(2010) Filmmaker Chris Hume of Laramie, Wyoming, explores the question of whether or not an individual can on his or her own, without surgery, therapy, or social pressure, change sexual orientation. This 73-minute documentary, often funny and illuminating, follows the efforts of Jonathan Xander Braun, a 21-year-old self-described homophobic homosexual, to become straight entirely on his own volition.

Claiming that he woke up one morning with a revelation that "I don't want to be gay anymore," he says he's getting "more and more interested in girls." "Can you say vagina?" asks one female friend. His friends and co-workers are supportive of his attempting a transformation, though they express reservations of his having success.

Residing in Sherman Oaks, Calif, in Lauren's beautiful home, he describes how he lived with foster families as a child, had his first sexual experience at ten with a 17-year-old neighbor boy, lived on the streets homeless after getting kicked out by his last adoptive parents. His goal in ten years is to have a career, be married to a woman raising kids behind a white picket fence with two Range Rovers in the garage.

A friend of mine, Dr Randy, while enjoying the gay lifestyle in his late twenties in the '70s (pre-AIDS) told me that he expected he'd settle down and marry a young woman by the time he was 40; when I got back in touch with him 20 years later, he was an alcoholic, still single and fearful of having sex with men.

Jonathan's straight friends, Shaun and Lily, give him lessons toward "masculination," such as practicing to walk like a man (with the Four Seasons singing in the background) and speak in a manly voice. However, for Halloween he chooses to costume himself as a disco sailor for trick-or-treating. On his effort to "fly under gaydar," notes another acquaintance: "Jonathan is very confused."

Experts in sexual orientation comment on camera on Jonathan's queer-otic endeavor. Therapist Dr Maxine Herman says that exclusion of one's core, authentic self - "I'm this, I want to be that" - is likely to be self-destructive; Jonathan's fantasy of a future to make up for past hurts, she predicts, is destined for failure. While he may not act on his impulses, remarks Dr Donal Skinner, Jonathan "is not going to be able to change."

Asked by friends why he's made this sudden decision and if he thinks he'll be happier heterosexual, Jonathan at first says he doesn't know before opening up more about a "disgusting" recent incident, resulting in his agreeing to visit a free clinic to get tested for AIDS. To Devon, getting more specific, he admits he finds mouth germs disgusting and large penises unpleasant: "I don't like it up the butt."

His friends introduce him to Mike and Dick ("Resistance = Persistence"), a pair of older gay single guys, for a reality check; to a gay married couple raising two kids (earlier Jonathan says he's old-fashioned in his opposition to gay marriage); to an attractive, straight stranger Amy at the Chop Horse with whom he gets a "date" (she questions his wanting a cookie-cutter wife and the likelihood of his having a midlife crisis and running off with another guy in a Porsche); to Anna Jones, who's attracted to gay men and enthusiastically (on camera) tries to engage Jonathan in a sex-ed lesson ("get in there") while eating a banana.

Hume revisits Jonathan five months later to see where his journey ("The road to happiness isn't always straight") has taken him.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .