The point of the Fundamentals in Film class was to help a group of young men see examples of “manly” behavior beyond just pro wrestlers or Homer Simpson. The World War II submarine movie U-571 fit the bill, having the requisite non-stop action and examples of strong character under stress (true of most films in the series). The special lesson from this film, however, also dealt with being able to control your face and emotions when things don’t go your way.

This was a good lesson for the group of young men in my charge who were prone to expressive outbursts, eye-rollings and other body language if they felt an injustice had been done unto them.



At the beginning of the movie young Andy (Matthew McConaughey) is the executive officer of a submarine who has just been passed over for promotion to captain of his own sub, due mainly to his own captain rating him as not being ready for command.



He finds this out just before their sub is sent on an urgent, secret mission to try and capture a damaged German submarine and its priceless Enigma decoding device. Andy knows he’s a good officer and can’t understand why his captain (Bill Paxton) thinks he is lacking. The captain explains that Andy is still too much of a friend to his sailors and not a commander, ready to make hard decisions and give orders that might get some of them killed in order to preserve the rest or the mission (so guess what’s going to happen in the movie).



Indeed, when Andy is forced to take command under pressure he is uncertain and his lack of confidence threatens to lose him control of the ship as his lack of leadership creates a vacuum that threatens chaos. Another great example in the movie is how the sailors cope with the stress of their constantly deteriorating situation, even as one seemingly unfair thing after another happens. The men aren’t happy about it, of course, but go about doing what has to be done.



U-571 is an excellent movie simply from an entertainment perspective. If you add in the examples of character under extreme circumstances it also becomes an especially meaningful movie.



Themes:

• The qualities of leadership.




• The meaning of sacrifice (“Greater love has no man but that he lay down his life for his brother”).




• Having a perspective of the greater good, beyond yourself.




• Showing respect and being obedient even if you are upset or feel wronged (controlling your face and your emotions).




• The necessity at times of having to make hard decisions, using imperfect information, that have significant consequences in other peoples’ lives.

Questions to answer:

1. Why did the captain think Andy was not prepared to be the captain of his own sub?




2. Did Andy’s disappointment affect his obedience and discipline? Contrast Andy’s behavior with Mazzola’s.




3. What are the burdens of authority?




4. What was the over-riding principle Andy had to use in making his decisions?




5. Would it have done any good for Andy (or anyone in the crew, to protest being in an unfair situation?

Great quote:

“A sea captain is a mighty and terrible thing.”

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I have some more movies in mind that will allow me to continue this Friday series, but this week’s movie was the last one I presented to a class of junior high and senior high school boys. I chose The Shootist (1976) as the final movie not just for the character issues, which we’d pretty much covered already in other movies, but for the subtleties and shadings of character and the way a movie or story can manipulate our emotions and get us to identify with a “hero” who might not be all that heroic when you look really closely.

This is not to bad-mouth John Wayne at all, here appearing in his final movie, or even the character he played. Fittingly, this is the story of a famous but terminally ill aging gunfighter (or “shootist”) trying to find peace in his final days. The point I was trying to get across to the boys, however, is how easily we look for a “good” guy in a story and identify with him – even if it’s only because he’s “less bad” than others.



The movie features a great cast with Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Henry Morgan, Richard Boone and Ron Howard as a fatherless and impressionable young man. Howard narrates the opening sequence of the movie, a flash back of gunfights featuring the infamous John Bernard (JB) Books which were, cleverly, scenes lifted from earlier John Wayne movies. When Books rides into Carson City, Nevada in 1901 he suspects he’s dying and is looking to lie low and pass away in obscurity. After his doctor friend (Stewart) confirms the diagnosis, however, word gets out in the town that they have a “celebrity” in their midst and many people start angling for a way to make a name or some money for themselves at Books’ expense. In the process he meets and eventually befriends the widow (Bacall) running the boarding house where he stays and her son (Howard). In interludes with this broken family Books gains a small taste of the life he might have had as a husband and father if he hadn’t followed the path his life took instead.



