THE SHIFT OF MARY GRIFFITH’S AWARENESS TOWARD HOMOSEXUALITY IN A FILM ENTITLED PRAYERS FOR BOBBY

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to identify the reason why Mary shifts her awareness toward homosexuality, to analyze the process how Mary shifts her awareness, and to explain how the shift of Mary’s awareness is portrayed in the movie analysis. The theory of post-structuralism, homosexuality, and film analysis are used by the researcher to answer these research questions. The result of this research shows that: (1) the reason why Mary shifts her awareness is because Mary experiences new understandings about homosexuality from the reverend and P-FLAG, (2) fanatical phase, the phase of gaining new understandings, and the phase of high tolerance are the process of the shift of Mary’s awareness toward homosexuality. In these phases, the change of Mary’s interpretation toward homosexuality is shown by the last phase, (3) mise-en-scene, cinematography, and narrative structure are the elements of film analysis which sharpen the shift of Mary’s awareness toward homosexuality.

Keywords: Shift of Awareness, Homosexuality, Film Analysis, Prayers   for Bobby