What Boy Erased has been to gay male youths The Miseducation Of Cameron Post has told the same tale without the marquee names that Boy Erased has had for lesbians. Chloe Grace Moretz as our protagonist lead is backed by an impeccably cast film telling of a young women's time at a place called God's Promise a conversion therapy center.
Moretz in the title role is your average teen from Bible Belt USA who is exploring some lesbian feelings with another girl when she's found out and ratted out to her guardian aunt, a church lady. Quicker than you can say Melissa Etheridge, Moretz is off to God's Promise for the cure.
Where she finds other boys and girls struggling with their same sex feelings and each is a story unto themselves. All have been sent by their fundamentalist leaning families who have been told that same sex is inherently evil.
The place is run by brother and sister team John Gallagher, Jr. and Jennifer Ehle. He's your hail fellow well met type, she's a dragon lady. At one time she was in the mental health field for real but then got into this.
Some months ago when my area was debating whether to ban conversion therapy or not one of the proponents said that this would have the effect of driving people of faith from the mental health field. After seeing this film I say not fast enough.
Gradually as she learns more and more Moretz figures out this is all quite bogus. What really hits home is what happens to fellow inmate Owen Campbell. This is a performance that will move one of Medusa's victims to tears.
Can any kind of therapy that tells you first and foremost to hate yourself do you any kind of good? This is the question that Moretz asks, it's the one we should all ask as we consider legislation to put charlatan operations like God's Promise out of business.
This film ought like Boy Erased be required viewing for young LGBTQ audiences It's outstanding and should be better known.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
2018
Comedy / Drama / Romance
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
2018
Comedy / Drama / Romance
Plot summary
Pennsylvania, 1993. After getting caught with another girl, teenager Cameron Post is sent to a conversion therapy center run by the strict Dr. Lydia Marsh and her brother, Reverend Rick, whose treatment consists in repenting for feeling "same sex attraction." Cameron befriends fellow sinners Jane and Adam, thus creating a new family to deal with the surrounding intolerance.
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Doing time at God's Promise
compelling subject matter
It's 1993. Orphan teen Cameron Post (Chloë Grace Moretz) is hiding her love of Coley Taylor (Quinn Shephard) from the rest of the world especially her Christian aunt and community. The girls go to the homecoming dance with their boyfriends and get caught making out in the back of the car. Her aunt drives her to gay conversion camp, God's Promise, run by Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle) and her brother Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.). Rick was one of Lydia's first conversion subject.
While the premise is compelling, the movie is less so. It needs to heighten the drama by raising the stakes. Instead of simply about her homosexuality, this should be about her yearning to be with Coley. Instead of seeing their relationship in snippets of flashbacks, the movie should invest more into portraying their love story. Once the audience gets invested in them being together, the stake gets raised. Cameron is a quiet character and there isn't much feeling towards the girls' secret relationship. Without a real investment in the character, this is nothing more than an uncomfortable, static litany of events. Moretz is a great young actress and there is good naturalistic acting from the cast.
What's in your iceberg?
In 1993, small-town Pennsylvania, Cameron (Chloë Grace Moretz) is caught with another girl at a school dance and is forced to gay conversion camp. Here she is paired off to sleep in a room with another girl and forced to pray the gay away. The teens are further abused by making them dress like Rick Santorum.
The teens create iceberg drawings, attempting to come up with reasons why they are gay like "overly loving parents" or "not enough love from parents" and "gender confusion because of sports" although they never mention the WBA.
It was an interesting film. The climax was not overpowering. The film shies away from any theological argument or genetic discussion. Chloë Grace Moretz plays a subdued part.
Guide: F-word. Brief nudity.