Coming Out is one guy’s story about his entire coming out process to tell not just his friends and family, but the world, and to document what happens after you’re out of the closet. Alden Peters story also covers how others have dealt with their own coming outs, including YouTubers and the advice of psychological professionals.
Alden’s overwhelmingly positive outcome and responses from those he told, were beautiful to see on screen and in such depth, as we’re usually only shown the opposite side of the coin in mainstream media – the disownings, the fights, the splits and the negative results. I personally could relate to Alden’s support network and the response he gained from them, especially his parents. For everybody coming out – we often believe our story is unimportant because it’s been done so many times, but internally, we still freak out! We still get nervous, and anxious, and overwhelmingly heartfelt when (if) the person you knew would support you does. I loved seeing that reflected on screen in such a raw format – the documentary is in your face because it’s real, it’s not scripted and it hasn’t undergone weeks of behind scenes development. It really resonated with me and brought back to mind my own coming out adventures, and reminded me how lucky I am.
Later after the film, I was able to catch Alden for 5 minutes, and as we chatted about the positivity surrounding his coming out story, he mentioned to me that when he showed the footage to his team they said they weren’t sure they had a film. He disagreed. Alden argued that it was excellent to have an alternative side for parents to see as well, how they could respond to their child entrusting them with their identity – “that there is an alternative to disowning them or throwing them out.”
The second part of the documentary was more to do with Alden coming to terms with the term he identified with – gay. The film explored how he didn’t feel much connection to the gay community, at least gay in the sense of the stereotypical gay people that he had met at pride festivals or other. This second half was great as well, as after you come out, you think what now? I’ve come out, and this is who I am, I’ve got to that stage where I can be myself, so now what? Alden eventually came to terms with himself just for who he is, didn’t feel like he had to identify with stereotypically how the gay community around him lived, behaved and expressed themselves.
Coming Out is an excellent documentary that has some lovely cinematic shots intermingled with live footage of Alden’s experiences, and presents a relatable and enjoyable film that anybody who has come out could resonate with, and everybody who hasn’t could benefit from.
P.S. / sidenote: Alden’s favourite movies and those that influenced him most during his teenage years are Kill Bill and The Matrix!
Coming Out screened at the 2017 Mardi Gras Film Festival
http://www.comingoutdoc.com/