Bless the Beasts and Children
Based on the 1970 novel "Bless the Beasts and the Children" by Glendon Swarthout.,When Shecker arrives at the camp with his father in a flashback scene the other boys, including Goodenow,are all standing near each other.Which implies Goodenow is already with the guys in their cabin. But in another flashback scene Cotton brings Goodenow into their cabin saying he will be staying with them in the cabin and introduces them to the other guys including Shecker who is already there, but according to the earlier flashback scene should not be.,Wheaties: Jesus Christ, you kids want to go blind? Now cut that out and go to sleep!,Referenced in The 44th Annual Academy Awards (1972),Bless the Beasts and Children
Performed by The Carpenters
Written by Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin Jr.,I saw this movie on TV when I was very young, only 7 or 8. The final scene was powerful, even though at that age I didn't fully comprehend what it meant. I remember seeing it several times afterward as I was growing up. I recently saw it listed on Comcast On Demand as a free movie, so I thought I would watch it. What an odd feeling to look back and realize how the meaning of certain movies dawned on you over time. I knew the first time that the kids were doing something good, setting the buffalo free. As a pre-adolescent and a teen, I understood that they were misfits, much like the buffalo they were trying to set free, and that their views weren't in line with the views of the authorities. They did what they thought was right, and one of them died doing it. What I remember as being so powerful about the final scene of the movie was not the sight of Cotton's being shot, but rather the image of the remaining boys standing on the hill and facing the hunters. The emotion of that moment was one of the most powerful movie moments I've ever experienced. I don't remember crying, but I remember the "feeling" of the first time I saw that scene  the only thing I can equate it with today as an adult is the feeling you get when all the blood rushes out of your face and you get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. I think it was one of the first times in my young life that I realized that there was a scary world out there beyond my yard and that there were bigger things than me out there and that people could actually die for believing in them. Seeing it now, 30 or so years after the first time, I see the campiness of it, the forever-70s-ness of it, but I still "get" the message at the end. I wonder, though, in this world of high tech and instant gratification if there are many people today who are as passionate about the things they believe in as the kids in that movie were about those buffalo. Sadly, I doubt it.,