This was encouraging and inspiring to see. It showed me the power of storytelling, community, support, and activism.
It was also very striking to hear the exact words of the parents in the film, in reaction to their son’s sharing with them that he is gay:
“How could you do this to us after we raised you to this point?
“How could you become THIS?
“If you decide to do this, you can leave our home and never come back again!
“You don’t exist as a son to me anymore!”
The fact that I have heard all of these phrases come out of my own parents’ mouths at several different times in my life - related to expressing my real choice of college major (which I immediately rescinded and switched to the default of Biochemical Sciences), and my brother’s choice of fiancee (an engagement which he later broke off) - shows me that at some level, these ideas are genetic. They have been handed down in the culture through generations, like religious beliefs are taught through systematic immersion, repetition, and indoctrination.
And I love the way this film shows the FEELING on both sides - the parents and the child.
100 million views. Wow.