There were three things I wanted the boys to get out of the movie. One was the way Howard’s character, young Gillom, attempted to act more “manly” by swearing and drinking and otherwise carrying on as he thought men do because he didn’t have a model in his life. Another lesson was in the way Gillom’s mother, a staunch Christian who deplored Books’ lifestyle and history, came to see the “Christian” way to act toward someone who is suffering. The main point, however, was the code Books emphatically claimed that he lived by — “I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, I won’t be laid a hand on…I don’t do these things to others, and I expect the same from them” — and how he regularly broke that code without seeing the irony in doing so.



Points to Ponder:

• Does your life make your reputation, or does your reputation make your life?




• The influences (or lack of influences) that shape our lives.




• The consequences and significance of decisions we make.




• Society’s expectations and exploitation of heroes.




• Is being good, good enough?

Some questions you might want to be able to answer:

1. What was Books’ personal code that he explained to Gillom? Did he live up to it?




2. What were Mrs. Rogers’ personal codes? How did her codes come into conflict with each other?




3. How did Gillom try to make himself appear manly? What events in his life might explain his behavior?




4. Was Books a good man or a bad man? What qualities did he have that were admirable? What qualities did he have that were not?




5. What price did Books pay for his way of life? (What things did he give up, or miss out on?)




6. Did Books have faith? Was it sufficient to get him into Heaven?
   

Great Quote:

JB: “Damn!”

Bond: “John Bernard, you swear to much.”

JB: “The hell I do!”



As I said, I have a few more movies in mind that I think portray admirable character qualities and motives and are useful examples for young people and I hope to continue this series and format here. If you have a favorite movie that fits this profile and objective by all means leave a comment or send me an email; I’d be happy to consider watching the movie and including it here at some point.



In a future, separate, post I’ll describe the results of the class and the impact, if any, it had on the young men who participated.

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For the next-to-last film in this series for the class of junior high and high school aged boys I departed from the war, western and sports genres for a classic “chick flick”: Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman. This dramatic shift in direction led one of the lads to ask, “Are we being punished?” I told them that that wasn’t the case, but there were a number of reasons why I wanted them to learn the lessons within this movie.

For one, I said, the emotional and internal battles fought in this movie, while non-bloody, were every bit as intense and devastating as any war film we’d watched and were far more likely to occur regularly in their own lives than the scenarios in the the so-called “action” flicks. I also wanted them to see examples of the different ways that men and women think and act and the consequences of things said and unsaid. And, I added, “there are going to be times in your life – if all goes well – when you’re going to have to sit through a ‘chick flick’ and this is good practice.”

The story, of course, comes from the Jane Austen book and describes the hardships and romances of two sisters and their mother when the patriarch dies and, by law, his estate goes to his son, the sister’s half-brother from their father’s earlier marriage. While the father made the son promise that the women would be well provided for, the son – influenced by his grasping wife – ends up allocating them a pittance, setting the stage for all that comes after. The two sisters have different outlooks on life and love (the “Sense” and “Sensibility” of the title) and both undergo severe but different trials in the process of getting to the happy ending.

The story is an interesting character study not only of the time period but the way “power” between the sexes is divided and applied. There are heroes and scoundrels among both sexes and while the men supposedly have all the legal power and advantages, the main authority figures driving most plot changes in the movie (in terms of dictating what is going to happen) are women.

While there was some initial grumbling and groaning as the movie started, I soon noticed the boys were rapt in their attention and angered by the outrages and bad behavior, grieved by the near-misses and miscommunications, and, finally, looking around sheepishly at each other by the end of the movie as if afraid to show that they cared how it turned out.

Key Points:

• Emotions are serious matters not to be trifled with.
• The importance of honor and keeping your word, even unto your own hurt.
• Our actions – even when we’re young – can have far-reaching effects on the rest of our lives and on the lives of others.
• Even scoundrels can appear decent and honorable for a time, but substance and integrity (or lack of it) will ultimately be revealed.
• Neither men nor women are inherently noble by reason of birth or their sex, but must make choices.

