel Conley)

 

** Joel Edgerton as Victor Sykes – the counselor

(this character is based on John Smid)

 

** Britton Sear as Cameron Van Heussen – a young man who is a client at the institution Love in Action

 

The names of the four main characters have been changed. Perhaps for legal reasons. The name of the institution is real. It has not been changed.

 

The institution was founded in 1973. It was known as Love in Action until 2012, when the name was changed to Restoration Path.

 

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them here.

 

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here.

 

Some details may have been altered, added or excluded for dramatic reasons or for practical purposes. But the basic story is true.

 

The story of Jared and his stay at Love in Action is set in 2002 when he is around 18 years old.

 

Victor Sykes and his staff have a dual approach when they address the clients of Love in Action:

 

** The first approach can be described as gentle persuasion. The atmosphere is warm and friendly. The mood is relaxed. Jokes are told.

 

** The second approach can be described as hard pressure. The atmosphere is cold and hostile. The mood is not pleasant at all. No jokes are told.

 

The dual approach can also be described with the following terms:

 

** The carrot and the stick

** Reward and punishment

 

Victor Sykes and his staff have a number of methods which they use when they are trying to convert a homosexual person to a heterosexual person.

 

The following examples are seen in the drama:

 

Method # 1 = Religion

The clients are told they have lost their way. They have moved away from God. When you are a homosexual, God does not love you.

 

You must find the way back to God. You must be a good Christian. And a good Christian is not a homosexual.

 

Method # 2 = A Choice

Victor Sykes says he will explain why nobody is born as a homosexual. He says he will tell the clients why homosexuality is a choice. He says:

 

“I am a counselor. Was I born this way? No. I made a choice. If I do not want to be a counselor anymore, I can stop any time.”

 

He points towards one of the clients and says:

 

“Cameron! You are a football player. Right? Were you born this way? No. You made a choice. If you do not want to be a football player anymore, you can stop any time. It is your choice. Maybe you are a homosexual now. Were you born this way? No. It is a choice. This is why you can choose not to be a homosexual anymore.”

 

Method # 3 = Ancestors

Victor Sykes and his staff give the clients some homework. Each client receives a chart with a family three. Each client must fill in the names of his immediate family.

 

Step one: the father and the mother.

Step two: on the father’s side: aunts and uncles. As well as the grandparents.

Step three: on the mother’s side: aunts and uncles. As well as the grandparents.

For each person on the chart, the clients must add some personal information:

** Was this person a criminal?

Mark with the letter C

** Was this person a drug addict?

Mark with the letters DA

** Was this person a gang member?

Mark with the letters GM

** Was this person a homosexual?

Mark with the letters SSA

(which stand for Same Sex Attraction)

 

Victor Sykes explains:

“If you are bad right now, if there is something wrong with you right now, you will see that we can trace this fact back to one of your ancestors.”

 

In the drama, the clients accept the instructions given by Victor Sykes and his staff. Nobody asks a question. Nobody raises an objection.

 

Perhaps they were afraid of asking. But in each case, some questions should have been asked. In each case, some objections should have been raised.

 

Regarding method # 1 = Religion

According to you, God does not like me when I am a homosexual. How do you know this?

According to you, I must be a good Christian. Why? There is freedom of religion in the US. What if I decide that I do not want to be a Christian at all? Then I do not have to worry if God loves me or not. Then I can be a homosexual.

 

Regarding method # 2 = A Choice

You say being a counselor or a football player is a choice. I agree with you. But being a counselor or a football player is not the same as being a homosexual. Your logic is false. Maybe I am a homosexual today, because I was born this way.

 

Everybody knows that if you announce that you are a homosexual, your life will not be easy. You may lose your family and your friends. You may also lose your job and your home.

 

Who was ever going to say “I am a homosexual” if it was a choice? Who was going to make life more difficult for himself if he could choose to be heterosexual?

 

The only reason a person will make such a statement is because the person feels that he is born this way and that he cannot change, even if he desires to do this.

 

Regarding method # 3 = Ancestors

Each client must fill in the family tree. What if the client does not know the names of his ancestors?

 

Perhaps the client knows the names of the ancestors.

 

Perhaps the client wants to be honest. Perhaps the client is prepared to reveal the information which is required. Is it likely that this information is known to the client?

 

This kind of information is often a deep secret. How can a client reveal information about his ancestors if this information is a family secret?

