The LGBTQ group’s fourth fieldwork involved showing Trevor and then asking questions about the movie. I was surprised how much effect screening Trevor had on the eighth grade and we were very glad that many people were eager to answer. Our goal for today was to bring LGBT awareness to the class by showing them the friendly, kind and excitable 13 year old boy who just wants friends and to listen to Diana Ross. The class liked the intertwining of dark comedy and drama and my group learned about the topic of gay teen suicide and homophobia. We asked the class what they thought of the movie and a few people said that they were really glad that Trevor didn’t die when he tried to overdose on aspirin.
Sophia S.C.: I liked that it wasn’t super depressing, like the kid kills himself and that’s the end.” It’s true that Trevor dances on the line between too dark and making the dark topics too farcical, but it pulls it off when the tears turn into laughs. We asked what they thought the moral of the story was and we got mildly different answers.
One student responded
“Be happy with who you are.” Another person said that the obvious moral was that the effects of what people say make an enormous difference. I agree with them both and would like to add the moral might have been to always have faith, just wait until something good comes. When we asked what if anyone would want to know Trevor growing up, we were bombarded with, “Yes! Yes! A few said they wanted to sing Diana Ross with him. They all didn’t judge him for his preferences and that’s the way his friends should have reacted when they found out he was homosexual. Zoe and I asked the questions and the next one had not less interest, but less comprehension. “If Pinky if didn’t know that Trevor was gay would he have stood up for him?”
A few thought maybe he was peer pressured or influenced by the homophobic people around him. Some said Pinky had to either put on a front or he really hated gay people, but some thought it was deeper than that. I think that Pinky Faraday was a normal person who had friends, had popularity and would do anything to keep his social prestige, even if
that meant shunning one of his best friends instead of standing up for him and probably getting bullied for his faithfulness. We asked a question about Trevor’s suicide attempt, “Was the subject of suicide appropriately handled?” Many people thought that suicide was being handled like it was too silly, and that the movie treated it like way out of being bullied. I disagree. I think that the writers didn’t want to make the movie like so many others sad about a depressed kid who kills himself. Sophia’s comment above touches on this as well. I agree with a classmate who thought that Trevor’s parents should have been much more concerned about him, and that their lack of care for him was disturbing. Trevor’s parents’ horribly uncaring, but somehow they come off as being simply irritating and clueless. It’s when Trevor takes pill after pill that you realize that their kind of neglect can be as damaging as outright abuse. I think that Trevor’s parents stand for all the clueless parents who don’t know about their son’s or daughter’s sexuality because they don’t care or want to know.
When the LGBTQ group asked about what other gay stereotypes the class had noticed, the class replied with things like walking like a girl and singing with a high-pitched voice. My group asked if these stereotypes were needed and some people said that they weren’t really necessary but, the movie was trying to show the behavior of a gay teenaged boy and that’s what their version of a stereotypical gay boy is like. I asked the class what they would do if a friend of theirs was suicidal and they could see they needed help. The answers were all very kind, and all were in the best interest of the person. They suggested reaching out to the person or talking to the parents. Lulu and Sam read a paper about the terrible effects of homophobia and the dangers it presents to everyone.
It is clear that we are all responsible for each other as well as ourselves. We all suffer when someone in our community is being bullied, just as we all benefit when there is acceptance and love in our community.
