Plot summary

The movie begins by portraying a blissful boy Bobby who is smart, has good
relationships with his family and has a beautiful girlfriend, but all of these no longer
exist after he admits to be a homosexual. Being Christians, both Bobby and his
mother view his sexuality as a sin. His mother still loves him, so she tries to convert
Bobby into heterosexual by bringing him to sex therapists, introducing girls to
become his partner, and endeavouring to use spiritual means to change his sexual
orientation, such as prayers. Instead of accepting who he is, Bobbys mother claims
Bobby is facing temptations so once he has strong faith, he will become a
heterosexual. Added to Bobbys woe is the prejudice his mother holds against
homosexuals. She claims I have heard homosexuals have sex in public bathroom, and
they recruit children. She even throws away the plate David (Bobbys homosexual
friend) has used and washes her hands thoroughly after shaking hands with him. With
his mothers strong disgust against homosexuals, Bobby faces tremendous pressure
that he ends up committing suicide. Whats more pitiful is that deep down in Bobbys
heart he sees homosexuality a sin that would be frowned upon. Therefore he perceives
others interactions with him too sensitively as certain forms of discrimination which
is attributable to his helplessness. After Bobbys death, his mother seeks an answer
about whether homosexuality is a crime. Partly because she hopes it is so she does not
have to blame herself for contributing to her sons agony, partly because she hopes her
son can go to heaven in his afterlife. Becoming more open-hearted to view her faith,
she acknowledges that she should not have literal interpretations on the Bible and that
her sons sexual orientation is not a sin, or else God would have cured him. In tears,
she confesses her ignorant and prejudices have killed her son.
Reflections
This movie reveals how tyranny of the majority deprives the minority of their
rights. With different value orientations, the minority are labelled because they deviate
from others. Prejudice (external factor) and despair (internal factor) are what push
Bobby to death, and probably many others who are under similar circumstances.
In our world, homosexuals or even women (especially those in the Middle East)
are suppressed by religious beliefs. It is important to reflect upon the righteousness of
the interpretation of these beliefs, especially because of the fact that they are
interpreted by mortal men but not God himself. It may be wrong to understand Gods
message words by words instead of the meaning behind. As the priest in the movie
said Having blind faith is as dangerous as having no faith, arguments and
discrepancies in interpretations between religious people are attributable to
deprivation of human rights. For example, some people are against homosexual rights,
women are suppressed from participation in social activities, and Holy Wars trespass
upon peoples right to live and enjoy safety. It is sad that sometimes the parties in
conflict actually worship the same God but they fail to communicate.
Note that reflecting upon interpretations does not mean to criticise God. I
acknowledge religions to a large extent shape our world today and probably without
them our world would have been worse so it is best we do not deny its importance
when we advocate for human rights. Rather, I mean there should be more discussions
to reinterpret Gods message. Ultimately we may become less rigid yet live in Gods
will. There are many sects in big religions such as Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.
Thus there are rooms for people to discuss how Gods message should be interpreted.

However it is a taboo in our society that we often refuse to openly discuss how the
beliefs should be interpreted, for fear that it may shake worshippers beliefs, for fear
that we may be labelled as critics of God, and for fear that it may ruin the image of the
religion. It is hoped that religious leaders can work cooperatively for the sake of
human rights and world peace (Yes, world peace since many wars are the results of
conflicts in religion that kill innocent people which God would not like to see).
To view Bobbys tragedy from a societal perspective, prejudice in society, in
addition to Christianity belief, contributes to his sadness. As his mother said, I have
heard homosexuals have sex in public bathroom, and they recruit children, some
people in society perceive homosexuals as dirty because they incline to describe the
sexual orientation by actions (what they do) but not as a form of emotion (what they
like). In this way, the wrong actions of homosexuals are put under the spotlight and
are magnified and labelled negatively. However, if people are willing to view it as an
emotion, a preference, a fact, then they will not overly emphasize crimes committed
by SOME homosexual people. For instance, we see people with AIDS as those who
have unluckily been infected by HIV virus for various reasons, be them blood
transfusion, transmission from mother to fetus, sexually transmitted, or surgeons have
accidentally hurt themselves in operations. It is too ignorant to hold prejudice against
them by thinking they have ridicules sex life. When we give meaning to the phrase
people with AIDS, we think of it as a medical condition but not what they do.
Similarly, we should give meaning to the phrase homosexual as a sexual orientation
but not what the group of people will do, and more importantly, people should not
magnify the ridicules actions of a small group of homosexual people and think the rest
are like that. Otherwise there will be too much unnecessary labelling and lead to
discriminations.
To view Bobbys tragedy from a personal perspective, discriminations in society
contribute to his helplessness. Perhaps he is too sensitive in his interactions with his
family that add to his sadness. For example, when he tells his brother that he is a
homosexual, his brother just repeats the phrase You are a homosexual in a calm
voice without strong emotions. However Bobby says You even say it as if you hate
me. He also keeps saying his mother hates him. We may say he his too pessimistic,
but being this way is not his sole problem. It is the circumstance he is under that
makes him feel he is a sinner and should be hated, rather than being a pessimist in
general. Psychologists have said people act and think according to the way they
should under certain situations even thought it is against they will or interests because
of the strong situational forces. Note that Bobby does not face actual violence of any
form because of discriminations, he already feels so helpless, how about those who
are harmed by others discriminations? Certainly they will feel even worse. It is
important that we should not only treat everybody as equals, but also help to eliminate
discriminations in the society. Only in this way can minorities feel fairly treated and
integrate well into the society.
To conclude, no matter what the degree of acceptance we have towards
homosexual people or other minorities in our society, it is important that we ensure
they are fairly treated.