 

Regarding the second and the third method

If we compare the second and the third method, we discover a serious contradiction:

 

According to method # 2, homosexuality is a choice. No person is born as a homosexual.

 

According to method # 3, Jared’s ancestors are responsible for his bad character.

 

If this is true, if the ancestors are responsible for Jared’s character, then it follows that he was, in fact, born as a homosexual.

 

It follows that he cannot change just because he wants to change. It follows that any conversion therapy is based on a false assumption.

 

In the drama, such questions are never asked. 

In the drama, such objections are never raised.

 

Victor Sykes and his staff were not able to convert Jared. He decided to leave the institution, because he felt that Sykes was acting like a bully. Jared was not prepared to be bullied by Sykes or any other person.

 

The character Victor Sykes is based on a real person whose name is John Smid.

 

John Smid was the director of Love in Action until 2008 when he resigned his position.

 

In 2010, he apologized for any harm he might have caused, while he was the director of the anti-gay institution, which offered conversion therapy.

 

In 2011, he announced that he had been a homosexual before and that he was still a homosexual.

 

In other words: he denounced everything he had fought for while he was the director of Love in Action!

 

What do reviewers say about this drama?

 

Here are some results:

 

69 percent = IMDb

74 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

80 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

On Amazon there are at the moment more than 2,800 ratings of this product, including more than 450 with reviews.

 

The average rating is 4.5 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 90 percent.

 

The ratings are very good, as you can see. I understand the numerous positive reviews, and I agree with some of them. But I cannot go all the way to the top.

 

The topic is important. The story deserves to be told. And in this drama, it is done quite well, but it has a flaw.

 

Some obvious questions are never asked.

Some obvious objections are never raised.

 

I think Jared or someone else should have explained precisely what is wrong with the methods used by Victor Sykes and his staff. But it never happens. This is, in my opinion, a flaw.

 

I like this drama, and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, there is a flaw which cannot be ignored.

 

I have to remove one star because of this flaw. I think this product deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Books

 

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

A historical novel by Emily Danforth

(2012)

 

While the story in this book is fictional, it is based on many true statements by persons who were subjected to conversion therapy, including the case of Zach Stark who wrote about his experience with Love in Action in 2005.

 

Why a Gay Person Can't Be Made Un-Gay:

The Truth about Reparative Therapies

By Martin Kantor

(2014)

 

Boy Erased: 

A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family

By Garrard Conley

(2016)

 

Gay Conversion Practices in Memoir, Film and Fiction: Stories of Repentance and Defiance

Edited by James E. Bennett and Marguerite Johnson

(2024)

 

# 2. Film and video

 

But I'm a Cheerleader

A young lesbian woman is sent to an institution which offers conversion therapy

(1999)

 

Here are some ratings:

 

43 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

75 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience) 

68 percent = IMDb

 

On Amazon there are at the moment more than 3,100 ratings of this product, including more than 500 with reviews.

 

The average rating is 4.7 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 94 percent. 

 

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

A historical drama based on the book from 2012

The story of Cameron Post is set in 1993

This drama premiered in 2018

 

Here are some ratings:

 

66 percent = IMDb

76 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

86 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

On Amazon there are at the moment more than 800 ratings of this product, including more than 100 with reviews.

 

The average rating is 4.4 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 88 percent.

 

*****

Boy Erased: 

A Memoir of Identity,

Faith, and Family

by Garrard Conley

(2016)

*****

The American author

Garrard Conley

(Born 1984 or 1985)

 

*****

The Miseducation of

Cameron Post

A historical novel

by Emily M. Danforth

(2012)

 

*****

The Miseducation of

 Cameron Post

A historical drama

(2018)

*****

 

Casa Susanna (2022)

 

 

 

Casa Susanna is a documentary film which premiered at the international film festival in Venice in 2022.

 

In 2023, it was shown on US television (PBS). It is an episode of the long-running program American Experience.

 

Casa Susanna is the name of a secret underground resort which existed in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York during the 1950s and the 1960s.

 

In this place, male cross-dressers could relax and be themselves without any fear of retribution.

 

The resort was owned and managed by Maria Valenti and her spouse Tito Arriagada, who was a cross-dresser known as Susanna Valenti.

 

To be precise, there were in fact two different resorts in the Catskills:

 

** The first, which existed 1955-1964, was called Chevalier d’Eon Resort. It was named after the famous French diplomat Chevalier d’Eon (1728-1810) who liked to dress as a woman.

