I had a colleague a few years ago. His 10 YO son was the incarnation of Ross the Intern. I kid you not. Young man wanted a feather boa for Christmas. I’m really sure he’d never seen the Tonight Show, so I don’t think it was an act. He was that way every time I saw him. Either something is going to change or this young man is going to be flaming in a few years. Which is probably going to astound his very devout LDS parents.
You don’t get to pick your children - you just have to love them up, teach em right and wrong, shit from shinola, and then pray they will have a happy life. Don’t know what it all means, but I really love watching kids grow. As for your friend, he knows exactly what he is seeing, but he loves his son and has no power to change him. Sometimes there is grace in acceptance of things you cannot change. I am sure there is grace in love. My two cents.