Prayers For Bobby

I couldn't find an actual advertisement for the films that premiered on Lifetime so I went with the cover of the book.

Now I'll be the first to admit that when gay films are considered they don't really contain any substance or interest. Every so often a good one will come around, but usually they're all about nudity, sex and drugs.

A second thing advising me to stay away from this film was the fact that it had a "red carpet premiere" on Lifetime. Let's face it, besides watching old episodes of Will and Grace or Golden Girls, who really watches the channel?

So the premiere came and went and I sat down to watch, it because it starred the wonderful and still beautiful Sigourney Weaver. It's a good thing the film was based on a book/true story because it automatically boosted way up on my radar. A funny thing about Lifetime is that all their films they premiere have some sort of like able quality but it's hard to pick out what it is. Usually it's the fact that b-list celebrity or even d-list celebrity stars in the most off the wall film about mental retardation and getting raped by the entire basketball team with a broom stick (an actual film I saw on Lifetime. )

Prayers for Bobby was a true, emotional story about a young boy who lives in a big family with an overbearing, religious mother. Bobby, our young gay protag lives in the attic and is on good terms with his younger sisters and older brother. Even the father in the story isn't to blame, except that he doesn't really understand his son, so he remains distant in their relationship. Once Bobby finally comes to grips with his sexuality the fireworks start and we follow him in his small town during the 80's. He eventually moves out after therapy and various devotions through church to a bigger city to live with his cousin. There he experiences freedom, but still remains heart broken after his mother has basically announced she "won't have a gay son."

Guilt, religion and heartache conjure within Bobby before he decides to climb an overpass and jump into on coming traffic. From there it becomes Sigourney's story as she comes to grip with how much of a bitch she is and tries to figure out if Bobby has gone to heaven or hell.

Overall, it becomes incredibly real and sad following the loneliness and strain of this simple family who deal with the repercussions of something they don't fully understand.

You'd think a movie like this (a story we've all heard before) wouldn't be interesting anymore, but for some reason I found it very intriguing. Maybe it has to do with my religious background, the fact that the main character has the same build as me and dreamed of becoming a writer (a scary comparison.) It was refreshing hearing truthful evidence speaking against the accusations of scripture and Sigourney really made it her film. I often am surprised by actresses we don't see very often, but she was phenomenal while hardly blinking an eye.

Another great thing is that we didn't see the asshole father who drinks, smokes and beats his wife breaking down on Bobby. He didn't seem to care about his sexuality and realized that Bobby just wasn't into certain "guy" things. I liked the fact that this story was about the mother being dissaproving. The father was generally concerned about his son and tried reaching out to him the best way a small town father can, but just didn't do it.

Verdict: A simple story, a Lifetime original, starring one big celebrity and simple sets still managed to captivate an interesting story while opening doors to bible bangers round the world with facts and truth. It was beautiful yet sad, two components Lifetime makes a staple on their channel...for the most part. Check it out, you may be surprised, and no, I don't sympathize more because of it being a gay film. Most gay films are horrible, but this one didn't seem to fit horrible cliche's or glorify homosexuality with colors and drug fueled club scenes.