 

** The second, which existed 1964-1969, was called Casa Susanna. It was named after the name which Tito used when he dressed as a woman.

 

In the 1950s and the 1960s, it was difficult and dangerous to be a male cross-dresser in the USA. If found out, the consequences could be serious and wide-ranging.

 

The person whose secret was revealed to the world could lose his family and friends, his job and his home.

 

He might also be arrested, because cross-dressing was regarded as a crime in most American states.

 

During those difficult years, Casa Susanna was a safe haven for men who liked to dress as women.

 

This film covers the history of the secret underground resort in the Catskill Mountains, which is a relatively unknown chapter of American history.

 

Here is some basic information about it:

 

** Writer and director: Sébastian Lifshitz

** Language: English

** Subtitles: English

** Run time: 97 minutes

 

The history of the resort is told by four persons who have direct or indirect connection with the place. Here is some basic information about them:

 

Katherine Cummings

(1935-2022)

Born as a boy named John

Katherine visited the resort more than once. The first visit was in 1962 when he attended a Halloween party which made a huge impression on him.

 

In 1986, he had a sex-change operation. The man John became the woman Katherine. John had been married and he had three daughters.

 

When he came out and revealed his secret to his family, one daughter accepted the situation, while the other two stated that they did not want to have any contact with him (her).

 

Katherine wrote a book about her life and experience which was first published in 1992.

 

Diana Merry-Shapiro

(born 1939)

Born as a boy named David

Apparently, Diana visited the resort only once during the 1960s. Later, David had a sex-change operation. The man David became the woman Diana.

 

When Diana told her parents, her father accepted the new situation, but her mother said she could not accept the new situation.

 

Betsy Wollheim

(born 1951)

Betsy’s mother was Elsie B. Wollheim; her father was Donald A. Wollheim (1914-1990). Her father was a cross-dresser and her mother knew about it.

 

Every summer, when Betsy was a child, she was sent to a summer camp for two months, so that her father could visit Casa Susanna in the Catskill Mountains.

 

Her mother had to drive him to this place, because he did not know how to drive. When he was at Casa Susanna, he was no longer Donald. He used the name Doris.

 

Betsy suspected that her father was a cross-dresser, but she did not know the full extent of this situation until she was an adult.

 

Her mother told her the whole story shortly before she had to undergo an important operation in hospital. She was not sure if she was going to survive the operation.

 

Her father was an author who used different pseudonyms for different topics. When he wrote a book about cross-dressing, he used the name Darrell G. Raynor:

 

A Year Among the Girls

(1966)

(1968)

 

Gregory Bagarozy

(born 1951)

Gregory is the grandson of Maria Valenti. Maria was born in 1901. She died in 1996.

 

Tito (Susanna) who was born in the 1920s was not his father. Tito and Maria married in 1958.

 

Gregory witnessed events at Casa Susanna when he was a boy in the 1950s and the 1960s.

 

The visitors of the resort were reluctant to take pictures of each other. For obvious reasons. They did not want such pictures to end up in the hands of a person who would go to the police and report them.

 

Nevertheless, several pictures were taken by a photographer who was trusted: Andrea Susan.

 

Andrea handed the negatives to her mentor, who saved them in a box. But when the mentor got married, this box was not saved. It ended up in a Manhattan flea market where it was found by Robert Swope in 2005.

 

Robert Swope and his partner Michael Hurst realised that the collection of pictures in the box was unusual and important. They decided to publish these pictures in a book in 2006.

 

In 2006, times had changed. Many people who can be seen in these pictures were no longer alive. Those who were still alive would not be arrested, because the laws had been changed since the 1950s and 1960s. Cross-dressing was no longer a crime.

 

The publication of the book with the old pictures created a renewed interest in the history of the secret underground resort in the Catskill Mountains.

 

How did cross-dressers know how to find Casa Susanna in the days before the internet?

 

There was an underground magazine called Transvestia which was published for 20 years (1960-1980). It was circulated by the postal service. A total of 100 issues were published.

 

The magazine was created by the American activist Virginia Prince (1912-2009) who was also the editor for most of the time when it existed.

 

What happened to Casa Susanna after 1969? Gregory explains that the resort was sold in order to pay some huge medical bills after Maria suffered a fall.

