Wish Me Away (2012)

Release Date: June 1st, 2012

Director: Beverly Kopf, Bobbie Birleffi

Writers: Not available

Actors: Blair Garner, Charlene Daniels, Chely Wright, Cherie Combs, Christipher Wright, Chuck D. Walter, Howard Bragman, Jennifer Archer, Meredith Vieira, Natalie Morales, Rodney Crowell, Rosie O'Donnell, Russell Carter, Tony Brown, Welton Gaddy

Genre: Biography, Documentary, Music

MPAA Rating: Not available

Official site: www.wishmeawaydoc.com

Studio: First Run Features

After a lifetime of hiding, Chely Wright becomes the first commercial country music singer to come out as gay,
shattering cultural stereotypes within Nashville, per conservative heartland family and, most importantly, within herself. With unprecedented access over a two-year period, including her private video diaries, the film layers Chely’s rise to fame while hiding in the late 90′s with the execution of her coming out plan, culminating in the exciting moment when she steps into the media glare to reveal she is gay. The film shows both the devastation of internalized homophobia and the transformational power of living an authentic life. The film also documents the conflicting responses from Nashville, the heartland and the LGBT community as Chely Wright prepares for an unknown future.
Chely Wright arrived to national prominence with her hit single “Shut Up and Drive.” That hit was quickly followed by a string of top ten songs including “Single White Female,” accolades from the Academy of Country Music, the distinction of being one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People of 2002 and even a brief relationship with country superstar Brad Paisley. Despite her success, Chely was unhappy due to a lifetime of pretending to be someone she was not.
Growing up in Wellsville, Kansas, in the heart of the Bible Belt, the young Chely Wright prays daily, “Dear God, please don’t let me be gay.” Arriving in Nashville at seventeen, she quickly realizes that she will have to keep her sexual identity under wraps to make it in this town. No Country star had ever come out as gay, and there is no way she will be the first. But even at the height of her success, she remembers looking in the mirror and whispering, “Who are you? What are you doing?” Finally, having painted herself into a corner, she realizes that she cannot survive the life she has created. She breaks down. With a 16mm gun in her mouth, staring at herself in the mirror and wondering who will find her, she prays to God for a moment’s peace. Songs begin to pour out of her soul and before long she plans her coming out moment, not just for herself, but for all the young people who believe they are damaged goods. Her public coming-out turns into an unexpectedly triumphant media whirlwind. She has struck a chord. As her Nashville dream fades, a confident, radiant and openly gay Chely Wright prepares for an unknown future.