Prayers for Bobby

Plot synopsis:
Mary Griffith is a devout Christian who raises her children—Ed, Bobby, Joy and Nancy—according to the evangelical teachings of her local Presbyterian church in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Walnut Creek, California.
Ed finds Bobby resisting temptations to overdose on Aspirin as an initial suicide attempt before Bobby confides to him that he is gay. Life changes for the entire family after Mary learns about his secret. In hopes of converting him, she takes him to a psychiatrist, who explains to Bobby's parents that a person's homosexuality is the result of lacking a close relationship with parental figures. She then advises Bobby to pray harder and seek solace in Church activities, as well as to arrange a special bonding time with his father. While spending such quality time with his father, Bobby explains his desire to become a writer, to which his father suggests "some dreams are just not realistic."
Bobby's father and siblings slowly come to terms with his homosexuality, but Mary believes God can cure him. Despite his mother's vulgarness, Bobby stays at his cousin Jeanette's house in Portland, Oregon; she has always been accepting of his sexual orientation and tries to help him realize that his mother will never change. Desperate for his mother's approval, he does what is asked of him, but through it all, the Church's disapproval of homosexuality and his mother's attempts to suppress his growing behaviors in public cause him to grow increasingly withdrawn and depressed.
Stricken with guilt, Bobby finds a boyfriend, David, at a gay bar. Nonetheless, before leaving the house with David, Mary informs Bobby that she "will not have a gay son." After Bobby finds David betraying him for another boy, he continues to think of his mother's words of prejudice, i.e., when saying "homosexuality is a sin and (gays) are doomed to spend eternity in hell," as well as calling him "sick," "perverted," and "a danger to our children." Following his subsequent depression and self-loathing which intensifies, one night he free falls off a bridge on a highway into the path of an oncoming eighteen-wheeler truck, which kills him instantly. The family receives the news the following day and are devastated.
Faced with their tragedy, Mary begins to question herself and her Church's interpretation of the Scripture. Through her long and emotional journey, Mary slowly reaches out to the gay community and discovers unexpected support from them. She becomes acquainted with a local reverend of the Metropolitan Community Church, who convinces her to attend a meeting of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). It is there she recalls Bobby being different from conception and reassures herself that his true value was in his heart.
Mary then gives a speech in a Walnut Creek city council meeting supporting a local "gay day" live on television. She tells of her experiences with Bobby, the struggles she initially has coping with him coming out of the closet and her stubbornness to reevaluate her religious beliefs which were nothing more than "bigotry" and "dehumanizing slander." Mary also acknowledges how she came to realize that Bobby's sexual orientation was quite natural in God's image and his suicide was subsequently due to poor parenting. She concludes her speech by urging people to think before they say, voice, or support homophobia because "a child is listening." The measure is rejected, but Mary and her family travel to San Francisco with fellow PFLAG members and walk in a gay pride parade, during which she sees another young man just like Bobby observing the parade. She walks over and hugs him, finally coming to terms with her son's death and vowing to work hard for the rights of gays and lesbians.

Tags: dramatic

Review:
Prayers for Bobby is an emotionally and physically tiring film that entertains from start to finish.The movie is just so clever at times.
Sigourney Weaver plays an amazing role as well, and the movie is just so endearing that I really lose myself in it every time I watch it.It was a truly spectacular film; one of the best "made for TV"s I have seen, and it was a splendid job well done for all the cast and crew.
Prayers for Bobby shows the struggles that gay youth and their families can go through, whether that means failing or triumph.
This movie not only touches on the issues of homosexuality but also on pushing religion to far on someone, suicide and coming to terms with who you are.
And there are a few other evangelical organizations with strange ideas about human beings who might learn something.I will be surprised if Sigourney Weaver doesn't get at least an Emmy nomination, particularly given the speech she gives to the city council, both well written and well delivered.Ryan Kelly also delivers a believable performance as Bobby, regardless of some of the cutting required to get the film into a two hour programming window..
Bobby Griffith (Ryan Kelley) is a teen who has a loving family and a pretty good life.
