I recently saw this movie, Prayers for Bobby, and couldn’t help but see the similarities to what JW youths go through. This story is about a devout Christian woman coming to grips with her son’s homosexuality post his suicide. But the situation could be applied to any JW youth who rejects the “truth”. I couldn’t help but think about how the misaligned thinking of JW’s results in broken families in a similar way, sometimes with similar endings.
This is the original write-up for the movie:
Mary Griffith is a devout Christian who raises her children with the conservative teachings of the Presbyterian Church. However, when her son Bobby confides to his older brother that he may be gay, life changes for the entire family after Mary learns about his secret. Bobby's father and siblings slowly come to terms with his homosexuality, but Mary believes that God can "cure" him. She takes him to a psychiatrist and persuades Bobby to pray harder and seek solace in Church activities in hopes of changing him. Desperate for his mother's approval, Bobby 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of homosexuality and his mother's attempts to suppress his growing behaviors in public causes him to grow increasingly withdrawn and depressed finally resulting in suicide.
This is the JW version:
Mary Griffith is a devout Jehovah’s Witness who raises her children in the truth. However, when her son Bobby confides to his older brother that he may be gay, life changes for the entire family after Mary learns about his secret. Bobby's father and siblings slowly come to terms with his homosexuality, but Mary believes that Jehovah will "cure" him. She takes him to the elders and persuades Bobby to pray harder and seek solace in spiritual activities in hopes of changing him. Desperate for his mother's approval, Bobby does what is asked of him, but through it all, the witnesses disapproval of homosexuality and his mother's attempts to suppress his growing behaviors in public causes him to grow increasingly withdrawn and depressed finally resulting in suicide.