Summer Movies--#6

Last week we looked at a wildly successful - and scary - summer movie at the beach. And there’s something about summer movies going hand in hand with scary movies, like the idyllic summer you’re expecting may have unpleasant twists and turns that you may not be able to control. That contrast of summer bliss with summer scariness can be fun…just the juxtaposition can make you sit up and take notice.

And when we talk about ‘scary’ we’re not just talking about zombies and ghosts and serial killers. We’re talking about realistic obstacles that can be quite scary—especially to a group of pre-teen boys.

Stand by Me [1986] by Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans, based on the Stephen King novella, is about a group of young boys in the summer before they go from elementary school to middle school. It’s hot, and these four boys struggle with family issues, personal issues, but when the four are together, they come alive and bond in ways that you only can when you’re 12.

Take a look at the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYTfYsODWQo

It’s kind of a boring summer as the film starts and we get to know each of the four boys—and none of them is without problems. But then they hear about a boy who’s gone missing and no one can find him. They think they might know where to look so they head out to be the town heroes and find the kid’s body. It will be an adventure! Right?

But like all adventures, they end up having to deal with things they never expected—like the rival bullies who have the same idea as they do, to find the body and becomes the heroes. It’s funny that these softer, more vulnerable kids would have the same goal as the bullies—to become famous, to be in the papers… to somehow feel validated by their community [read families, too].

The film does a nice job of giving us this nostalgia through the eyes of one of the boys who’s now an adult and narrates the story.

But from the narration of the story to the story itself, much seems fraught with tension. In addition to dealing with the bullies, they’ll encounter leeches, vicious dogs and have to outrun speeding trains if they want to live.

One of the things I think Stand by Me does is capture the nature of reflection. The narrator remembers this time, was certainly reflected by it, and that’s juxtaposed with the urgency the kids feel as they go about trying to becomes special by finding this body.

I think, as writers, one of the things we can learn from a story like this, is that it doesn’t just have to be one thing. It can be a coming of age film, and summer movie, a bit of nostalgia, a scary film, and a fine drama as well.

And it is a drama—which is unusual for a summer film. So it’s a film worthy of study to see how the writers were able to do it all.

Next week, a film from the same year but one that’s COMPLETELY different!

Copyright © Diane Lake

02Aug20

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com