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 = 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 may 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)
*****
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