The Shift of Mary Griffith’s Awareness Toward Homosexuality in A Film Entitled Prayers for Bobby.

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Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Attainment of the Sarjana Sastra Degree in English Language and Literature

By:

Sistiono Pambudi

10211141003

ENGLISH LITERARUTE STUDY PROGRAM

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS

YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY

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v MOTTOS

All We Are Saying Is Give Peace A Chance.

-John Lennon

Without music, life would be a mistake.

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vi

DEDICATIONS

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

All precious praises are to Allah, the lofty God of the universe. I would to

deliver my deep gratitude:

1. Dr. Widyastuti Purbani, M.A., as my first consultant and Eko Rujito Dwi

Atmojo, S.S., M. Hum., as my second consultant, who have given me

beneficial knowledge, time, and suggestion so that I could finish this

thesis;

2. all my lecturers in English Literature Study Program;

3. my lovely Mak’e who supported me and reminded me very well, and my

handsome father, Bapak Siswoyo in heaven who always inspired me about

leadership and music;

4. a beautiful sister, Sekar and handsome brother, Abi as my big inspirations;

5. Mbah Bait, Mbah Jenggot, Mbah Mariah, Om, Pakdhe, and Budhe;

6. all my troops in Forum Musik Tembi (FoMbi) who taught me about

process in Festival Musik Tembi;

7. my amazing friends in daily life, Hatmo, Aji, Agung, Yopei, Indra Gede,

Indra cilik, Mbak Sheila, Umika, Sarah, Deny, Fauzan, Didit,Vero, Aga,

Mbak Rita, and Ubey;

8. my great friends in Kos E 14 A, Gabol, Romli, Haryo, Angga, Zaman,

Arif, Rizal, Reski, Zaki, Kikur, and Ridho;

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10.BAC team in Mara Advertising, Mas Anton, Gio, Mbak Rose, Mbak Fita,

Nisa, we had the great process;

11.Mbak Astri and Tika, as my great consultants in checking my grammar;

12.Adit, Oky, Gupir, Windi, the amazing friends; and

13.all people who supported me very well.

Yogyakarta, 19 January 2016

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LIST OF TABLES

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.The process how the researcher employs some theories to analyze the

film... 27

Figure 2.Mary visits the reverend to look for information about Bobby’s condition in afterlife ... 36

Figure 3.Betty is successful in inviting Mary to P-FLAG ... 36

Figure 4.The moment of P-FLAG parents’ sharing ... 36

Figure 5. Mary shows her impression toward parents in P-FLAG ……… 36

Figure 6.A Man shares story about his experience about his gay son. However he still loves him as he is ... 38

Figure 7. A woman also shares the story that she cannot give a shock therapy to her daughter because her daughter is a lesbian ... 38

Figure 8. The reverend comes in P-FLAG to support P-FLAG and homosexuals .. ... 38

Figure 9. Mary’s new understandings are expressed toward her husband after she is back from P-FLAG ... 40

Figure 10. Mary is disappointed with her attitudes. Then, she throws all advice sticky notes from Bobby’s room...……… 40

Figure 11. Mary expresses her fault and disappointment to the reverend after she has listened to all parents’ stories ... 40

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Figure 13. Mary and her families know that Bobby is a homosexual for the first

time ... 42

Figure 14. Mary attaches advices around Bobby when he is waking up in the morning ... 43

Figure 15. Bobby also finds an advice in the bathroom ... 43

Figure 16. In order to heal Bobby, Mary prays to God when he is sleeping ... 44

Figure 17. Bobby is angry because her mom bans him to befriend with gays . .. 46

Figure 18. The coming of Bobby’s friends makes the audiences understand that she is so fanatical to homosexuals ... 46

Figure 19. David says his condolences to Mary about Bobby’s death ... 47

Figure 20. David tells that Bobby is a good person and Mary, but Mary accepts him with unwelcome face . ... 47

Figure 21. Mary throws the plate that is used by David in the box . ... 47

Figure 22. Janette comments about Mary’s attitudes toward David and Bobby . 47 Figure 23. Mary is looking for the reverend for the first time ... 49

Figure 24. Mary questions the reverend about homosexuality. Then, he explains new understandings about homosexuality to Mary ... 49

Figure 25. Betty comes to the Mary’s house. Mary is so welcome to her . ... 50

Figure 26.Mary listens to Betty’s personal experiences about homosexuality .. 50

Figure 27.In the first meeting, Mary is doubtful to join P-FLAG . ... 51

Figure 28.Mary sees and walks around the meeting ... 51

Figure 29. Mary is surprised by the stories of parents in P-FLAG ... 51

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Figure 31. She will visit the reverend and tells the stories about new

understandings from her dream and P-FLAG ... 52

Figure 32. She regrets her attitudes toward Bobby and confesses her fault to the reverend ... 52

Figure 33. Mary walks in the middle of the people who oppose homosexuality ... ... 53

Figure 34. The people’s expression see P-FLAG members when they arrive to the court ... 53

Figure 35. The crowd happens in front of the court against P-FLAG’s action ... 53

Figure 36. Mary’s family is surprised by her picture in the TV ... 54

Figure 37. Mary’s pictures looked when she delivers the speech ... 54

Figure 38. The reverend is surprised by Mary’s bravery to deliver the speech in the podium ... 55

Figure 39. All audiences in the court is amazed by Mary’s speech ... 55

Figure 40. The camera shots low angle of Mary and Bobby to show Mary’s anger and Bobby’s defense ... 57

Figure 41. The picture of Mary’s shocked face. ... 57

Figure 42. Mary’s rejects Bobby as a homosexual ... 58

Figure 43. He begs for her acceptance ... 58

Figure 44.The close up angle of Mary represents her fanatical mimic ... 59

Figure 45.Mary denies Janette’s statements about homosexuality ... 60

Figure 46. Mary hates Bobby’s stories about David ... 61

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Figure 48. Bobby’s simple cloth. ... 61

Figure 49. His make up creates sad expression which shows his status as a minority ... 61

