Rhode Island International Film Festival 2009

Flight to Sinai is both a coming of age story, and a coming out tale. For many youth, growing up with religion means going to church, and learning how to live a pure life. And for many of these youth, a curve ball is thrown to them when they realize they are LGBT. In many conservative Judeo-Christian religions, this is an 'abomination.' And the struggle to reconcile faith and sexuality means compromising; for many the compromise was to leave their church roots, for others, the compromise meant drastic measures. The film —like the Bible itself —is left open to interpretation. The narrative follows Jack Strong, a 16 year-old gay teenager who moves with his Baptist family from Ohio to San Francisco. While in Ohio, Jack begins to date a girl named Sophie. They both go to the same church, and their friendship is relationship is based on the pure fundamentals of a conservative upbringing in the church. Luckily for Jack, this alleviates any sort of peer pressure to have sex with his girlfriend. Jack and Sophie are safeguarded by the fact that they are saving themselves for marriage.Sophie's family also gets transferred to San Francisco, allowing their relationship to continue.Both Jack and Sophie are somewhat outcasts at their new high school. Being religious in Ohio was much more socially acceptable. At their new school, being religious is social suicide. Jack, already uncomfortable with being the goodie-two shoes kid, starts to hide the fact that he is also gay. Even in San Francisco, a teenage boy may still feel the pressures to conform to heteronormativity, and Jack continues to date Sophie while hiding his true feelings.One day in his drama class, his flamboyant drama teacher loses control of a charades game, in which a classmates was acting out 'Mae West,' and everyone assumed he was acting like Jack Strong. Mortified, when class is dismissed Sophie leaves Jack alone to ponder the situation. Alone at the piano, Jack sings an uptempo ballad about being who you are.During the course of the song, Jack continues home where he can take solace in his bedroom. He greets his mother, who confirms the family's uneasiness in their new city. Mr. Strong, Jack's father, comes home from work, and the family dynamics fall into place' Heterosexual son, Masculine Father, and domesticated Mother.Jack sits alone in his bedroom, weighing the pros and cons of coming out finally to his parents. He figures, with God on his side, his days of being untrue to himself are over. Over the dinner table, Jack plays Devil's Advocate with his father, and gets him to assure Jack that no matter what, if a person has God in his heart, they are promised entry into Heaven. It is that moment that Jack drops the bomb that the Strong family's perfect Christian son is gay. Upon hearing this, Mr. Strong ushers Jack into the living room where he proceeds to quote Scripture about the evils of homosexuality. This is commonplace in the Strong household; when in doubt, consult the Bible.Frustrated with the outcome of his coming out, Jack runs away. He decides God's house would be open, and decides to crash the night at his church. The following morning, Sophie finds Jack sleeping in the pews. Jack comes out to Sophie, whose world in thrown into a spin. Jack and Sophie sing a duet about their decidedly different viewpoints on the past and future of their relationship. In the end, Sophie and Jack break up.Jack sneaks home to pack some items and is confronted by his parents. They assure him they still love Jack, they would just be more comfortable if Jack spoke to a Pastor about this issue. Unfortunately, the Pastor they find is promoting Flight to Sinai Ministries, an organization which promotes healing from homosexuality. After their meeting, it is decided that Jack gets sent to Love's Path; a camp designed to 'cure' homosexuality. At the church however, Jack meets Joseph, an attractive, down-to-earth gay Christian teen whose fate is also being decided by the pastor. Jack and Joseph form a fast friendship, where they can exchange ideas and apprehensions about faith and sexuality. But after Jack decides to cave, and obey his parent's desire to attend camp, Joseph ends their friendship. Like most young people, Jack stands at the crossroads of making people in his life happy, or being true to who himself. In the end, Jack is left with ambivalent feelings about his sexuality as he enters Love's Path.