Monday, February 06, 2006

What I thought of Latter-Days, the movie

Latter-Days is the story of a young Mormon missionary who gets sent to Los Angeles. He falls in love with his gay neighbor, and the story consists of his self-discovery, and consequential exit from the Mormon church.

First of all, watch the movie all the way through before you formulate your opinion. I thought I'd never recover from my grief, but then I watched the end. HA! They tricked me...

I really like this movie. It shows a common (but not exclusive to all mormons, I'm sure) response from the boy's family when they learn he's gay. It shows a guy learning to love for the first time in his life. It also shows a shallow, meaningless guy finding something of substance to hold onto.

Here's my one problem, and it's with the plotline. If you can't take a spoiler, don't read on. Aaron (the mormon) makes this big fuss about his "first time". It has to have meaning, etc. So when his first time really comes to pass, what does he do? He walks out without even saying goodbye (or leaving a phone number) to this person who he supposedly loves. I just don't get that. He basically just abandons Christian (the neighbor), and he had to know that Christian would be devastated. Or are guys that oblivious? I guess it isn't just with women... ;)

I'm happy to hear that Steve Sandvoss, the actor who plays Aaron, is NOT gay. Now my crush will certainly be seen to fruition. Just don't tell that to my husband.

1 comment:

Sideon said...

This movie stayed with me for a long time. Yes, the missionary wanted his first time to mean something, but I took his reaction as compartmentalization, putting parts of him away, just like he'd always done with his life/beliefs/thoughts up to that point. Ironic that he made his first time something casual, yet bittersweet.

I forget character names, but my favorite part of the movie was when he (the missionary) was comforting the woman/bar owner outside the hospital.

He's straight? Ay, caramba!