Chloe Moretz hits out at rival gay conversion film: ‘Queer films should be made by queer people’
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 31: Chloe Grace Moretz attends “The Miseducation Of Cameron Post” New York Screening at The William Vale on July 31, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Chloe Moretz, the star of upcoming gay conversion therapy drama The Miseducation of Cameron Post, has said that “queer films should be made be queer people” while discussing rival release, Boy, Erased.
Moretz pointed out that her film was directed by a bisexual woman—Desiree Akhavan—while Boy, Erased is directed and written by Hollywood star Joel Edgerton. (The movie is, however, based on the memoirs of a gay man, Garrard Conley, who was forced to undergo ‘cure’ therapy as a teenager.)
Moretz pointed out that Hollywood could do more to tell LGBT stories, saying: “Even though people want these movies to be told, they want these things to be said, they’re not backing it enough.”
“They’re still backing first and foremost the straight white man who is going to be putting out the movie that’s the safer bet,” she went on.
“They want something that’s a pretty package, but that’s still tolerable and acceptable. And I think that’s unfair.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgDGHAvYvp4]
Both The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Boy, Erased discuss gay conversion therapy. Drawing comparisons between the two movies, Moretz called out Hollywood’s double standard when it comes to backing movies made by directors from the LGBT+ community or ethnic minorities.
Moretz said that The Miseducation of Cameron Post was directed by a bisexual womanand did not rely solely on the star power of its cast. The latter film, Erased, features Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Troye Sivan.
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“This movie was directed by a bisexual woman of diversity, it has a very diverse cast and we didn’t cast all celebrities.”
Boy, Erased is an on-screen adaption of the memoir of the same name written by Garrard Conley which recounts Conley’s experience at a gay conversion therapy camp in 2004.
Moretz said that Boy, Erased was “written and directed by a white man,” and “shot through a straight male gaze.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B71eyB_Onw]
“You just look at the discrepancy and that’s shocking,” she said.
A report published earlier this year found that LGBT representation was down in Hollywood in 2017.
The statistics, published by LGBT media advocacy association GLAAD, found that only 14 major studio releases had LGBT characters, making up only 12.8 percent of films.
“At a time when the entertainment industry is holding much-needed discussions about inclusion, now is the time to ensure the industry takes meaningful action and incorporates LGBTQ stories and creators as among priorities areas for growing diversity,” said GLAAD chief executive Sarah Kate Ellis.
