How the movie “Shelter” helped me come out and redefine love
The last thing gay men need in the queer film industry is another coming-of-age trope, but after rewatching 2007’s Shelter, I couldn’t help but think that maybe more would be OK.
Seeing five-year-old Cody (Jackson Wurth) insist his older brother Zach (Trevor Wright) be his ‘Daddy’ (in place of his absent father), I remember the times I, too, forced this role on unsuspecting older men.
But I digress. Nothing new could be said about being closeted besides that it sucks. And that’s what makes Shelter so refreshing; Zach is autonomous and supports his older mess of a sister and her kid as if he’s head of the family.
There is minimal conflict among kin on sexuality. We don’t have to endure another young adult coming out to his parents. We know that storyline – we’ve lived it.
