Robert Desiderio wrote a wonderful role for his wife, Judith Light, in "Save Me," a 2007 film about a religious group, Genesis. At Genesis, the idea is to make gay men straight. One of the heads of Genesis, played by Light, blames her son's suicide on the fact that he was gay, unable to face up to the fact that it was her rejection of him that helped him along. Her second husband (Steven Lang), not the boy's father, is a little more lenient in his views, and this causes conflict. When it's obvious that two of the men at Genesis (Jeremy Glazer and Chad Allen) are attracted to one another, she becomes increasingly more disturbed.
This is a very good film about, as far as I'm concerned, a misguided attempt by fundamentalists to "straighten out" gay men on the premise that it's in the Bible. There's so much in the Bible that contradicts itself, but there's one thing pretty obvious in the New Testament - judgment is to be left to a higher power. A religious group that condemns someone not of their belief system isn't, in my opinion, Christian or religious.
So much for that. The film beautifully demonstrates its own point of view - love and meaningful relationships are what matter, whether between the same or the opposite sex. Jeremy Glazer and Chad Allen give fine performances as two men who have found their way to clean lifestyles but still need to be who they are and seek love with another human being.
The star, of course, is Light, who, deglamorized and with darker hair, bears NO resemblance to the elegant Mrs. Mead on "Ugly Betty." What a performance - and she's been giving great performances for 30 years. One hates her prejudice but realizes that it's born out of her own denial at the same time. Her husband's attempts to understand her, his loyalty to her, and his desire to help her, are very touching. But he doesn't feel as she does.
In "Save Me," we're shown that a place like Genesis has its good points - there's nothing wrong with getting off of drugs and booze and contributing to the community - but it needs to stop there. You can be gay without drugs, booze, and indiscriminate sex. You can also, as so well shown in the film, be gay and religious at the same time. No matter what anyone says, God doesn't discriminate.
This is a very good film about, as far as I'm concerned, a misguided attempt by fundamentalists to "straighten out" gay men on the premise that it's in the Bible. There's so much in the Bible that contradicts itself, but there's one thing pretty obvious in the New Testament - judgment is to be left to a higher power. A religious group that condemns someone not of their belief system isn't, in my opinion, Christian or religious.
So much for that. The film beautifully demonstrates its own point of view - love and meaningful relationships are what matter, whether between the same or the opposite sex. Jeremy Glazer and Chad Allen give fine performances as two men who have found their way to clean lifestyles but still need to be who they are and seek love with another human being.
The star, of course, is Light, who, deglamorized and with darker hair, bears NO resemblance to the elegant Mrs. Mead on "Ugly Betty." What a performance - and she's been giving great performances for 30 years. One hates her prejudice but realizes that it's born out of her own denial at the same time. Her husband's attempts to understand her, his loyalty to her, and his desire to help her, are very touching. But he doesn't feel as she does.
In "Save Me," we're shown that a place like Genesis has its good points - there's nothing wrong with getting off of drugs and booze and contributing to the community - but it needs to stop there. You can be gay without drugs, booze, and indiscriminate sex. You can also, as so well shown in the film, be gay and religious at the same time. No matter what anyone says, God doesn't discriminate.