He kind-of, sort-of 'came out' with his last standup, (and seriously, were there people who didn't really know?) but this spiral descended quickly into a complex and even torturous journey into his maternal relationship, and how he feels about her apathy/disregard for his lifestyle proclamation.
There's moments of silence that are painful and feel heavy in the ether- you expect him to have tears flowing the next time he looks up. While my heart physically hurts for their relationship and his desperate need to feel loved and accepted by her, part of my has to wonder what it was he expected would be the outcome? Knowing his whole life what her disposition is and her close relationship to religion, I wouldn't think it would be a healthy imagination to believe she'd toss all that aside and embrace a lifestyle that puts her in direct conflict with what she's held so deeply her entire life.
I feel like his friends need to encircle him and help him with the machinations of this relationship, get him into counseling to help him see she may never come around, and how to accept her as she is or leave it lay and move forward from there.
For better or worse, she is who she is and is likely old enough that the ridicule she's like receiving because of this very public airing of grievances is nothing compared to what she views as her son being eternally damned to the hereafter in fire. It serves as a cautionary tale to all the heretics in our society that think public shaming/ostracism/doxxing/etc is somehow going to turn the enemy into a convert, when it very likely has the opposite effect- all the toxicity and vitriol you launch convinces those you somehow believe are going to be converts into even bigger enemies.
I believe the male audience member who spoke up had it 100% correct (to paraphrase)- 'you had all this time to consider your sexuality, why not allow her the same accommodation?' All you can do is let her ruminate and come to her conclusion- she'll come around but pushing, poking and prodding will not give you the desired outcome.
Parts were uproariously funny- which I've come to expect from Rothaniel, but much was a painful deep dive into something that feels intrusive and awkward- all we can do is hope he's able to come to terms with the relationship, whatever that may be.
Best of luck, and hopefully other parents with children coming out to them can watch this and feel their child's anguish in Jarrod's retelling- how betrayed and utterly remote he feels in her resounding rejection. Even if that's only his interpretation (we aren't given the opportunity to hear from his mom, so we're speculating) his interpretation is crushing and hurts the soul. No good comes from rejecting your child based solely on something they're completely unable to change, and any religion that tells you to walk away from family based on that would be roundly rejected by Jesus.
There's moments of silence that are painful and feel heavy in the ether- you expect him to have tears flowing the next time he looks up. While my heart physically hurts for their relationship and his desperate need to feel loved and accepted by her, part of my has to wonder what it was he expected would be the outcome? Knowing his whole life what her disposition is and her close relationship to religion, I wouldn't think it would be a healthy imagination to believe she'd toss all that aside and embrace a lifestyle that puts her in direct conflict with what she's held so deeply her entire life.
I feel like his friends need to encircle him and help him with the machinations of this relationship, get him into counseling to help him see she may never come around, and how to accept her as she is or leave it lay and move forward from there.
For better or worse, she is who she is and is likely old enough that the ridicule she's like receiving because of this very public airing of grievances is nothing compared to what she views as her son being eternally damned to the hereafter in fire. It serves as a cautionary tale to all the heretics in our society that think public shaming/ostracism/doxxing/etc is somehow going to turn the enemy into a convert, when it very likely has the opposite effect- all the toxicity and vitriol you launch convinces those you somehow believe are going to be converts into even bigger enemies.
I believe the male audience member who spoke up had it 100% correct (to paraphrase)- 'you had all this time to consider your sexuality, why not allow her the same accommodation?' All you can do is let her ruminate and come to her conclusion- she'll come around but pushing, poking and prodding will not give you the desired outcome.
Parts were uproariously funny- which I've come to expect from Rothaniel, but much was a painful deep dive into something that feels intrusive and awkward- all we can do is hope he's able to come to terms with the relationship, whatever that may be.
Best of luck, and hopefully other parents with children coming out to them can watch this and feel their child's anguish in Jarrod's retelling- how betrayed and utterly remote he feels in her resounding rejection. Even if that's only his interpretation (we aren't given the opportunity to hear from his mom, so we're speculating) his interpretation is crushing and hurts the soul. No good comes from rejecting your child based solely on something they're completely unable to change, and any religion that tells you to walk away from family based on that would be roundly rejected by Jesus.