Figure 50. Mary cleans her hands after she shakes David’s hand ... 62

Figure 51. Mary’s dislike face is expressed toward Janette ... 62

Figure 52. Janette is angry to Mary’s attitudes ... 63

Figure 53. She expresses fanatically toward the reverend’s explanations ... 63

Figure 54. The lighting technique creates a good moment when the reverend explains knowledge about homosexuality to Mary ... 64

Figure 55. Her disappointed mood is represented well because of a good combination of the lighting’s color ... 64

Figure 56. Mary is doubtful about herself ... 65

Figure 57. Mary’s shocked expression in P-FLAG ... 65

Figure 58. She contemplates her fault after she gets new understandings about homosexuality ... 65

Figure 59. She waits for the reverend to express her disappointment ... 66

Figure 60. Mary’s sadness is expressed emotionally ... 66

Figure 61. She pays attention to the reverend’s explanations ... 67

Figure 62. The frame of Mary’s impressed face ... 68

Figure 63. The frame of Mary’s disappointed face toward herself ... 68

Figure 64.Mary’s acceptance to Betty’s visiting. ... 72

Figure 65. She observes condition in P-FLAG ... 72

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Figure 67. The people oppose homosexuality in the yard of the court. ... 72

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1. Summary of Prayers for Bobby ... 80

Appendix 2.

Table 1. The Reason of the Shift of Mary’s Awareness toward

Homosexuality ... .83

Table 2. The Process of the Shift of Mary’s Awareness ………....…....86

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THE SHIFT OF MARY GRIFFITH’S AWARENESS TOWARD

HOMOSEXUALITY IN A FILM ENTITLED PRAYERS FOR BOBBY

By

Sistiono Pambudi 10211141003

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.

This research is a descriptive qualitative applying content analysis method. The subject of this research is a film entitled Prayers for Bobby directed by Russell Mulcahy. The data were in the forms of dialogues and pictures related to

the shift of Mary’s awareness. The data were analyzed by watching the film and classifying the data from the film. The researcher also applied triangulation method to get the trustworthiness of the data. It was done by consulting with friends and consultants.

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.

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1 A. Background of the Study

People have different ways of life. Their personalities, belief, and

environments are diverse and causing different ways in dealing with things in

their life. For instance, people may have different sexual orientation. According to

Storms (1980: 279), sexual orientation refers to one’s romantic, emotional, or

sexual attraction to another person. As stated by Eliason (2010: 5), a person is

called as a heterosexual when he or she has a feeling to a person of the opposite

sex. Most people are heterosexuals and they are considered as normal.

Meanwhile, a person who has a feeling to another person with the same sex is

claimed to have a homosexual orientation and is called ‘gay’ for man and

‘lesbian’ for woman. Homosexuals are not similar to heterosexuals. They are

seen as abnormal. As a result, homosexuals are often treated differently by people

around them.

There are several unfair treatments toward homosexuals including

discrimination. Pizer, et al (2012: 722-724) state that 42 % of the lesbians, gays,

and bisexuals in United States had been discriminated in workplaces because of

their sexual orientation. In 2009, 19 % of LGBT staff and faculty surveyed at

colleges and universities were reported that they had personally experienced

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These two cases show that homosexuals have not yet enjoyed the equality and

they have experienced different treatment from the society.

Homosexuals are also seen as stigmatized persons in the society. The term

stigmatized persons means persons who are rejected by the society because of

labeling, stereotyping and separation. As stated by Saghumyan (2012: 8),

stigmatization can cause depression, isolation and low self-esteem. Furthermore,

stigmatization can cause a psychological disorder into homosexuals’ life. For

example, they are alienated from the society and have desire to commit suicide.It

seems that stigmatization can change person’s life drastically.

The level of stigmatization depends on the intensity of communication

with homosexuals. People will get more knowledge about homosexuality when

they try to be closer with homosexuals by making communication with them. It is

because a good communication can decrease stigmatization to homosexuals. On

the contrary, less communication to homosexuals increases stigmatization. The

reason why people do not want to communicate to homosexuals is because they

already have negative label on homosexuality. Because of less communication

and lack of social interaction, people do not know about homosexuals’ feeling as

minority.

Besides the lack of communication, there are some factors that cause the

discrimination toward homosexuals. The lack of knowledge about homosexuality

remains an important factor why people judge homosexuals inappropriately and

treat them unfairly. The lack of knowledge happens because people judge

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homosexuals as the deviated persons. Because of that stigma, people forget to

treat homosexuals fairly as human beings. Therefore, people should increase their

knowledge about homosexuality before they judge homosexuals.

The different perspective in particular culture’s belief is also anotherfactor

of discrimination toward homosexuality. The different perspective is shown by

the different point of view of the particular culture’s belief. As an example in the

Eastern culture, homosexuality is considered taboo. It is because homosexuality is

against the dominant belief in the culture. For example, homosexuality creates a

stigma about the shift of values for men. The phenomenon can be seen by how

easterners respond to homosexuality issue through researches and literary works

such as novels, articles, and books. It seems that easterners cannot accept

homosexuality in their culture. On the other hand, the Western culture’s beliefs

are based on secularism and cultural pluralism which concern to human right.

That is why homosexuals have more freedom, so that they can express their

feeling.

Actually people can treat homosexuals equally as heterosexuals if they

have enough knowledge and can handle their perspective appropriately. It is also

possible that people can shift their awareness after they know the condition of

homosexuals. The awareness emerges if people understand that homosexuality

should be a matter of an individual choice. The individual choice should cover

how a person will achieve his or her life, including the right to choose his or her

sexual orientation. Based on those statements, people will question their previous

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abnormal. To be homosexual is a fundamental right for everyone that should be

respected and cannot be harmed with any reasons.