He fears that his mother, Mary, (Weaver) will not accept him and love him anymore, due to her clear and well-known loath and contempt of gay and lesbians due to her faith and literal interpretation of the bible.
Instead, she treats Bobby as if he has a disease that can be "cured" through God. Mary's overbearing and abrasive treatment towards Bobby distances him from his family out to Oregon to live with his cousin, who believes anyone should be allowed to love anyone.
Sigourney Weaver hits a home-run performance as a right-wing bible carrying nut who can't accept the fact that her younger son is gay.She resorts to just about everything possible to get him to amend his ways.
The real tragedy here is to get his mother thinking that the condemnation of gays is really not the way to go.The film is a very good one as it especially comes to grips with the church's condemnation of the gay life style and the use of the bible to distort this way of living..
many things in this beautifully made movie were more simplistic than they needed to be.The priest called Mary's attention to commands in the Bible she obviously wasn't taking literally in her life: we should stone disobedient children to death, we shouldn't eat shellfish.
It felt like a couple of scenes had been cut, with the effect that at the climactic moment I found myself asking "Wha'?" instead of feeling the horrible inevitability of it.Why am I criticizing a movie that gave me the best cry I've had in months?
Aside from the production values (script, acting, cinematography, direction, etc.), which were excellent, this is one of those rare movies that incites thoughtful and far-reaching discussion and maybe even debate, that can impact and change people's lives.
There is no end to the positive impact this film will have, not only on parents and their children, but on those who may have preconceived notions about gay people..
Unfortunately, a wrenching tragic story has been rushed, and the bland results are more "after school special," than truly special, like the groundbreaking "A Touch of Frost." Bobby is well played by Ryan Kelley, although the character's anguish and inner conflicts remain unexplored.
Perhaps "Prayers for Bobby" is appropriate for families with a gay child that have no knowledge of homosexuality, which seems remote in the 21st century.
With a potentially important and gripping story and a talented cast, "Prayers for Bobby" is a lost opportunity to make a statement about the role that organized religion plays in demonizing gay Americans and denying them their inalienable rights..
It touched me in a way that no other movie has ever done, and it made me feel like I was Bobby.
I am honestly completely shocked at the effect this movie had on me, and I wish I had watched it a few years ago when I was in high school to understand what I was going through.I recommend this movie to everyone over the age of ten, especially "non straight" people and parents with gay, lesbian, and bisexual children, but even those who do not.
I have a huge heart for the gay community and i wanna show them that god loves them and accepts them as they are :) omg this was such an amazing movie and i hope it reaches so many people.I am so glad that the mom changed her heart in the end and i am so so so glad that she realized that if she only had loved her son that maybe just maybe he would still be alive.
I normally do not cry during movies and if I do, it feels kind of forced (like in "My sister's keeper" which is made so that you cry and feel better afterwards) but the final of "Prayers for Bobby" felt like "release".
Not this "finally-the-movie-is-over-release" but the release you can only experience after watching a loving mother going through the hardest process of her life to accept her son for what he was.
A Lifetime TV film, chronicling a catholic mother's poignant and heartening journey towards her son's coming-out (a turning point when her son commits suicide), evoking a radical turnaround from abomination to fully support for LGBT rights.
From director Russell Mulcahy (SWIMMING UPSTREAM 2003, 7/10), this film is based on a true story of Mary Griffith, a fervent gay rights crusader from 1980s.The story itself has offered a great amount of trauma and struggle enough to render empathetic impact, while gayness and religion are always ignitable when colliding head-to- head, so more or less, it all replies on the actors, how to make the thorny issue heartfelt and if it could, eventually, more or less alters a portion of its viewers' discrimination towards people with dichotomy lifestyles.
Mulcahy, may not have too much to display since the approach and message are quite overt, for instance, a marked metaphoric scene when Weaver is informed of Bobby's death at the entrance of the factory where she is working, a literal wire fence has obstructed herself from getting out (so she is the one who is being trapped within her own world), a very pragmatic and effective way in case viewers would fail to notice.
And above all else, I believe that God is a very loving God not a hateful or vengeful God. I believe He has a very special place for Gay people in Heaven when it comes to their time for they have, in many cases, suffered so much..
