Benjamin Farmer stars in The Falls, an independent film made in
Portland about two Mormons doing missionary work as is the duty of all
Mormon males of a certain age. The film focuses on the relationship
between the two young men and not necessarily the questions of faith
that the two have but merely the question of their roles in the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When I talked to Farmer by phone a
week before Christmas, he told me about his own faith, his fear as an
actor and the freedom he wants or aspires to feel as a performer in
front of a camera.
Farmer was born in 1984 and raised in Salem, Oregon. He's Christian or
at least he had a very strong, Christian upbringing. He grew up in what
he calls a protected environment and among a group of regular,
church-going people with most likely strict, conservative ideals and
beliefs. In other words, these people probably wouldn't go see a gay
movie or a movie where two men have sex with each other. Farmer said he
was aware of Mormons when he was little but basically was told that what
Mormons believed was wrong. The people with whom Farmer grew up also
probably wouldn't go see a Mormon movie or a movie where two Mormons try
to proselytize every day.
Nevertheless, this is what The Falls is. It's a movie about two
Mormons who try to proselytize every day and it's about those same two
men having sex with each other. Farmer said this is not a film that the
people with whom he grew up, specifically his parents, would want and/or
enjoy watching. The DVD for example is not going to be his Christmas
present to them. That being said, Farmer is one of the stars. He plays
one of the gay Mormons. He plays basically that which his upbringing was
against.
To read the rest of the article, go to http://themreporter.blogspot.com/2012/12/benjamin-farmer-faith-fear-and-freedom.html