Some Questions to Answer:

1. How did John Dashwood’s behavior at the beginning of the movie set the stage for the rest of the movie?
2. Many are harmed when someone doesn’t keep his word. Edward’s decision to keep his word, however, also causes problems. Why?
3. Both Edward and Willoughby made decisions when they were younger that dramatically effected their lives later. What were the decisions each made? How did each respond to the consequences of their decisions?
   Why does Marianne reject Col. Brandon initially? What does she come to value in him eventually?
4. What did Col. Brandon mean when he (speaking to Miss Dashwood) said Edward was “proud, in the best sense.”
5. Contrast the way Willoughby would talk about Brandon when he wasn’t present to the way Brandon spoke of Willoughby – even after describing him as “the worst of libertines.”

Points to Ponder:

• Who has he power in the movie – the men or the women? Why?
• Was Lucy Steele really in love with Edward Ferrars?
• Who was “Sense” and who was “Sensibility”? What is the difference?
• Which character in the movie do you think is the most like you? Why?

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A Christmas Story actually wasn’t one of the movies we watched and discussed in the class I led with the junior high and high school boys, but given the season I thought it appropriate to delve into some of the character lessons that can be found in this classic film.

First let me say that this movie is a favorite for at least two generations of my family, and especially for my mom. She thinks that Ralphie looks a lot like I did at that age, while the era that is depicted is the same as the one when she was that age. I’ve always admired Jean Shepard’s ability to aptly describe the thinking of children without turning it into a caricature.

Secondly, unlike the movies I used in the class to help youngsters learn lessons by watching adults, this is a movie where it’s the youngsters that have the lessons for adults. One of the things that I get out of the movie is that we don’t just see a child’s-eye view of Christmas, but of adults (especially the father) as well.

Ralphie’s dad is a force of nature in his life, amazingly powerful yet unpredictable. His temper tantrums and cursing, while humorously portrayed, can’t help but have an influence on his son’s life. This is certainly illustrated in the incident with the spare tire, but also when Ralphie has finally had enough and takes his frustrations out on the bully, Scott Farkus. (That in itself is a good lesson about how bullies rule through reputation and intimidation but are ill-equiped to deal with the consequences when they push a good man too far, ala The Tin Star). Ralphie knows and fears he has gone over the line, even though he’s probably only acting the way his father would have (why else did it seem so natural for the little brother to cry, “Daddy’s going to kill Ralphie”?).

While I love this movie and don’t mean to draw out it’s darker aspects, there is another lesson that I find myself tripping over all too often, and that is how important it is to realize when your child is offering you a brief opportunity to get inside his or her world and find out what’s important to them. Just like Ralphie’s parents, I’m so wrapped up in my own frame of reference that I don’t realize, until after the fact, when my child has opened herself up to show me something where my acceptance and approval are vital to her (not in terms of getting a specific item, but in knowing she can trust me with her heart). When I’m brusque or dismissive I risk closing a door that I may one day wish I could open but can’t because of all the “you’ll shoot your eyes out” stacked in front of it.

Questions:

1. What were the Red Ryder BB guns in your own life, and what did you learn by either getting, or not getting, these?
2. What have been the results of “double-dog” dares in your life?

Point to Ponder:
What stories are your children going to tell about you when they grow up?

HOLIDAY BONUS FUNDAMENTALS IN FILM: White Christmas

This is another movie I always try to watch when it comes on each year at this time. Yeah, it’s sappy and the plot is mainly designed to sketch together a bunch of singing and dancing scenes, but I really enjoy the themes of friendship, loyalty and decency that pervade the story. There’s the friendship between Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, the respect and concern that they have for their former commanding officer, and the graciousness and maturity displayed in the way the romantic stories are played out, without all the drooling passion and physicality that seems to be required to show “love” in films today.

I love the naturalness of each characters desire to do good to others, and Rosemary Clooney’s character’s willingness to put her principles ahead of her heart when she (erroneously) thinks the man she loves has behaved poorly. Yeah, they don’t make them like that any more, and more’s the pity. If you haven’t seen this movie before, or haven’t seen it for awhile, take a look. It’s probably showing right now on a channel near you.