Overall the acting is extremely good but Sigourney Weaver must be singled out as giving one of the best screen performances I have ever seen in over 30 years of movie going.
The only thing that seemed strange were the exact reasons for his final deed, in this film his life wasn't all roses, but it didn't strike me as not worth living.It convinced me to read the book it is based on and here I found quite a different depiction of the situation leading to the suicide.
Only after reading I saw the depth of his desperation and suffering, I think the movie failed to present the real situation and hence suicide as a solution seemed a little unnatural, at least to me.All in all, I would recommend the movie, but I feel that the book does a better job of showing what happened..
This seemed to me like a perfect production, there might have been some imperfections but I was to busy loving every second of the movie to even notice, besides it wouldn't be based off of a true story if it didn't have its imperfections.
I would heavily suggest it to anyone in Bobby's situation or someone in a similar situation because the message is strong, the acting is amazing Sigourney Weaver, as the mother was the perfect choice.
I saw this movie last night and was overwhelmed by the story and the amazing performances especially by miss Weaver.
Most gay people will relate to most of the feelings and emotions in the movie but it will connect with most viewers (hopefully).
And like another reviewer mentioned before ...if you are someone who thinks that homosexuals are evil, I dare you to watch this film.Just a brilliant movie and thanks Signourney!.
I watched the movie last night, and it brought tears to my eyes , The fact that it was a true story makes a bigger impact on everyone.
I think everyone needs to watch that movie no matter what you are gay or straight , especially parents .
people needs to learn that every word has power that could lead to tragedy , stop all the hate in this world!Great cast/director Sigourney is so a giant actress really must see movie!"see you later bobby".
Well, this is a Lifetime movie, it isn't a huge budget, and it at least makes an attempt to get the message out.It is based on a true story which is the heartbreaking suicide of a young man who feels judged and condemned by society ( primarily by his mother, a stalwart Christian who quotes Leviticus, and leaves post-it notes in the bathroom for her son to read about how God wants him to be heterosexual).In 2011, this story should be self-explanatory in America, yet it is not.
But we can at least watch this film and recommend that people try to have empathy and understanding for others.Weaver portrays a woman who needlessly lost her son to a tragic suicide.
At times it seemed as though I were watching a movie based on my life.
Sigourney Weaver is an Actor of rare breed in the tradition of Betty Davis, Joan Crawford and sexy Rita Heyward....The Lady has class whether as Riley or Bobby's mother in her recent TV movie....I am wondering if she is working on anymore action type films because she is all woman in her roles or as my belief she is the Clint Eastwood of all the women actresses, yet I know women still do not get many roles after 40 except for the exceptional Merle Streep.
On the other hand, his religious mother Mary (Sigourney Weaver) refuses to accept it and actively tries to change him.
This is an eye opening movie that gives insight and perspective by telling the tragic true happenings of the Griffith family.
A Child Is Listening, Maybe Your Own. The greatest thing about Sigourney Weaver and the rest of the cast members who played members of the Griffith family is that in making Prayers For Bobby they did not succumb to the temptation of making a caricature of their character.
It's been done before, it would have been so easy, the religious right gives you so much material.But the Griffith family Harry Czerny, Sigourney Weaver and their children aren't bad people.
Which is what happens to the Griffith family when young Ryan Kelley as Bobby Griffith comes out to his brother who promptly rats him out to his mother.
It took him a long time to break free and realize his self worth, but his is a lot happier a story than what happens to Mary Griffith and her son.Another man whom I had a relationship with back in New York when I lived there was a survivor of electroshock treatment.
That is the challenge that Sigourney Weaver in her performance shows that Mary Griffith and her family met and overcame.Sigourney's final speech before her small town council advocating plans for a Gay Pride Day will move all of you.
That is my prayer for Bobby.And this film review is dedicated to all of the case examples I knew from my professional and personal life and to one other.
Sigourney Weaver hits the mark as a true story mother Mary Griffith.
The movie might seem a bit slow, but in fact it takes it time to show how Mary and her son Bobby eventually took life changing decisions.I read so much on the internet from fundamentalist christians and what they think about gays.