To have more understandings about homosexuality, sensitivity is an

important aspect that helps people to see the homosexuality issue deeper. Corey

and Corey (1970: 238) mention that sensitivity makes people more aware of,

more touchy of, what happens as they react to one another, especially in the direct

interaction and communication. Sensitivity helps humans to feel what they do to

others. It includes the feeling of giving attention and making direct

communication. The reason why sensitivity is an appropriate way to handle

human’s point of view is because logical thinking does not guarantee to be the

best choice for a judgment. People need more sensitivity in understanding and

feeling human’s problems. For the example, sensitivity can be a reason why

people probably shift their awareness about homosexuality. It is because by

having sensitivity, people can feel that homosexuals also have affection, love, and

interest. Then, people will regard homosexuals as proper ones to have friends and

to be treated equally, so that people will not judge homosexuals as abnormal.

The shift of awareness is also experienced by Mary Griffith in a film

entitled Prayers for Bobby (2009). Mary Griffith is a mother of the main

character, Bobby. She is fanatical with her belief and has less understanding about

homosexuality. Hence, she rejects her son’s choice to be a homosexual and

controls him. Because of her rejection and control, Bobby commits suicide by

jumping to the road from a bridge. After Bobby’s death, she decides to find the

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visits a reverend and questions him. The reverend gives many understandings

about homosexuality and suggests her to visit P-FLAG. As a result, Mary is so

disappointed with her attitudes toward Bobby after she understands the

explanations from the reverend and parents in P-FLAG. Therefore, she decides to

treat homosexuals fairly.

The figure of Mary Griffith is important to be discussed in Prayers for

Bobby. First, she gives significant change toward homosexuals’ life because of

her belief. It is represented by Bobby’s life after he gets more attentions from his

mother. The attentions happen since she knows that her son’s choice to be a

homosexual already opposes her fundamental faith. Because of that case, Mary

controls all Bobby’s activities including his social life. Second, Mary gets the new

understandings about homosexuality. It is visualized in the film after she visits the

reverend and the association of parents who have homosexual children. This

association is called Parents and Friends of Lesbiansand Gays or P-FLAG. Thus,

the role of Mary becomes the center of interest in the film.

Film is also a text with visualization. It means that film offers story,

feeling, mood, knowledge, imagination, image, and word which are similar to

other literary works like poem and novel. Hence, film has equal functions with

novel and poem. It is able to inform people about an issue such as homosexuality

which is adapted from the true story and to share to peoplewhat homosexuals feel

as minorities. In modern era, film is actually needed because film is a kind of

effective text. Readers only feel and imagine when they read novel or poem, but

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Besides strengthening the meaning, it is easy for the people to understand the

meaning through dialogues, pictures, costumes, and music. For the example is

mise-en-scene aspect in the film studies. This aspect helps to describe the analysis

of the shift of Mary’s awareness in Prayer for Bobby. As stated by Sikov (2009:

5), mise-en-scene is the first step to understand how a film produces and reflects

the meaning. It is because mise-en-scene consists of some elements such as the

camera angle and the lighting which can show the meaning of every scene. Thus,

film can be effective medium to convey the meaning of the text.

B. Research Focus

This research will analyze the shift of Mary’s awareness toward

homosexuality in Prayers for Bobby. The researcher focuses on the reason of the

shift of Mary’s awareness, howMary shifts her awareness, and how film analysis

presents the shift of awareness. The analysis aims to understand the reason and

processes of the shift of person’s awareness toward homosexuality through film

perspective. It happens because most people do not understand that homosexuals

live under the injustice situations.

The shift of awareness toward homosexuality is a story of someone’s

experience. Through this story, hopefully people are going to judge homosexuals

properly. It is similar to Mary’s experiences in the film. She shifts her awareness

after getting the new understandings about homosexuality. Therefore, the film can

show the real reflection about discrimination and stigmatization toward

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Mary (Sigourney Weaver), is an egoistic mother who believes in her faith

so much. Furthermore, her son Bobby (Ryan Kelley) is a homosexual. Hence, she

labels her son as a sinner. She also insists Bobby to go to church to cure him.

Mary begins to change her interpretation toward homosexuals after she gets the

new understanding about homosexuality from the reverend and P-FLAG. Then,

she decides to support the equal treatments toward homosexuals.

Based on the phenomenon, the researcher used the post-structuralism

because this theory is very suitable to criticize this literary work.

Post-structuralism attacks binary opposition and reveal values and norms which are not

shown by the author. For example, post-structuralism will interpret the texts

differently compared to the author’s interpretation. The author assumes that

Bobby is a deviated person, but post-structuralism argues Bobby was born

differently and people should treat him equally. The researcher has also found

Mary’s fault in interpreting homosexuality based on her belief. Because of her

fault, she already gives unfair treatment toward Bobby. However,

post-structuralism will consider many aspects to understand moral issue like

homosexuality before this theory interprets or judges it. The researcher believes

that the theory will help people in building positive attitudes toward homosexuals.

C. Formulation of the Problem

From some explanations above, the problems can be formulated follows.

1. What is the reason of the shift of Mary’s awareness toward homosexuality

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2. How does Mary shift her awareness?

3. How is the shift of Mary’s awareness toward homosexuality presented in a

film entitled Prayers for Bobby?

D. Research Objectives

According to the formulation of the problem above, the objectives of this research

are:

1. to identify the reason why Mary shifts her awareness toward homosexuality,

2. to analyze the process how Mary shifts her awareness, and

3. to explain how the shift of Mary’s awareness is portrayed in the movie.

E. Research Significance

The researcher hopes that this research will be useful for:

1. enriching the knowledge and the experiences of the researcher in seeing

homosexuality issue through the reasons of Mary’s shift of awareness,

2. building positive perspective and attitude toward homosexuality after the

researcher sees how Mary shifts her awareness, and

3. giving information to the researcher about homosexuality issue, film

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9

This chapter contains of literature review which is divided into three parts.

The first one deals with theoretical review that consists of some theories as

guidance in analyzing this research. The second part demonstrates the review of

the previous studies. The last part describes theoretical framework which presents

a mind map of the process of this research.

A. Theoretical Review

To analyze the research, the researcher needed a clear explanation about

the theories related to the topic. Thus, this chapter discusses post-structuralism,

logocentrism, différance, the theory of homosexuality, and the movie analysis

theory.

