Actor Chloe Grace Moretz has slammed the upcoming film Boy Erased made by Australian filmmaker Joel Edgerton saying queer films should be made by queer people.
Moretz stars in the acclaimed film The Miseducation of Cameron Post. The film garnered acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival and is about to get a wider release across the USA.
Based on Emily Danforth’s novel of the same name, The Miseducation of Cameron Post sees Moretz play a girl who gets caught fooling around with the prom queen and is forced into a gay conversion therapy centre in 1993.
Despite its success at Sundance the film has struggled to find a distributor, but is finally getting some screenings around the USA. During a promotional interview with the Los Angeles Times Moretz didn’t hold back on sharing what she thought about Edgerton’s upcoming film which tackles the same subject matter- getting more studio support.
“There’s another conversion therapy movie that’s coming out and you see how that was picked up by a major distributor, they are putting all the money behind it, and you start to compare it,” Moretz said. “This movie was directed by a bisexual woman of diversity, it has a very diverse cast and we didn’t cast all celebrities.
“You look at the other movie — that movie has distribution already, it’s going to come out, it’s going to be big — it’s written and directed by a white man, it’s shot through a straight male gaze. You just look at the discrepancy and that’s shocking.
“Even though people want these movies to be told, they want these things to be said, they’re not backing it enough,” Moretz added. “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. They want something that’s a pretty package, but that’s still tolerable and acceptable. And I think that’s unfair. Queer movies should be told through a queer lens and created by queer people.”
The film Moretz appears in is directed by bisexual Iranian American Desiree Akhavan. The film also stars John Gallagher Jr., Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, and Jennifer Ehle.
Boy Erased by comparison is directed by Edgerton, and stars fellow Australian actors Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, as well as Troye Sivan. The lead role is played by American actor Lucas Hedges.
One thing that Moretz’s criticism looks however however is the fact that Boy Erased is written by gay author Garrard Conley – and is based on his own experiences.
OIP Staff
