It’s all "Love You Simon", do we still need "The Erased Boy"?
Adapted from the novel of the same name, "The Erased Boy" is based on Garrard Conley's personal experience. He grew up in a religious middle-class family in Arkansas, USA. At the age of 19, he came out to his parents and was arranged to go to a gay correction institution. But it was this dark experience that allowed him to accept himself and find his own voice. By sharing his experience, he exposed all the absurd evils in the correction institution hidden in the dark.
In all fairness, for the heavy topic of gay correction, "The Erased Boy" is a safe-playing film, and it is a fairly satisfactory adaptation. The film seems to focus on depicting the inner workings of a gay correction institution. It also wants to explore how a family can reconcile in such a storm, and how a boy can grow stronger in such an experience. Having too many elements that I want to involve makes the film not have a harder emotional impact to the core, which seems a bit fragmented. The movie has good performances, with a beloved actor (❤ Lucas Hedges ❤), and the main character (the mother played by Nicole Kidman) also has moving moments, but the narrative structure that flashes back repeatedly makes the story lack an emotional continuation. sex. The director said in the QA session that one of the big reasons why the film uses interludes is to respect the structure of the original work. But such repeated flashbacks sacrificed the three-dimensional sense of the supporting role, and did not leave enough space for the protagonist to establish a relationship with other characters. The other members of the correctional institution, including the characters of Xavier Dolan and Troye Sivan, appear very flat, and it is difficult for the audience to understand who they are and what is behind them.
Regardless of whether it is a member of the LGBTQ group, the things that individuals need to experience for growth and awakening are roughly the same-self-acceptance, family approval, and social tolerance. Compared to the general public, the LGBTQ group inevitably struggled in the process. The gay rights movement of generations in the United States, from Stonewall riots to Harvey Milk, finally legalized gay marriage in the Obama government two years ago. It seems that the United States is a free country with advanced ideology, but in fact it is firmly tied down by religion and capital. In the first religion, for small individuals, if they were born in a family with a very traditional religious consciousness, like the story hero Garrard, when they realize that they like the same sex, they are most likely to feel self-resistance and fear first. After all, the closest people have been preaching that being gay is sin. This kind of tearing that is not accepted by the relatives should not be a minority in the LGBQ group; in terms of the general environment, this country was originally built on the basis of missionaryism, so there are many religious groups (not all believers are opposed to it. Comrade, this is a considerable improvement). Before the government makes any decision that is beneficial to the gay community, it will consider whether it will hurt the nerves of the majority of religious people. The reverse is also true. If the government suppresses a bill that is beneficial to the LGBTQ community, will it be invisibly supported by the conservative faithful? Second, let’s talk about capital. The Trump government wants to ban transgender groups from joining the army, under the banner of saving money for everyone. Because Trump disliked his/their high medical expenses in the army, and the Trump government felt sorry for everyone at this tax money-even though he magically clamored to spend billions to repair the wall. But people with capital have the confidence to support a bill that is beneficial to them. After all, if it is passed, it is very likely that a small amount of money will be returned multiple times. Vice President Pence of the United States has a deeper connection with this movie. In addition to publicly opposing gay marriage, he is also a supporter of gay correction institutions. There are public records show that he believes that "government funding should be used for those who want to change their sexual orientation body" .
The influence of the three elements of individual, family, and society on the LGTBQ group are interdependent. From a young age, even if there is no difficulty in self-acceptance, after your sexual orientation/gender awareness is awakened, you will still worry about whether you will be accepted by your family and friends, and whether you are being marginalized by society. And the attitude of a family member toward the gay community, apart from the influence of religion, depends to a large extent on the social class and environment of the family. If the family in "Love You Simon" is in a very conservative town in central America, how credible is the applause he and the boy received when kissing on the Ferris wheel? From the big to the small, the destiny of the individual can be seen from the attitude of the government. After generations of people have fought for gay rights, in the movie, we saw "Love You, Simon" that was encouraged when we came out in mainstream theaters. In reality, we saw the joy of the gay parade on the east and west coasts every year. This seems to create an illusion that gay groups are accepted and celebrated in the United States, because in 2018, more than 70% of the states in the United States still have institutions for gay transfer treatment for teenagers and they are not illegal . With the existence of such a vice president who supports gay treatment institutions, and with such an institution operating, there will be money flowing, and some teenagers will be tortured or even die in the dark. This is still happening in the United States where many gay movements and homosexuality can be discussed as open topics. Comrades in many societies around the world are far less fortunate than the boy in this story. They are far, far away from "Love You, Simon", and closer is "Brokeback Mountain", "The Victim", a piece of white paper, or a piece of darkness.
So does this seemingly sweet and modern queer movie make sense to be filmed? I think it does. As Nicole Kidman said in the interview, "To express a message, to make a voice, even if it can save one person, it is enough." In such a small and medium cost movie, with her playing the role of a mother who resolutely defends her child's sexuality, perhaps the movie audience will be larger, or the movie will become a guide and a reference for other parents when their children come out. It is also meaningful to help individual families to struggle less. So from Troye Sivan to Xavier Dolan, the singers and directors who come out are willing to come to play small roles one by one, perhaps because of the social significance behind the movie.
There is self-acceptance and family reconciliation in the story. But what about social rights? Why does the gay correction institution still exist ten years after the end of Garrard's story? Rights are something that needs to be constantly striving for. Today, you can get married legally (not to say that marriage is the proof of equal rights that every comrade wants), but tomorrow the marriage certificate may lose its legal effect. It sounds a bit exaggerated, but when you see a series of measures to suppress the LGTBQ group after the Trump government came to power , as a member of the group, it is hard not to imagine that one day this group will be suddenly "The Story of a Woman".
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