Letters to the Editor
-
Hey.... what happened?!?!
...I'm still waiting for the ending when we find out that those men are actually Catholic priests!
-
Cover
I didn't realize that L.I.E. was a remake.
-
Puzzling
At first I was unsure whether this was an authentic '50s-era artifact or some present-day satire. The blurb seems to indicate that it's real, and it's actually too heavyhanded to be satire, so I've concluded that it's genuine. Now I'm left with the question: what was this fearmongering trying to distract people from in the 1950s? The Cold War? The growth of the military-industrial complex? The inanity of the nation reaction to Sputnik? I'd be curious to know exactly when this was made and how it was used.
-
Just change "homosexual" to "pedophile"...
And the film is not half bad. The boys targeted in the film are young teens, not older guys who could hold their own.
Are our times so especially enlightened? Kids are preyed upon more than ever, boys and girls. Here in France it's happening in the smallest of towns, in "safe" environments.
-
made in 1961
If you read the description it tells you the film was made in 1961. Did everyone really overdress so much back then? Who wears a suit and bowtie to play basketball...why the murderous homosexual, that's who.
But seriously I'm not laughing. This sort of indoctrination is why so many people feared and hated gays for so long and it lingers mainly among the older population. Younger generations, especially those who know out gay people, realize that gays aren't boogeymen as portrayed in the film. But I agree with the other poster that if you change "homosexual" to "pedophile" this really isn't so far-fetched of a film. But I'm not sure that there is more pedophilia these days, I think you just hear about more and kids are more likely to report it than they were in the past.
-
Not always mockable
As an adult,
I have to say this old video is certainly laughable. As a parent, however, one piece of truth does ring - don't ever get into a stranger's car. If I recall correctly, the award-winning movie "Mystic River" used a very similar situation: strangers in a car. One of the boys got into that car with horrible results. Did you mock that movie for using the plot device?
-
Blurb changed
It didn't originally give the date of 1961, and in fact it said something about the 'fifties at the time I first saw it.
The content certainly does conflate homosexuality with ephebophilia, and propaganda of this sort may account for some portion of the culture's ingrained hostility toward homosexuality. I doubt that there was ever such a high incidence of molestation of teenage boys that this level of hysterical fearmongering was appropriate. Did they believe this, or were they trying to distract people from something else, as they are doing now with the gay marriage amendment?
-
Laughable?
I did not find this video laughable at all. Having been a boy becoming aware of my homosexuality at the time, this was precisely the kind of propaganda that gave me nightmares and made me distrust my own feelings. This is not so different from racist and anti-semitic propaganda of years past.
-
Entertaining history
Well, it did certainly confuse "homosexual" with "pedophile" and "serial killer," but there was an interesting ethnography tidbit with the line "Homosexuals are known to frequent public restrooms" and the shadowy figure following the boy to the shortcut under the pier.
Run! Run! It's George Michael!
-
But we don't live in a different world today
Sadly, the "warnings" expressed by this piece still exist in the minds of millions of Americans. Although many recognize that homosexuality by no means equals child molestation, I fear that the point is lost on too many. Maybe your statement will be true in another generation or two, but I tend to doubt it.
-
What's really sad about this film short
is that it actually provides very useful and correct information for teaching kids to avoid child molesters. Pedophiles often target lonely, isolated kids looking for a friend or, in particular, an adult figure. Both girls AND boys.
The tragedy is, in 1961, the "child molester" and the "homosexual" apparently and most erroneously were considered one and the same. Of course, this completely leaves out the pedophiles who use the exact same techniques to target girls...both small children and teens. Where is the warning film for girls, I wonder?
I imagine it involved admonishng girls not to wear short skirts or plunging necklines or lipstick.
They really didn't get it, did they?
Sad, sad, sad.
-
Is it really so unreasonable to say that some gay men hang out at public restrooms?
Straight men don't do it, because they would get maced by the objects of their affection.
-
You know...
Ok ok this is really insanely homophobic and everything that that entails (plus some derangement). My favorite thing about this is the fact that apparently ALL homosexuals are attracted to people younger people. Noone is attracted to someone their own age...or say a 19 year old boy.
This makes me sound like I am attracted to 19 year old boys or older men. I am not.
Now onto the good part of this film. You have to have to admit the shot from behind the fence at the pier has great composition. Also the music is really well done. Or maybe you don't. Your choice.
-
Homosexual or sexual predator?
Aside from the dated early 60s style, this seems like a reasonable short warning young people to watch out for sexual predators. Sadly, it simply refers to sexual predators as homosexuals, but the warnings are quite reasonable and much the same thing we try to teach younger children today: Don't ride with strangers and be cautious if adults offer too much attention. Lacks any Reefer Madness camp.
-
Sigh. Pedophilia != Gay
Why in the world would anyone associate "gay" or "gay marriage" with that film? There's only a tangential connection, in that the predator is gay. But that's not the point! Young people should be educated about sexual predators and predators should either be given help or incarcerated. For God's sake, please stop associating pedophilia with gay.
-
searching for humor, even in past prejudices...
Let's see if I can find the humor in the stupidity of Boys Beware.
Jimmy is "...released on probation to the custody of his parents." Jimmy is molested by Ralph and by the legal system, too.
Boy, that's a good one.
Ralph has a "...dangerous sickness of the mind... a sickness that is no less dangerous and contageous [than smallpox]. Ralph is a homosexual, a person who "..demands an intimate relationship with members of their own sex." So, homosexuals are dangerous, demand sex, and give their disease of homosexuality to others.
I about split a gut.
Mike "...traded his life for a newspaper headline." Stranger abduction leading to homicide, and the inference that the killer was a homosexual.
Hilarious!
"Public restrooms can often be a hangout for the homosexual." Bobby is stalked by the stranger as a forboding musical score plays. He rejoins his friends, and "...probably saves his life."
Haw haw.
"One never knows when the homosexual is about. He may appear normal and it may be too late when you discover that he is mentally ill."
Stop it, you're killing me.
Since when is ignorance, stereotyping, and the promulgation of destructive prejudice through fear-mongering something at which anyone can laugh?
Even today?