The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Dir: Desiree Akhavan

2018

*****

Despite its positive reception and victory at the Sundance Film Festival, Desiree Akhavan’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post, a film about gay conversion therapy, struggled for months to get picked up by a distributor. According to star Chloë Grace Moretz, the film was the first Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner in over twenty-five years to not receive immediate distribution. It was eventually purchased by FilmRise however it received a very limited theatrical run in only 85 theaters in North America. Unsurprisingly, it failed to recoup its $900,000 budget, grossing just $904,703 at the box office. Something is rotten in Denmark. The story takes place in 1993, where we find teenager Cameron Post as she is sent to a religiously run gay conversion therapy centre deep in the remote countryside. It is revealed through flashbacks that she was secretly involved in a romantic relationship with her female friend, Coley. On homecoming night, Cameron’s boyfriend walked in on them having sex in Coley’s car, outing them both in a fit of hurt. Cameron's aunt Ruth, a devout Christian, sends Cameron to God's Promise, the conversion therapy centre run by the strict Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle) and her brother, the Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.), who claims that his sister’s methods cured him of his own homosexuality after two members of his church rescued him from a gay bar – although the students suspect that the two church members were actually visiting the gay bar for themselves and used Rick as an excuse for being caught themselves. On arrival, Cameron's roommate, Erin, represses her homosexuality and earnestly believes in the camp's program. Cameron soon befriends two of her fellow disciples, Jane Fonda (Sasha Lane), who was raised in a hippie commune, and Adam Red Eagle (Forrest Goodluck), a Lakota two-spirit whose father has converted to Christianity, become high up in politics, and sees a gay son as a possible career issue. The three teenagers bond over their mutual rebelliousness and skepticism of the camp's purpose. During a group session, Cameron admits that she thinks Coley is perfect and is told by Dr. Marsh that her homosexuality stems from a misplaced urge to be like Coley. She covertly phones Coley and apologizes for how things turned out. Coley says she sent Cameron a letter, but the call is interrupted. After disrupting a kitchen chore session, Cameron has her mail privileges unexpectedly granted by Dr. Marsh. She reads Coley's letter, only to find that Coley blames her for "seducing" her into sin. Jane reads the letter with Cameron and then destroys it, calling Coley weak-willed and treacherous. Crying, Cameron calls her aunt and asks to be brought home but is refused. Cameron tries to adapt better to life at God's Promise, exercising with Erin to Christian work-out tapes. One night, while Cameron is having a sexual dream, Erin wakes her up and they have sex, which Erin is immediately ashamed of and begs Cameron not to tell anyone about. Another disciple, Mark, who has been expecting to return home shortly, is informed by letter that he must remain at the camp because his father still considers him effeminate. In a group session, Mark breaks down and begins behaving erratically until he is forcibly restrained by Dr. Marsh. That night, Cameron finds large quantities of blood in one of the bathrooms. The next morning, Dr. Marsh and Reverend Rick call a meeting, announcing that Mark was badly injured during the night and is stable in hospital, but do not explain what happened. Two of the disciples disrupt the meeting, and a series of one-to-one meetings is held instead. During their one-to-one, Rick explains to Cameron that Mark mutilated his own genitals and nearly died before Adam found him. Cameron asks why the staff wasn’t monitoring Mark more closely and asks Rick if he and Dr. Marsh have any idea what they are doing. Rick cannot answer her questions and bursts into tears. A government inquiry is launched into Mark's self-mutilation, but the investigator is unwilling to accept Cameron's argument that God's Promise is inherently emotionally abusive. Disillusioned, Cameron, Jane and Adam decide to run away from the camp under the pretense of an early morning hike. They hike to a nearby road and hitchhike away from the camp as the film ends. I love the film on several levels. Firstly, I love how innocent the kids are. They are innocent, it can be a confusing time when adolescents become aware of their own sexuality, especially when it is different from what has been told to them to be normal. I want to say this has got better since 1993 but I’m really not sure that is true. Chloë Grace Moretz’s Cameron is a rabbit in the headlights, she doesn’t feel what she has done is wrong but she’s still not sure. You can see her silent confusion throughout the film and it’s very subtle but very effective. This made the story extremely believable, which it should be, as this sort of thing has been happening for a long time and is happening somewhere this very minute. The scene in which Cameron asks Rick whether he has any idea what he is doing is extremely powerful. Again, it’s very subtle but it addresses that moment in late childhood and adolescence that everyone goes through, the realisation that sometimes the grown-ups, those that are looking out for your best intentions, sometimes don’t have a clue about what they’re actually doing. The film doesn’t end with a moment of retaliation, there isn’t a big speech or an act of revenge, the kids simple leave the centre. It’s a wonderfully simple rejection of all that is wrong with this way of thinking – It’s our lives, we’re out of here. There is a sadness that the kids have been forced out and on their own but there is a positivity that they will find a way and that they will no be conflicted about whether or not they are different or wrong. It’s bold and simple, as it should be and how it is in the real world. There is nothing smug about the story, it’s well balanced and all views are listened to and explored. The hypocrisy is clear, as are the ethical issues with the subject. I believe in fighting for one’s rights but I also think there comes a time when you just have to walk away. I think this is such a positive film, without pretension, but with a huge generosity of spirit. A gem that should have been celebrated far more than it was.