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The movie Chariots of Fire tells the story of the tests and trials faced by two men competing for two kinds of glory at the 1924 Olympic Games. In this movie, our class left the showdowns of the Old West and the horrors of war to confront the challenges of will and character in athletic competition.

At the same time, however, the decimation and sacrifice of a generation shadows the story, especially early on when the incoming class of Cambridge freshmen have their attention directed to a wall listing the names of Cambridge students and graduates who died in the recently concluded conflict. The new young men are reminded that they now have the privilege of pursuing dreams and goals no longer available to those who have died, and they are challenged to live up to the opportunity before them.

Both the talented and driven Jew, Harold Abrams, and the devout Scotsman, Eric Liddell, end up ignoring convention and even antagonizing society, but from different perspectives. Harold competes for his own glory and rejects the standards of a society that has rejected him. Though he is an amateur, he hires a professional coach – something that was strongly frowned upon at the time. While generally polite to his teammates, his single-mindedness and intensity set him apart from them. Eric runs, so he says, to glorify God and refuses to compete on Sundays out of honor and obedience to the Lord. Yet when it turns out that, once at the Olympics, the qualifying heat in his event falls on a Sunday he must go against the wishes of his teammates, his coaches, and even his Prince and country – as well as personally confront his own desire to compete and his commitment to do what he believes is right.

Key Points

• Commitment to principle, even in the face of personal objectives, peer pressure – even your government.
• Sportsmanship
• Personal discipline and dedication lead to success.
• Appreciation of the benefits that you enjoy as a result of the sacrifices of others.
• More examples of how prejudice insinuates itself into our lives.

Discussion questions

1. Why was Eric’s sister opposed to his running? What was his response to her?
2. What scriptural reason does Eric have for not competing on Sunday?
3. What were the negative effects of Eric’s decision? What were the positive ones?
4. What was the significance of the names on the wall of the dining hall? Why did the faculty draw the attention of the new students to these names?
5. Who did Eric seek to glorify? Who did Harold seek to glorify?
6. How did Harold feel leading up to and after the gold medal race? Why?
7. What was the nature of Lindsey’s (the hurdler) sacrifice? Why did he do it?
8. What principle(s) – in sports or spiritually – did Jackson Schulz’s note to Eric demonstrate?

Points to Ponder

• Are you aware of how your personal honor and conduct reflects on, and affects, those around you?
• Based on the movie, in what ways can a person’s worthy desire for personal excellence be a source of strength and destruction?
• How do you honor the Sabbath and keep it holy?

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Gary Cooper returned to the class as a soldier instead of a marshall (High Noon), but still playing a guy who does what has to be done. In Sergeant York Cooper wrestled with his own faith, not his wife’s, when faced with the possibility of violence. The struggle was not only more real for his character but for us as viewers as well. The reason I selected this movie wasn’t just because it dealt with the transformation of a drunken, rowdy wild man into a steady hero, but because it is also an excellent dramatization of someone going to the Bible to thoughtfully sort out a conflict as intense (if not as action-packed) as anything he’d meet on an actual battlefield.

Other important details I wanted to get across to the boys was the sense of responsibility Alvin York took on after his conversion; how he sought to walk uprightly in dealing with others and his character in refusing to trifle with the heart of the girl he greatly desired until he had the land and the means to support her. Furthermore, while the movie is a story of courage, it is also a story of humility, restoration and redemption and its tangible benefits. Finally, it provides a last lesson in character as the hero, having overcome persecution and the threat of bodily harm, must deal with the seductive appeal of being a celebrity.

Given these heavy themes and the fact that this movie was the oldest and most archaic in terms of production values, I was somewhat surprised when at the end of the semester the boys said that this was their favorite movie and the one they could most relate to.

