Pray Away (2021)
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 101 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Kristine Stolakis
Stars: Julie Rodgers, Randy Thomas and Yvette Cantu Schneider
IMDb score:
6,5 (3.919)
Releasedate: 16 June 2021
Pray Away plot
In the 1970s, five men in their evangelical church began a Bible study to leave their homosexual lifestyle behind. They soon received more than 25,000 letters from people who also asked for help and renamed themselves the Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization. However, the men struggled with a secret: their same-sex attraction never faded. After years of being superstars in the religious right, many of these men and women came out and denied the movement they had founded.
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Reviews & comments
jippie2010
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- 2640 messages
- 8257 votes
Ouch... painful to see...
Primarily because I'm all too familiar with the Christian scene. I was raised Reformed, went to church twice on Sundays, and had a lot of other customs. In my twenties, I started looking for a modern church, which often resembled American churches.
The typical mannerisms, the almost manipulative tone of preaching on a bed of Calvinist guilt: an ideal training ground for assimilating far-reaching beliefs. If you're in the thick of it, you recognize the euphoria of experiencing something special together, but from a distance, it feels almost cultish. Of course, the extremes are explored in this documentary, but the idea that prayer can deliver you from unwanted sexual desires still lives on in many charismatic churches in the Netherlands.
But secondly, it's especially painful because of the identity crises that leap off the screen. People's lives are manipulated; they blindly follow the most insane ideology just to feel like they belong or finally feel normal. And in reality, there are only victims, because those who firmly believe in the ideology pass it on like hotcakes. I could say much more about this, but I think I'll leave it at that.
Finally, and importantly, the documentary itself feels successful. It's presented with integrity, the interviewees are relevant, and the picture it paints is (unfortunately) very realistic. *4.0
NB: The poster on Netflix may be even more striking.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mrklm
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- 12404 messages
- 10481 votes
The scientific consensus now states that conversion therapy is harmful to the target group. Yet, starting in the 1970s, groups like Exodus and Living Hope managed to create the impression that (with the help of biblical teaching) one could overcome non-heterosexual feelings. So-called 'ex-gays' like John Paulk and Yvette Cantu Schneider played a key role with their media appearances. Along with other key figures, they look back on the period of "pray the gay away" in this remarkable, compelling documentary.
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