1. Post-structuralism

As cited in Barry (2010: 73), structuralism refers to the theory which

analyzes texts scientifically and systematically based on the author’s perspective.

This theory believes that this analysis will create a clear goal and an accurate

result. It is because all interpretations have been explained by the author within

the texts. On the other hand, this concept will create a single interpretation

between the author, texts, and readers. It means that structuralism does not allow

the readers to interpret the texts based on his or her understanding. It is different

from the concept of post-structuralism that becomes an opposition of

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Pos-structuralism firstly emerged in the late of 1960s in France. Roland

Barthes and Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) are the figures of post-structuralism’s

revival. Barry (2010: 76) claims that post-structuralism is a rebellion toward

structuralism which does not observe the way of interpreting. It happens since

post-structuralism sees texts by engaging the possibilities beyond the author’s

perspective such as the background information of the readers, and the different

culture of the author and readers. Therefore, people have no standards to measure

goodness, truth, and fault within texts.

The rebellion grew up significantly through the work of Barthes entitled

The Death of Author (1968). Barthes (Barry, 2010: 76) declaims that the author

has no authority in the texts. As a result, post-structuralism creates independent

texts which have no limitations to the readers, so that the readers have full

authority to interpret each issue within the texts. This is in line with Nietzsche’s

statement (Barry, 2010: 73) stating that there are no facts, only interpretations. It

means that the readers need to be active in building a critical interpretation toward

texts from the author since the author has no a logical interpretation based on

points of views in the society.

Eagleton (1983: 150) emphasizes that people bring the modern literary

theory through post-structuralism. It means post-structuralism has a big role in

changing the old concept from structuralism into the new concept toward literary

work. In the new concept, the readers have a big chance to build their critical

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Thus, the value and gaps between the author and readers within the texts are

revealed.

Based on the previous statements, it can be concluded that the credibility

of post-structuralism in analyzing literary work is better than structuralism. For

the example, there are many gaps that are hidden by structuralism in the novel

Great Gatsby. When structuralism analyzes the character of Daisy Buchanan as a

beautiful woman, but post-structuralism interprets her as a portrait of materialism.

It is shown by how she idolizes and loves Gatsby and his money. On the other

hand, structuralism only shows their love story as nostalgia of romantic in the

past. This example proves that actually post-structuralism can reveal the value and

norm which cannot be shown by the author within the texts. It is similar to this

research that this research will analyze literary work in the form of movie with

post-structuralism theory since only its theory which can reveal deeper the object

of the research.

Cuddon (Barry, 2010: 83) mentions that texts can betray, support, oppose,

or incite themselves. That is why post-structuralism tries to show an inconsistency

inside the texts. Furthermore, post-structuralism reveals an incoherency under

coherency. It is different from structuralism that tries to hide a coherency of the

texts under incoherency. By showing an incoherency under coherency inside the

texts, people will understand what the author actually writes there. It happens

because the author does not engage the readers to participate in discussing an

issue in the texts. As a result, the interpretation only comes from the author’s

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produces a centralized perspective. Because of the centralized perspective, the

readers have no chance to open many possibilities of values and norms in the

texts, so that post-structuralism is needed by the readers to build varied

perspectives.

Generally, post-structuralism is the theory that shows invisibility on the

texts, phenomenon, and also reality. This opinion is supported by Terry Eagleton

(Barry, 2010: 82) saying that knowing the texts as it cannot know itself. This

expression explains that post-structuralism battles with the texts because the

theory will reveal an absence interpretation of the texts. Therefore,

post-structuralism aims to present the absence interpretation in the texts.

According to the previous statements, the theories of all thinkers will be

worth in changing people’s perspective toward what happens in the texts. As

written in Barry and Eagleton, those theories describe the role and the function of

post-structuralism in dealing the texts. It is shown by how post-structuralism

scrutinizes the existence of invisible possibilities that are not delivered by the

author to the readers. It is so important for the readers because they will

understand where their position is in reading a text. As a result, the interpretation

will be different based on the readers’ experience and knowledge.

Furthermore, this assumption reflects what actually happens in the society

where people believe about the dominant interpretation. Insensibly, people will

justify the interpretation without observing the facts. Moreover, this interpretation

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particular interpretation such as homosexuality. It happens because people only

see and read homosexuality based on the judgment in the society.

As claimed by Barry (2010: 73), philosophy is the root of

post-structuralism. It is represented by the characteristic of philosophy which is

skeptical. Post-structuralism also sees texts in a skeptical way because it will

show irony and paradox inside them. Also, this skeptical way can be used to

analyze the text critically. Then, the readers have a big chance to reveal the value

which becomes the priority in analyzing texts or a literary work. That is why

post-structuralism is important to understand the texts.

By applying skeptical attitude toward texts, it is not easy for the people to

believe in the author’s opinion. It is also done by post-structuralism which

purposes to attack binary opposition. As cited by Sarup (2011: 54), binary

opposition is a perspective which is similar to ideology. For instance, it includes

truth/fault, male/female, and big/small. Without binary opposition, the texts will

produce critical and active readers. There are many new ideas and concepts

because people can respond the texts actively. The existence of binary opposition

only creates hierarchy and separation within the texts. Meanwhile, the texts can be

multi-interpreted based on the context and who the readers are if it can be

interpreted openly by the readers. In order to know how post-structuralism

analyzes the texts clearly, people should understand logocentrism deeper.

2. Logocentrism

Logocentrism is an important aspect to understand how post-structuralism

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logocentrism is derived from Greek word logos which relates to metaphysic. It

refers to the word, reason, truth, logic, and law. An example thought of

logosentrism is Hegel’s philosophy, Absolute Spirit. Furthermore, logocentrism

tends to dominantly see a truth which creates a totalitarian system and centralizes

all things into one system. As a result, the totalitarian system is interpreted as an

absolute truth in the society.