I think this film is a unique opportunity to think about how they deal with gays and their religion that should be about love and acceptance.The movie certainly is a tear jerker and I hope it has a wider audience.
I love this one, it felt so real (Yea I know it's based on real story what I mean is you can really feel like and it's happening to you or around you everyday).
As a guy I'm not very proud to say I cried over this movie but I'm not gonna lie to it either, there were four parts where I cried most, one is when Bobby jumped off the bridge, one when the family received the news, one when the mom was giving that speech, one in the end when she hugged a boy who looked like her son.I felt so happy for Bobby when he had a boyfriend but I already knew the story before I watched this movie so it broke my heart to know he was going to die not long from there.I myself am a gay guy, and I've never told my parents about my homosexuality, not planning to either, some people suggested to watch this movie with their parents after they come out, but I'll just save it for myself, coz with their mind of thinking, they probably would yell at me and say "ARE YOU SAYING UR GOING TO KILL YOURSELF IF WE DON'T ACCPET YOU?!".
If you want to sit down for a rare grade A TV movie, i would highly suggest "Prayers For Bobby" with an amazingly gutsy performance by Sigourney Weaver.Ms. Weaver plays an uber religious mother whose world is turned upside down when her son Bobby comes out of the closet as gay.
For a good portion of the movie, we follow the clashes between Bobby and his mother, and the pressure against him gets so out of control that he takes his own life.
Henry Czerny is also reliable, and the young man who played Bobby showed great promise in an amazing performance.In these days when vitriol against minorities is so out of hand, this movie becomes incredibly relevant, too bad this was a made for TV movie, it was based on a real life tragedy, and if it was in theaters and gained a larger audience, maybe some could put themselves in the shoes of Bobby and his mother.
All is not lost, it truly does get better.Prayers For Bobby, see it for an amazing performance by Weaver, and a truly inspiring, uplifting, and potentially life changing story..
The suicide of Bobby is in the middle of the movie, which seemed too early first but then the story takes a twist and it stays interesting and emotional until the very end of it.If you didn't watch this movie yet, I would totally recommend you to do so..
Before I start this review I thought it was best to say I did not like this movie because it was in favour of gay rights.
Judging by watching the movie, I'm not sure if the director know's the meaning of the word cinematography or thinks it is just filming some actors acting.
I really see how to someone who has any grasp on film making can think this is a good movie.
If this movie had been made by a less experienced hand than Signourney Weaver, it would never have been nearly good.All the supporting performances (including a sweet cameo of the real Mary Griffin, and ESPECIALLY the openly gay Dan Butler as the MCC pastor) were strong as well, but this story was Mary's story, and I just don't think they could have found a better actress to play her.Maybe I'm just too soft, but watching Weaver in the scene where she pours her heart out the pastor gets me every single time.
With this tragedy, Mary finally really understands her son and other gay people.
Bobby may still be alive if society in the 1980s was more supportive and accepting of gay people.
Bobby Griffiths, rejected and forced to leave his own community and family, first of all his mother, left and tried to live his life as a gay person who can love more than he has been hated and rejected.
This film struck me just the right way and I'm getting the book right away.When you hear such life stories from people who had to live through them (e.g. D.
L. Black when accepting an Oscar for Milk), you feel the need to do something about the current status quo and must help to change the world /spoiler coming up/, just like Bobby's Mother did.But to also mention the film itself - as said - brilliant script based on a very real tragedy but also great acting, especially the two main characters, Sigourney Weaver, who is brilliant in any film, and Ryan Kelley, just a few months my senior, a great talent and one of my favourite actors of my generation.
Seriously though, the amount of pressure and the amount of stress, Bobby had to face as a gay man, having to be rejected by your own mother was just so heart breaking.
Anyways back to the movie, I thought Sigourney Weaver was absolutely excellent at playing the mother, her speech was just so powerful and really made me cry harder.
This world would be a better boring place to live in!This movie was brillant just like the actors and its strong awareness on peoples sexual orientation.
RIP to Bobby Griffith and other people who have been affected by gay hate <3Be proud of you are everyone, don't let anyone tell you who to love and not to love!