In 2017 the short film In a Heartbeat made me cry. The adorable story of a middle school boy falling for his peer was a sweet piece of wish fulfillment with a hint of darkness for flavor. It's a fairy tale that would have been unthinkable to me in 1994. Back then I got the film Trevor.
Much of the humor stems from Trevor's obliviousness to his budding homosexuality. His peers figure things out before he does. When he's outed he *** spoiler *** attempts suicide. One pep talk later he is strutting home to Diana Ross's "I'm Coming Out." It was an upbeat capper to a film that tackled some dark subject matter. The film won an Academy Award and inspired The Trevor Project. The organization provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ+ youth.
Today marks the closing performances of Trevor the musical at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL. The show features a talented cast and has received positive reviews. I felt it was a work in progress but am eager to see where it goes next. Act One is wisely structures around the school talent show. The moment was a throwaway joke in the film but on stage it provides the spine for Trevor's relationships with the boy he likes, the girl who likes him and his showbiz dreams. Act Two feels a bit shapeless at present. The students shun him and *** spoiler *** his crush writes him a letter calling him a fairy.
As a target of school bullying myself I know that your peers don't shun you. They attack you. They call you worse than "fairy" and they do it to your face. I'll bet the writers know this too. Right now they're pulling their punches for the sake of their audience. I say tell us the truth. We can take it.
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