However, difference or diversity is a nature of any thoughts system, so that

there is no hierarchy and opposition in a philosophical system. In a simple

example, any single color in the world is the result of the combination of other

colors. This combination can be done by two or more colors. For instance, the

combination between black and white is grey. Based on that combination, it can

be concluded that the difference of black and white is not a resistance. It is

because between black and white can produce another color by combining the

parts of both colors. Therefore, the diversity between black and white does not

mean hierarchy and opposition in the color categories since no one color category

is better than others. Unfortunately, logocentrism already forgets these cases, so

that it serves the absolute truth which creates hierarchy and opposition in the

society (Al-Fayyadl, 2009: 76).

Derrida also presents his argument (Sarup, 2011: 54) that logocentrism

relates to centralism. Centralism means humans’ desire to place an existence of

truth which becomes a center of any aspects. As a result, logocentrism creates an

emergence of opposition and hierarchy within the texts that are still authorized by

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removed in reading texts because it can close the possibilities of any aspects

beyond the texts.

Besides demonstrating logocentrism, Derrida criticizes structural critics

because they do not blame the existence of binary opposition. Derrida suggests

that an understanding or an existence occurs because of other understandings or

existences. It is not because the understanding or existence is one or absolute. In

addition, the understanding or existence does not consist of opposition and

hierarchy element.

Based on the previous perspectives about logocentrism, it can be reviewed

that Derrida and other thinkers do not want to have a dominant truth in the texts.

These thinkers agree that the existence of logocentrism is not a judge in giving

perspective and creating ideology, so that the existence of other elements beyond

the texts such as the readers’ experience should be considered in reading texts.

It is strengthened by Easthrope (Hendricks, 2014: 5), Derrida agrees that

the interpretation is more powerful because the meaning is determined by a

system of forces that is not personal. It does not depend on the subjective

assumption but on the field of the different forces. Then, the conflict of the forces

creates interpretations. That is why there is no autonomous truth and meaning

from the author in the texts since the meaning or truth is a product of differences

in the texts which involves context.

3. Différance

A term différance is created by Derrida specially to create a new form of

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diversity or variance. In this context, Derrida intentionally makes this word to

have ambivalence meanings. First one, this word is to differ that means to

distinguish. Second one, this word is to defer that means to postpone. This

ambiguity is made by letter a in the word différance. Derrida mentions that the

change of letter e and a in the word différance is a textual strategy to show a

characteristic of language’s ambiguity (Culler, 1985: 97-101).

Derrida (Al-Fayyadl, 2009:111) admits that différance is not a word or a

concept, because a word and a concept always refer to an absolute reference. It is

a strategy to show implicit differences and to present the total meaning in the

texts. As a strategy, différance can be found in each thought system,

interpretation, history, and everything to build a meaning. These things can be

called as texts in the Derrida’s perception. That is why these texts are openly read,

analyzed, and interpreted.

As cited in Sarup (2011:64), the emergence of writing is a challenge

toward structuralism since it often hopes to the central, the absolute principle, and

hierarchy in the meaning. These concepts are questioned by différance by

differing and deferring texts which are guided by the centralized perspective.

Derrida’s concept about différance shows a clear strategy to people in

constructing the meaning in the texts. It is because différance gives more freedom

of interpretation toward people while they read texts such as phenomenon in the

society. Most of them miss the interpretation of the texts because their perspective

has been authorized by the absolute truth of the author. It is proved by the

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principle and hierarchy. Therefore, différance neutralizes the position of the texts

in the readers’ perspective. .

Generally, Derrida uses différance in his perspective to tackle the

existence of logocentrism. It is since this logocentrism becomes a burden for the

readers in analyzing the texts. Because of that reason, Derrida comes with

freedom of interpretation in order to burn the concept of absolute truth. Definitely,

it will impact to readers in building varied meanings and critical arguments. As a

result, truth and reference in the texts do not become the main priority. Basically,

these steps are no more than a process. Because of différance, people will be so

skeptical to question the established assumptions and it will examine them with

more radical possibilities. It also can be said that différance is the process to find

various perspectives in the text.

4. Homosexuality

Barry (2010:163-164) claims that literary criticism about lesbian and gay

emerged significantly in 1990s. The term of homosexual approach is often called

queer which means deviated person. The term is gained from a conference in 1990

which discussed about homosexuality issue in University of California, Santa

Cruz. The point of homosexual approach is using sexual orientation theory since it

aims to identify people’s sexual attraction.

According to American Psychological Association, sexual orientation

typically emerges between middle childhood and early adolescence. These

attitudes of sexual attraction, romantic, and emotion arise without any previous

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are still young or celibate. Meanwhile, there are many researches which have

examined sexual orientation through social culture, genetic, and hormonal, but no

findings can conclude that it is determined by any particular factors. It is because

nurture and nature is complex toward people’s sexual orientation.

Homosexuality firstly emerged into film industry in 1990s. Dyer (Hill,

2000: 141) states that the existence of homosexuality in film relates to politic and

pleasure. Moreover, gay critics use film as a campaign to show oppression toward

gay which causes stigmatization toward homosexuality in the society. This

campaign happens because of homophobia. As Bernat, et al (2001: 180) claim that

homophobia is dislike feeling, avoidance, negative perspective, fear, and

aggression toward homosexuality. The previous statement shows that actually

unfair treatment is still experienced by homosexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals.

Because of that reason, the researcher attaches environment as factor which is

involved within homosexuality issue. Below is the explanation of environment

aspect toward homosexuality.

5. Environment

The big curiosity that many people question is whether environment is a

factor of sexual orientation. According to Eliason, there have been studies in the

past two decades that try to answer that question, including studies of hormones,

genes, and dysfunctional families on the environment aspect. As a result, no

studies have been conclusive. It is since there are probable ways to determine

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environmental factors, including psychology, social, and culture (Eliason, 2010:

11).

However, the role of environment toward homosexuals’ viability is

important. Environment is the context where homosexuals can hope affection,

social trust, and safety. For example, the context includes family, neighbor,

school, and peer. It is also argued by Blaauw (2012: 29) that people move in many

kinds of contexts and these contexts are important to maintain people’s moral

attitude since the contexts teach the process of interaction one another.

As the previous statements explained, environment can change people’s

attitudes because environment experiences people with many understandings.

