BOY ERASED

Imagine you were left handed. Though it is not very common but there is nothing really harmful about it. You are not causing any physical on mental problems for the people in your life. It could be family, friends or acquaintances. Then you realize that it is forbidden because your religion doesn’t approve of it. Not just disapprove, but declares you abnormal and tags you as the devil. You and your parents are called sinners and as people who are against God. But for you it is a very natural thing. Being left handed is a natural as breathing and walking. Under your family’s pressure you have to go through conversion therapy where you are addressed as someone who is a sinner and a criminal. You are psychologically brainwashed and treated differently when you don’t exactly know what’s wrong with you.

Boy erased is a real story about a gay teenager who had to suffer Conversion therapy.  This is an intense film and psychologically testing. It is a brilliant portrayal of a normal young adult become a victim of prejudice and religious bigotry. Gerrard Conley suffers conversion therapy which is the most inhuman and the gravest tortures anyone can go through. It is worse than Nazi concentration camps because the victim’s own family force the victims to go through it. In this film one can experience the psychological and emotional trauma the victims have to go through in an extremely hostile set up where every move of the individual is judged and examined with disdain and hatred. A person’s self-worth and self-respect are completely destroyed forcing him/her into an abyss of depression and negativity. There is no escape for him/her because he is dependent on his family and the only way for him to survive is to obey them.

I felt suffocated several times in this film. There came a point where I could not handle it anymore and was on the verge of walking out. To be able to create and communicate the severity of the issue is extraordinary and laudable. To be able to do complete justice and portray the depth of the hostility that the Christian faith has against the LGBT community is a great achievement. Lucas Hedges has nailed the character and acts out Gerrards feeling and mental state perfectly. Joel Edgerton has done great service to the community and mankind as a whole by making a film that exposes the torture that 77,000 Americans, who have gone through the Conversion Therapy. Many still do as most states in the US still allow it.

Rating – 4.5 / 5