Questions to Answer:

1. What reasons did Mrs. York give for the way Alvin behaved early in the movie? What did she do about it?
2. What did Rev. Pile mean when he said “Once the furrows get crooked, it’s hard to get them straightened out again”?
3. Why was getting the piece of bottom land so important to Alvin? Why did he initially fail?
4. Why did Gracie not want to marry Alvin at first? What did he think was her reason?
5. What did Rev. Pile mean when he told Alvin, “You’ve got the using kind of religion, not the meeting house kind”?
6. List the following four things in the proper order (as shown in the movie): redemption, humility, blessing and repentence.
7. How did Alvin go about resolving the conflict between his belief and his duty?
8. Why did Alvin think it was wrong to make money off of what he had done in the war?

Points to Ponder:

1. Why was “the set-up” so important when someone wanted to get married. Is this still important today?
2. Was Alvin right in believing that he should not kill? Do you think killing in war is permissable?
3. Alvin told Pastor Pile that “he had prayed ‘til he was blue in the face.” Pastor Pile replied, “It’s not just prayin’ – it’s believing.” Explain.
4. Which do you think is harder to stand firm in the face of – persecution or seduction?

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The fourth movie in the series is Glory , the story of the all-black regiment that fought in the Civil War. It had the requisite blood and guts action to get the class’s attention but also some intense lessons. The key points for me were to focus on were personal honor and self-respect mixed in with the dynamics of being part of a larger group and being able to sublimate yourself in order to function as a team, even to the point of extreme sacrifice.

Matthew Broderick plays Robert Gould Shaw, a young, idealistic white officer in the Union army. Wounded in his first action, he returns to Massachusetts and is promoted to Colonel and asked to lead a newly-formed, all-black regiment – The Massachusetts 54th Infantry. Assisted by his best friend, Major Cabot Forbes and joined by another friend, Corporal Thomas Searles, a free and well-educated black man who had grown up in Boston who enlisted in the regiment, the men and the rest of the 54th not only have to deal with their own personal challenges and prejudices (even between the black soldiers) but the dismissive attitude of the Army and high command as well.

While some of the racism was ugly and overt, there were also examples of a form of prejudice that was kindly and sensitive (at least on the surface) while having low expectations of the troops. This was best displayed by Major Forbes who was friendly with the men, but didn’t expect them to perform at a high level and often cut them slack. In contrast, Col. Shaw – having seen up close the horror and devastation ahead of them if the 54th – assumed an uncharacteristic harshness in order to drive the men hard in their training, even bringing in a bigoted Irish non-com to drill and berate the men mercilessly to toughen them up.

The movie has interesting character studies of men dealing with their own issues in order to become part of something larger. Col. Shaw is afraid he doesn’t have the courage and ability to lead the men well; Thomas has to face ugly truths about himself after his sheltered upbringing, and Trip (Denzel Washington), a runaway slave, has to deal with his own stubborn independence and rebelliousness. It was an interesting exercise to discuss the movie with the boys as I asked them which character they most identified with, and what they thought were the requirements of giving, earning and receiving respect to and from others, and challenged them on what perceptions and misperceptions of themselves and others they might have in their own lives.

Some discussion questions:

1. What was the difference between the way Col. Shaw saw the troops and the way Major Forbes saw them? How did this affect the way they acted towards them?
2. Describe the two ways (both appropriate) that Col. Shaw reacted to the reduced pay and the men’s protest?
3. Why did Robert bring in Sgt. Mulcahy? Were Sgt. Mulcahy’s methods appropriate and effective?
4. How did Trip change over the course of the story? What did he have to overcome?
5. How did Robert change? What did he have to overcome?
6. Why did Thomas volunteer? What did he learn?
7. Trip and Col. Shaw maintained eye contact throughout Trip’s flogging. Describe why this was necessary in each man’s eyes?

Which main character changed the least through the course of the story? Why?

Points to Ponder:

1. Which character in the movie (Col. Shaw, Major Forbes, Thomas, Trip, Sgt. Rawlins) is the most like you? What were his positive and negative attributes?
2. Is there an issue in our nation today that divides society in the way that slavery did then? If so, what is it and why?
   What was the difference between the way the black “contraband” troops acted and the way the 54th acted? Why?