Then, personal experiences are the reasons why people can change their

perspective about social issue. It is possible for the people to change the

perspective of homosexuals. Personal experiences toward homosexuality involve

how much people experience and understand about this moral issue. Level of

fanaticism, level of education, and degree of tolerance are some personal

experiences which often influence people’s attitudes and understandings. Level

of fanaticism, level of education, and degree of tolerance are described below.

a. Level of Fanaticism

According Marimaa (2011: 30), the terms fanaticism and fanatic are

derived from Latin words. The terms are the combination of adverb fānāticē, noun

fānum, and adjective fānāticus. Then, a psychologist of religion, Tõnu Lehtsaar

has defined the term fanaticism as the pursuit or defense of something in an

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behavior, most fanatical people forget to respect other understandings which are

also important.

As stated by Marimaa (2011: 33), the term fanaticism has been mostly

related to religion and politics. Fanaticism can also be found in social life such as

some religious sects and football supporters. It seems that fanaticism is loyalty of

people toward a belief, an issue, or an idol. On the other hand, fanatical behavior

will encourage people’s thought to love something redundantly. As a result, most

people are intolerant about other opinions.

b. Level of Education

Education is important in social science. People agree that education has

significant role toward moral attitudes in the society since the higher educated

people are more permissive toward moral issue compared to the lower educated

people. In addition, by doing more process through education, people will

consider many aspects to judge an issue in the society (Blaauw, 2012: 27).

According to previous statements, education is a crucial part which

influences human’s interpretation toward moral issue such as homosexuality. It

can be proven by how much lower educated people understand homosexuality

issue compared to higher educated people. Most lower educated people will think

conservatively in responding the issue. Thus, education has a big role to

understand homosexuality.

c. Degree of Tolerance

Tolerance is the simple way to respect people’s attitudes. By having

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people to appreciate the weakness of other people, so that there is no judgment

between goodness and weakness of the people. It is similar to Corneo and Jeanne

(2009:1) who claim that tolerance promotes peaceful coexistence between diverse

groups and different individual self-actualization. It means that people can respect

other ones’ attitudes through tolerance.

Furthermore, tolerance can build positive thinking toward stigmatized

person in the society. People are able to be tolerant if they want to communicate

with stigmatized or minority ones and understand what they feel. Through

tolerance, people will assume that diversity is natural. It is supported by Kuyper,

et al (2013: 59), countries are more tolerant when the people hold the values as

self-expressions than survival concerns. As a result, the tolerance will happen

naturally in the societal attitudes.

6. Movie Analysis

The researcher uses some elements to analyze a film. It is because people

cannot simply use the theory in film. There are parts of elements which build

whole body of film. They include mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, and

music. The mise-en-scene’s concept consists of camera angle, and costume and

make up. Further one is cinematography which contains of lighting and framing.

It also is completely followed by editing, sound elements, and narrative structure.

Based on Pratista (2008) and Sikov (2009), below are some important elements in

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a. Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene comes from France which means ‘putting in the scene’.

Mise-en-scene is the main feature of cinematic representation. It is the step to

understand how film produce and reflect meaning. In film production,

mise-en-scene contains of all elements spotted in front of camera to be photographed:

camera angle, costume and make up, and figure behaviors (Sikov, 2009: 26).

1) Camera Angle

Camera angle is the cameraman’s way to shot the object, characters, and

actors from below, above, sky or ceiling. This step in the film studies is needed,

because it can provide expressive character in the film. There are some terms of

camera angle in film studies. First, Eye-Level Shot is where directors place

camera at the level of characters’ eyes. The camera shots the character in the same

height. The second one, when directors shoot the character from below is called

Low-Angle Shot. Then, camera shoots the character from above is defined as

High-Angle Shot. These are some crucial techniques of camera angle (Sikov,

2009:33).

2) Costume and Make up

Costume is all elements which are wore by actors with some accessories.

Costume and make up have a function to identify space and time. Furthermore,

costume and make up show an identity of culture in particular place and period.

Meanwhile, costume and make up will help audience to know the character of the

actors. Make up also can be identity of actors’ age so that audience can diver the

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b. Cinematography

Cinematography means how film maker takes the picture and video in film

production. In this case, a film maker does not only record a scene, but also he/she

should manage and control how the scene is taken. This action can be applied

through some elements in cinematography. The elements are distance, point of

view, height, and duration. There are three elements of cinematography including

camera and film, framing, and duration (Pratista, 2008: 89).

1) Lighting

Lighting molds something and dimension into space. It aims to show how

director creates effect which bears meaning, mood, and atmosphere. According to

Pratista (2008), lighting in the film can be categorized into 4 elements. They are

quality, direction, resource, and lighting color. These elements have powerful

impact toward film production. The quality of lighting can be counted by the

number of lighting’s intensity. There are two kinds of lighting quality here. Hard

light tends to produce object form and sharp shadow. Then, soft light tends to

spread the light so that it produces thin shadow. For example, hard light happens

in the sunshine and lamp shine. On the other hand, soft light happens in the sky

shine. Direction of lighting refers to position of lighting resource toward an object

which is purposed. The object is usually an actor of the play and face is part

which is often lighted. There are kinds of the direction of lighting including

frontal lighting, slide lighting, back lighting, and under lighting. Frontal lighting

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show the shadow toward besides the actor. Back lighting shows silhouette form of

the object or actor. Under lighting usually is spotted under actor’s face.

Lighting molds the object by making bright side and shadow side from the

object. Bright side is the area which is blocked by the light. Then, shadow side is

the area which is not touched by the light. The bright side impacts significantly to

show smooth texture and harsh texture. If the area is smooth, it tends to reflect the

light. On other hand, the area will spread the light if it is harsh area. Meanwhile,

the content of shadow includes of shadow in the object and shadow from the

object. The shadow in the objects is created if bright is fail in shining the all areas

of the object such as human’s face (Pratista, 2008: 75-77).