 

Maria Valenti and Susanna Valenti lived until 1996. They both died in the same year.

 

What do reviewers say about this film?

 

Here are some results:

 

71 percent = IMDb

86 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

100 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

 

The ratings are very good, as you can see. When you look at Rotten Tomatoes, you can see that the audience offers a higher rating than the critics. This is surprising.

 

When the product under review is a documentary film, the critics will often go higher than the audience.

 

But in this case, the typical pattern is broken. The audience is prepared to go all the way to the top, while the critics have a few reservations.

 

I understand the numerous positive reviews, and I agree with many of them, but I cannot go all the way to the top. Why not? Because there are some flaws here and there.

 

What is wrong?

 

Let me explain:

 

# 1. The persons who are interviewed are only identified by their first name. No last names are mentioned.

 

The first person who appears is Katherine, but there is no presentation of her. No last name is mentioned.

 

The second person who appears is Diana, but there is no presentation of her. No last name is mentioned.

 

The third person who appears is Betsy, but there is no presentation of her. No last name is mentioned.

 

After a while, the viewer can understand that Betsy never visited the resort. She is talking about her father who visited the resort on several occasions.

 

The book A Year Among the Girls is mentioned. The cover of the book is shown to us.

 

We can see the name of the author: Darrell G. Raynor. But Betsy’s father is called Donald. How can he be the author of the book?

 

After a while, the viewer can understand that Betsy’s father used different names for different topics. When he wrote the book about the resort, he did not use his real name. He used a pseudonym.

 

The fourth person who appears is Gregory. But there is no presentation of him. No last name is mentioned.

 

After a while, the viewer can understand that he witnessed events at Casa Susanna when he was a boy, but why was here there? After a while, it becomes clear that he is the grandson of Maria Valenti.

 

Why are the last names omitted in every case? These persons appear on camera using their real first names. They are not trying to be anonymous. Why does the director hide the last names?

 

I was only able to discover the last names of these four persons by reading some of the reviews of the film.

 

# 2. Only four persons are interviewed here. Only two of them actually visited the resort as adults. And one of them only visited once. The foundation of this account is limited.

 

It should be possible to find other persons who were there as adults. The director does not say if he tried to find other persons who were there.

 

# 3. The four persons who appear in the film are white. All persons who can be seen in the old photographs are white. What about minorities?

 

What about African Americans, Latinos, Asians? Was there not a single person of color at Casa Susanna? The question is never asked.

 

I like this film and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, there are some flaws. I have to remove one star because of these flaws.

 

The topic is important. The story deserves to be told. And in this film, it is done quite well.

 

But it is not flawless. This is why I think this product deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Books

 

A Year Among the Girls

By Darrell G. Raynor

(1966)

(1968)

 

Understanding Cross-Dressing

By Virginia Prince

(1976)

(1981)

 

Katherine’s Diary:

The Story of a Transsexual

By Katherine Cummings

(1992)

 

Cross Dressing, Sex and Gender

By Vern Bullough and Bonnie Bullough

(1993)

 

From Man to Woman:

The Transgender Journey of Virginia Prince

By Richard F. Docter

(2004)

 

Transgender Voices:

Beyond Women and Men

By Lori G. Girshick

(2008)

 

Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959-1968

By Isabelle Bonnet and Sophie Hackett

(With an introduction by Susan Stryker)

(2024)

 

# 2. Items available online

 

Jude Dry

“Casa Susanna Review: A lost chapter of queer history comes to life,”

Indie Wire

03 September 2022

 

Sheri Linden

“Casa Susanna Review: A Deeply Affecting Exploration of a Secret Chapter in LGBTQ History,”

The Hollywood Reporter

17 September 2022

 

Carla Hay

“Review: Casa Susanna,”

Culture Mix Online

26 November 2022

 

Maria M. Silva

“Casa Susanna, a onetime underground Catskills LGBTQ+ haven,”

Times Union

15 June 2023

 

Adrian Gomez

“Casa Susanna became a haven for the silenced,”

Albuquerque Journal

23 June 2023

Updated 25 June 2023

 

Gwendolyn Ann Smith

“Transmissions: Casa Susanna and the mists of time,”

Bay Area Reporter

12 July 2023

 

*****

Susanna Valenti 

posing in front of

Casa Susanna

*****

The cover of the magazine

Transvestia

Issue # 16 - 1962

 

*****