3. Robert Shaw, Cabot Forbes, and Thomas Searles were all friends before the war. Did Robert treat his friends unfairly in the army, or did his friends treat him unfairly? Why?
4. Describe the significance of the worship service the night before the big battle, and the effect it had on both Trip and Thomas.

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The Tin Star is another western and my personal favorite from this genre. I selected it for this series because, while it has similar themes of honor and duty as in High Noon, it adds an element of what the world today calls “mentoring” but I call “discipleship”.

The story involves a wizened and jaded bounty hunter, Morgan (Morg) Hickman, played by Henry Fonda, who rides into town with his latest “dead or alive” target, who is distinctly in the former category. While Morg would just as soon get paid and get out of town, he has to wait around a few days while the local bank gets confirmation in order to release the money. Morg’s claim naturally brings him into contact with the town sheriff, Ben Owens (Anthony Perkins), a young and idealistic man filling in as a temporary replacement for his recently murdered predecessor. Ben is eager to be a force for law and order in the town (despite his girlfriend’s objections) and tries to make up for what he lacks in experience with bravado and passion. He finds Morg’s work disgusting and doesn’t approve of killing, even if it’s a bad guy.

Nevertheless, the two hit it off as Morg, a former sheriff, sees something of his less jaded self in Ben, while Ben (after an unexpected demonstration in the streets) admires Morg’s experience and ability to size up a situation and react appropriately. When Ben learns Morg used to be a sheriff he asks him for help in learning how to do the job effectively and stay alive. Morg reluctantly agrees since he has to hang around for a few days anyway and he sees that young Ben has a lot to learn.

Of course, it turns out to be a pretty eventful few days as Ben has to deal both with a rabble-rousing, power-hungry bigot who wants the sheriff’s job for himself, as well as the murder of a much-beloved citizen and a lynch-mob that wants to exact its own justice. Throughout the process Ben learns that a fast brain is more important than a fast gun and Morg learns simply that some things are just more important, period. Along with that you see an interesting illustration of bullies and mob dynamics. There’s also the pusillanimous townspeople with high-minded notions of justice but ultimately wanting peace at any price (which inadvertently became a sub-theme in this series as it appears in this movie, in High Noon and in a later movie we’ll look at as well).

While the action and drama centers around Morg and Ben, the kindly Doc McCord (John McIntyre) also sets an example of service and selflessness that is easily overlooked by the viewer, perhaps because he’s an “old” guy. When I discussed the movie with the class I went around the room and asked each lad who he thought the best man in the movie was. Some said Morg, some said Ben; none said Doc McCord so we had a fruitful discussion about his character traits as well. Here’s the rest of the outline the boys and I went through:

Key Points:
The importance of discipleship: being willing to receive it, and being willing to provide it.

The importance of will in separating a leader from a follower.

The importance of character (and vision/understanding of a cause or ideal beyond yourself) in separating a leader for good from a leader for evil.

The Rule of Law is worth defending, even at great personal cost.

Some Questions to Answer:

1. Why did Ben want to be Sheriff? Can you come up with four words that describe his character?
2. Why did Bogardes want to be Sheriff? What words describe his character? (Does he remind you of anybody?)
3. Why did the crowd want to follow him?
4. What is the most important “tool” a Sheriff needs to know how to use?
5. Why was Bogardes almost able to get the drop on Ben the first time?
6. Why was it important that the McGaffy brothers get a fair trial even though it was obvious they were guilty?
7. Why wouldn’t Morg accept the badge at first? Why did he put it on later?
8. Were Morg’s reasons for turning his back on being a sheriff justified?

Points to Ponder:
Compare and contrast Morg and Ben with Will Kane (High Noon).

1. What role could faith have played in Morg’s life?
2. Why does a mob behave the way it does?
3. What would you do?
4. Who was the best man in the movie?

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The second movie in the series for the boys was the classic “Zulu“, starring a very slender Michael Caine in, I think, his first movie. It’s based on the true story of barely 100 British soldier’s standing alone against some 10,000 Zulu warriors in the battle of Roark’s Drift the day after a much larger British force had been wiped out by the same Zulu army. I selected this movie for the boys not only because it is an example of courage in the face of great odds, but because it shows the value of discipline as preparation for unseen and unknown challenges in the future.