2) Framing

Framing is a limitation of pictures which is executed by camera to show

the film’s emotion in the context of story. For instance, it happens to zoom in and

zoom out in the camera technique which have functions to see the detail and

actor’ expression. Control of film maker toward framing will be so important to

decide audiences’ perception toward pictures (Pratista, 2008: 62).

c. Sound

Sound is also important cinematic element. Sound in the film can be

understood as whole sounds from pictures including dialogue, music scoring, and

sound effect. These three forms represent different functions and meanings.

Dialogue represents verbal communication which is used by all characters inside

or outside the story such as conversation of two character, and crowd scenes in

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the story. For example, people find a character is listening a song in the frame. In

addition, sound effect is each sounds from objects inside or outside the story such

as ocean waves, and bird chirping (Pratista, 2008: 149).

d. Narrative Structure

People will define every shot in the film with expression that is related.

This relation is constructed by how directors use narrative structure well. This is

in line with Sikov. He states that narrative simple means storytelling. However,

not all films use well narrative. For instance, documentaries film but most films

people see in their life or television series are narrative. Moreover, they perform

stories with good pattern. It is definitely qconsists of narrative structure. Below

are some patterns of narrative structure based on Sikov. There are Story and Plot,

and Character, Desire, and Conflict (Sikov, 2009: 115-116).

According to Sikov, the existence of character, desire, and conflict in the

film makes the story dynamic. For example, the film offers a main character that

is supported by number of characters to date with beautiful characters there.

Surely, the main character pursues happiness from that girl. That is why the

characterization is created naturally reflecting reality. When the main character

dates with the girl, the film describes the process of pursuing with desire. It comes

up from the main’s character willing to achieve the goal. Furthermore, to make

the audience challenges the story, the director usually creates a conflict within the

story in order to not be bored. Actually, this is the way of film maker offer fiction

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7. Previous Studies

There are previous research studies using homosexuality theory which

inspire the researcher. The first one was written by Andi Saputro (2015) entitled

Homosexuals Identity Development as Reflected in E.M. Forster’s Maurice: A

Psychological Study. His research focuses on the process of homosexual identity

development. To analyze the novel, Andy employs the theory of sexual

orientation and sexual identity. It is different from this research because this

researcher focuses on the process why a person shifts her awareness toward

homosexuality. The researcher applies the theory of level of fanaticism, level of

education, and degree of tolerance in homosexuality to answer the formulation of

the problem.

The second one was written by Maria Wintang Rarasati (2014) entitled

The Issue of Homosexuality in Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain and Its Film

Adaptation Directed by Ang Lee. Her research focuses on the effect of

homosexuality in someone’s life in his society. Maria employs ego-syntonic

homosexuality and ego-dystonic homosexuality theory to answer the formulation

of the problem. The literary work is analyzed using abnormal psychology. On the

contrary, this research applies personal experiences toward homosexuality to

show the process of the shift of a person’s awareness. Also, the researcher

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8. Framework of Thinking

Prayers for Bobby

Post-structuralism

Pratista and Sikov’s

Movie Analysis

The Shift of Mary Griffith’s Awareness toward Homosexuality in Prayers for

Bobby

RQ1: What is the reason of the shift of

Mary’s awareness toward homosexuality?

RQ2: How does Mary shift her awareness?

RQ3: How is the shift

of Mary’s awareness toward homosexuality presented in Prayers for Bobby?

[image:47.595.108.525.175.676.2]

Homosexuality

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28

This chapter consists of research design, data and source of data, research

instrument, data collecting technique, data analysis technique, and data

trustworthiness. The details are explained below.

A. Research Design

The design of this research was qualitative research. As mentioned by

Hancock (2002: 2), qualitative research focuses on the development of social

phenomena. It aims to understand the world where people live and all things

which are related in their life. Qualitative research concerns with the opinions,

experiences, and feelings of individuals who produce the data. In addition,

qualitative research describes social phenomena naturally.

As mentioned above, qualitative research is a suitable approach to this

research. It could be found through qualitative research’s concern. Through

qualitative research, the researcher collected the data by analyzing human’s

experiences and feelings. The data dealt with several social values which engaged

with the texts, interpretation, sound, and pictures. It showed that the data

represented the process rather than the product since qualitative research produced

the interpretation by understanding the real situation of social world.

In a simple term, qualitative research is a description. It is shown in how

people collected the data. The researcher found that the data tended to show

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forms, the researcher could understand varied interpretations within the data

because they reflected the real situation. This is emphasized by Hancock (2002: 2)

that qualitative research describes social phenomena as happened naturally.

Finally, the researcher believed that the description was a credible way to find

data in the form of social science.

B. Data and Source of Data

The data were gained in the form of dialogue, narrative, and visualization

of Prayers for Bobby. By watching this movie many times, the researcher could

understand the main issue which could be discussed in this research. As quoted by

Denscombe (2007: 286), qualitative data are taken in the form of words or visual

images. Hence, the researcher used dialogues and pictures of the actors in the film

as the primary data.

C. Research Instrument

As cited in Vanderstoep and Johnson (2009: 188-1889), Lincoln and Guba

mention that the natural instrument for qualitative research is human because

human can be more sensitive in responding information around them. Based on

the idea, the researcher acted as the main instrument in collecting, analyzing, and

interpreting the data. In addition, the researcher involved the computer, the data

sheet, the table, and the related documents which became the supportive

instruments in collecting the data.

D. Data Collecting Technique

In this research, there were three steps in collecting the data. First, the

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to be analyzed. As a result, the researcher could understand the data which were

relevant to the research questions. It was done by comparing the data one by one

of data in each category.

Second, the researcher rewrote the dialogue and captured the picture each

scene to get the data in the film. This step was easy for the researcher to

categorize the data. The researcher had to check the scene one by one to get the

valid dialogue and picture. For example, the scene was identified whether it was

lighting or sound depended on how the dialogue and picture performed, so that the

researcher could divide the data which were relevant to the research questions. In

collecting the data, the researcher used the personal computer to get the data in the

form of dialogues and pictures. As a result, the quality of the data was better than

the manual equipment.

