Prayers for Bobby
| Prayers for Bobby | |
|---|---|
Film poster
|
|
| Based on |
Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son by Leroy F. Aarons |
| Written by | Katie Ford (teleplay) |
| Directed by | Russell Mulcahy |
| Starring |
Sigourney Weaver Henry Czerny Ryan Kelley |
| Theme music composer | Christopher Ward |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Daniel Sladek, Chris Taaffe, David Permut, Stanley M. Brooks, Damian Ganczewski |
| Editor(s) | Victor Du Bois |
| Running time | 89 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Lifetime Television |
| Original release |
|
Prayers for Bobby is a televised docudrama that premiered on the Lifetime network on January 24, 2009. It is based on the critically acclaimed book, Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son, by Leroy F. Aarons, which is itself based on the true story of the life and legacy of Bobby Griffith, a young gay man who killed himself in 1983 due to his mother's homophobia. Ryan Kelley stars as Bobby Griffith and Sigourney Weaver portrays Mary, his mother.
The film was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards ("Best Movie" & "Best Actress"), and Sigourney Weaver was nominated for the 2010 Golden Globe Award, and the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Award. It also WON the 2010 GLAAD Media Award, and producers were nominated for the 2010 Producers Guild of America Award. The film won the 2010 Entertainment Industry Coalition PRISM Award ("Best Movie for Television"). In 2015, executive producers Daniel Sladek & Chris Taaffe were invited by the Vice President of the EU to the European Parliament in Brussels where they presented Prayers for Bobby to Members of Parliament on International Homophobia Day.
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."
...
Wikipedia