Despite the fact that the majority of the Concordian’s readership is long past childhood, I believe that each and every one of us still has a spot in our hearts for times when we had no cares in the world and every day was a new adventure. There are days when my friends and I try to recreate elements of our youths 8212; sometimes by playing a game, or watching a movie. Sadly, we are quickly brought back to the reality of the situation; we will never be those children again, and we can only hope that our future children will bring back some of the youth that we have lost. Stand By Me is a movie that, while not being my own childhood, reminds me of the adventures I had with my friends while growing up.
Stand By Me takes place in the sleepy town of Castle Rock, Oregon, over Labour Day weekend, 1959. It is told by a middle-aged Gordie LaChance, an author writing a memoir about his childhood.
Gordie spends most of his time with his friends Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp and Vern Tessio. They are a group of misfits: Gordie is a storyteller rejected by his father following the death of his older brother, Chris is a good kid from a bad family, Teddy is physically deformed after an altercation with his father and Vern fills the role of the stereotypical overweight scaredy-cat. Together they play cards and go on adventures, just like any other kids their age.
Castle Rock had recently been rocked by the tragedy of a boy’s disappearance. Vern overhears, while digging under his porch, that the body of the boy has been found, but the police don’t know about it. He tells his friends, and they decide to set off on a two-day journey to find the body.
The movie is a coming-of-age story with the discovery of the body providing the moment of transition from childhood to teenage years. As the boys journey towards the body they experience the full gamut of emotions, including: the fear of being attacked by a junkyard dog who they think is trained to “go for the balls,” the sadness of realizing the reality of their situations in life, the pride of finding the body and the courage to continue on their journey in the face of a few setbacks.
Stand By Me: Based on “The Body” by Stephen King. Directed by Rob Reiner, 1986. Starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell and Kiefer Sutherland