In the last step, the researcher classified the data into the picture and the

dialogue based on several research questions. This step was easy for the

researcher to analyze the data related to the reason of the shift of Mary’s

awareness, the process of the shift of Mary’s awareness, and the process of the

shift of Mary’s awareness portrayed in the movie.

E. Data Analysis Technique

The researcher applied content analysis as a technique to analyze the data

in this research. Based on Denscombe (2007: 236), content analysis is a method

which helps researcher to analyze any text. It can be in the form of words, sounds,

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There were some ways applied by the researcher to analyze the data. One

of them was using the table which contained picture or dialogue, minute,

category, and meaning. First, it was easy for the researcher to interpret and

analyze the data because of the column of picture or dialogue. Second, there were

columns of minute, category and meaning which had different functions. In the

column minute, it determined when the data was performed. For category, it

explained what the category of the data was. Then, the meaning mentioned what

[image:51.595.112.518.361.562.2]

the data meant. This classification helped the researcher in analyzing the data.

Table 1. The List of the Data

No. Picture/Dialogue Minute Category Meaning

1. Fanatical Phase All members of

Bobby’s family are

so surprised because

they understand that

Bobby is a

homosexual

F. Data Trustworthiness

In order to get trustworthiness, quality or validity of the data in qualitative

research is important. That was why this research was finished by investigator

triangulation. Denscombe (2007: 134) claims that triangulation is the practice of

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employing different methods, different sources of data, and different researchers

within the study. As a result, this research could get the better understanding.

This research used investigator triangulation by involving two students of

English Literature, Agung Larsonianto and Dita Pravita to check the data. Also,

the researcher discussed and consulted the data analysis and resul t of analysis to

Widyastuti Purbani, M.A and Eko Rujito Dwi Atmojo, S.S, M. Hum as the

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33

This chapter deals with findings and discussions. The analysis is based on

research objectives: 1) to identify the reason of the shift of Mary’s awareness

toward homosexuality, 2) to analyze the process how Mary shifts her awareness,

and 3) to explain how the shift of Mary’s awareness portrayed in movie. The data

that are found in Prayers for Bobby are used to support the findings and

discussions.

A. The Reason of the Shift of Mary’s Awareness toward Homosexuality The new understandings are the reasons why Mary changes her

perspective about homosexuality. Because of the new understanding, Mary gets

new knowledge to treat homosexuals. In addition, she learns from other parents

who also have homosexual children in a community, called P-FLAG (Parents and

Friends of Lesbians and Gays). P-FLAG gives a chance to the parents to share

their experiences when their children come out with their sexual orientation in the

first time. It really shocks them, but they can love their children as who they are.

Eventhough, the parents know that their children are homosexuals, it does not

mean that they should treat them differently. That is why Mary shifts her

awareness toward homosexuals.

Mary finds the new understanding about homosexuality after she is

shocked by Bobby’s death. Mary decides to visit the reverend and looks for the

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when Mary is so curious about Bobby’s fate since he killed himself. She needs an

answer whether God accepts Bobby with his decision or not. Before that, she

introduces herself and retells about the history of Bobby’s death. On the contrary,

Mary gets the different answer about homosexuality from the reverend. In this

scene, the reverend explains more about how Mary’s belief sees homosexuality

that God treats all human beings equally. It is different from Mary’s treatments

toward Bobby. Based on the reverend’s explanations, Mary begins to understand

what her fault is. Furthermore, the reverend suggests her to visit P-FLAG because

it will help Mary to find the answers from her questions. The reverend states that

Mary will get the impressive things there.

Mary is so surprised by the reverend’s guests in the church. Mary asks to

the reverend whether they are homosexuals. The reverend says it is true because

he accepts everyone equally in the church. Then, the reverend explains that God

loves them as the way they are. He also tells that one day Bobby came to his

church. It means that Bobby actually believes in God, too. However, Mary has

less information about Bobby’s activities because she was not personally close to

Bobby.

To help Mary in finding more understandings about homosexuality, the

reverend gives her Betty’s number as member of P-FLAG. The reverend suggests

her to come in the P-FLAG meeting in order to learn from their experiences. Also,

Mary can compare her interpretation about homosexuality with other parents’

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Next, Betty comes to the Mary’s house since the reverend asks her to meet

Mary. Then, Betty tells about herself and her experiences in treating gay son.

Mary is surprised by the Betty’s stories. Betty comes to the Mary’s house and

persuades her to join into P-FLAG. There, Betty shares her experiences when she

listened to her son’s confession as a gay for the first time. She was shocked and

could not accept it. However, she understands that her son needs her affection and

love, so that she loves her son as who he is. After listening to that story, Mary

feels that she is not alone. The understanding opens her mind that Bobby got

unfair treatments when he was alive. As a result, Mary decides to come in the

P-FLAG meeting. She is very curious with all P-P-FLAG agenda. She is in doubt at

first time, but Betty can make her sure about P-FLAG. Because of Betty, Mary is

brave to join in the P-FLAG’s sharing.

There are many impressive things in P-FLAG. These impressive things

make Mary imagine her fault toward Bobby. First, P-FLAG gives a space for all

people in order to share their experiences about their homosexual children, so that

all parents have chance to tell and to argue about homosexuality. The parents can

tell the process how they accept their children as homosexuals. They are the

stories that Mary never listened before. Second, P-FLAG saves the gays’ right as

human beings. It is shown by the P-FLAG’s campaign to support the gays’ right

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In the P-FLAG parents’ sharing, Mary just comes and listens to all stories.

Furthermore, she looks at the parents one by one in the circle. Mary’s eyes

focuses on their interpretation about homosexuality that they share. She is so

amazed because they have the different stories. She sees true affection from the

parents. In the meeting, there is a man and a woman who state about their

homosexual children. When she listens to the man and the woman’s statements,

there are many new understandings about homosexuality which open up her mind.

The statements of the parents contain of prides about their children’s decision.

Moreover, there are no violence or intimidation attitudes in their statement. Then,

she jumps into a moment of sorrow by memorizing her attitudes toward Bobby.

[image:56.595.162.318.112.213.2]

re 2.

Figure 2. Mary visits the reverend to l