While there are many real life stories of heroes rising to the occasion on a moment’s notice, many times this is possible because the “hero” has spent considerable time learning to master his/her fear and will. In this movie both sides show a tremendous amount of discipline under great stress and in the face of carnage. Additionally this is an interesting examination of the way prejudice and disrespect is reflected not only between races, but even within the same race and society.

Here are the key points I wanted the young men to get out of this movie and ensuing discussion:
Courage and discipline in the face of extreme odds can carry the day.

The power of words to both encourage and discourage.

The importance of training and discipline, combined with character and courage, in making it possible to rise to an occasion when called upon.

Overcoming differences in order to work together for success.

Courage and tenacity will win the respect of your enemy.

Complaining when you find yourself in a tough situation isn’t going to help you resolve that situation.

The questions:

1. Was Rev. Witt’s use of scripture appropriate? Why or why not?
2. How did each army demonstrate discipline?
3. How many forms of prejudice were demonstrated in the movie?
4. Why did Lt. Bromhead say at one point that he wished he “were not an officer and a gentleman?”
5. What was the nature of the relationship between Sgt. Maxfield (the sick man in the infirmary) and Private Hook? Why did each behave as he did?
6. The way Color Sergeant Bourne conducted himself hardly changed regardless of what was happening around him. Why do you think he was so unflappable?

Great Quotes:
Chard: “Hold our ground? What military genius came up with that? Someone’s son and heir who got his commission before he could shave?”
Bromhead: “I rather expect he’s no one’s son and heir now.”

Bromhead: “When you assume command, Old Boy, you’re on your own.”

Soldier: “Why us?”
Color Sergeant Vaughn: “Because we’re here lad. No one else. Just us.”

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It seems that most of the television and movies kids are exposed to today don’t offer much in the way of constructive lessons or examples of how to live your life, especially for young men. Well, just about everything is an example I guess, but good ones are few and far between. There are some movies, new and old, that do offer inspiring examples and over the next few Fridays I’d like to share some of these with you, along with the story of how they were incorporated into a group of junior high and high school aged boys. The first movie in this series is the Gary Cooper classic, High Noon, but before I get into that allow me to offer a little background.

A couple of years ago my oldest daughter was still in private school and I found myself frequently in the company of the boys in her classes. Listening to their conversation and the things that were interesting to them I could tell that the images of manhood they were getting from their entertainment were rather limited: essentially either Homer Simpson or pro wrestlers, and this was showing up in their behavior.

Now this is a complex age for boys already, and these images they were absorbing weren’t helpful. I wanted better for their lives, especially since they were around my daughter, so I tried to think of a way both entertaining and challenging to offer examples to model character in concentrated doses. Almost immediately a plan developed nearly fully formed in my mind. I worked it out with the school and my employer so that I could show a series of movies (with discussion time after each) to the boys on Friday afternoons during the spring semester as part of an elective class where the boys would be graded. Naturally, an afternoon of watching movies was appealing to the lads, but there was a catch. I divided them into two teams, gave each boy a scorecard I designed and announced special rules, only for them.

In order to view that week’s movie, each boy would have to earn a set number of points on his scorecard. The card detailed the point values of various acts of service and courtesy they could earn. There was also a list of things with point values that would subtract from their totals. If a young man hadn’t earned the minimum number of points by class time, he’d have to spend the afternoon in a study hall or in classes with the girls. Not only that, his behavior also affected his team which not only got credit for all points earned by its members, but also for having a full complement present during class time. At the end of the semester the highest scoring team would be treated to a Famous Dave’s feast. In the coming weeks I’ll describe how this experiment played out, along with providing the questions and “thinking points” I brought up with the guys for each movie. If you’re already familiar with these movies then try the questions out yourself. If there are important issues you think I’ve missed in any of the films then feel free to leave your input in a comment. As with the young men, I hope you’ll find this exercise entertaining and useful.

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