film analysis
The Road to Hell
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” When most people hear that old saying, they probably don’t think of the classic 80’s movie, “Footloose.” On the surface, this film looks like it’s just about some high school kid from Chicago, who moves with his mom, to be with family in some small southern Bible Belt town named Bomont. Bomont is a farming town that has laws against things like rock-n-roll music, dancing, and books like Slaughter-house Five, because they all confuse people’s minds, therefore, leading to sinful thinking and loose morals. The intolerance for these things stems from a fatal car accident involving some town teenagers, one of which was the preacher’s son. the accident happened when the kids were driving home from a night out of dancing to rock-n-roll music.
The town leaders, especially the preacher, Shaw Moore, think by banning these things, they will keep everyone safe, physically and spiritually. Throughout the film Moore can be heard speaking of how he feels responsible for the spiritual and moral wellbeing of the congregation. But his good intentions to keep sin away backfire on him, and when he realizes it, he decides to advocate the school dance; he says, “If we cannot trust our children, how will they ever become trustworthy.” This film’s message is about the positive effects of trust, like healthy relationships, and the negative effects that come from over controlling people when there is lack of trust.
An example of lack of trust can be seen in the relationship between Moore and his daughter, Ariel, who is the town wild girl. Throughout the movie, the daughter is doing destructive things like sniffing spray starch, playing chicken with trains and tractor trailers, losing her virginity, dating a town bad boy, and lying to her father. The less he trusts her, the more reckless she gets. He keeps trying to control her, even as far as slapping her in the face and shaking her, to try and get her to behave the way he would like her. When Moore realizes he can’t spiritually micro-manage the whole town, let alone his own daughter, the tension between them eases, and she stops acting out and they start rebuilding their relationship by trusting and communicating again.
The relationship with Ren and his mother, Ethel, which is basically the opposite of the preacher and his daughter, shows an example of what can happen when parents trust their child. During the scenes at home, Ren’s uncle brings up the slanderous rumors that are going around town about Ren; untruths about things like doing drugs and starting fights. While the uncle is accusing Ren of causing trouble, Ethel stands by her son; she even goes as far as to defend him at work when her boss, who believes the rumors, fires her because he thinks she needs to be home more often to so she can be a better mother to Ren. Despite all the tension at home with the uncle, Ethel and Ren have moments where he speaks openly and honestly with her about why he’s so driven to have the school dance. They also talk about his father abandoning them and how it taught him that he has to do something for himself, because changing in hopes that it will make someone else happy doesn’t always work. Their relationship is an example of a parent trusting her teenage son to make good choices and she’s rewarded with a son who is honest with her and resists peer pressure.
Taking the theme a little deeper and going beyond the focus of children and parents, there is another example of the damage that comes from over controlling and lack of trust. Rodger, head of Bomont High School is very focused on keeping “evil from taking root.” Almost every scene he’s in, he is talking about firing an English teacher or fretting about a book that the children shouldn’t be reading. Eventually, there is the turning point of the film; the Preacher Moore is interrupted during a heated argument with his daughter to come running to a courtyard just outside the school library, where there is a barrel full of fire, people yelling and hollering, and Rodger—throwing books into the fire. This disturbing scene is broken up quickly by Moore, who tells them to go home and “sit in judgment” on themselves. Rodger’s fear based lack of trust in teachers, books and the children themselves led him as far as the heinous act of book burning. The act of Rodger burning books was coming from the good intention to protect students from evil taking root in their minds. Moore banning things he believed were dangerous or led to kids to becoming sexually irresponsible was coming from a good intention to take on the spiritual well being of the whole community as well as protect his daughter. Both led down a road to disaster because they were afraid to trust others to think for themselves. After Moore hears some scripture quotes about dancing from Ren at a town counsel meeting, and a conversation with his wife, Vi, about the flaws of feeling responsible for everyone and forgetting what it’s like to be a kid, things turn around and the teenagers get their dance.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” When most people hear that old saying, they probably don’t think of the classic 80’s movie, “Footloose.” On the surface, this film looks like it’s just about some high school kid from Chicago, who moves with his mom, to be with family in some small southern Bible Belt town named Bomont. Bomont is a farming town that has laws against things like rock-n-roll music, dancing, and books like Slaughter-house Five, because they all confuse people’s minds, therefore, leading to sinful thinking and loose morals. The intolerance for these things stems from a fatal car accident involving some town teenagers, one of which was the preacher’s son. the accident happened when the kids were driving home from a night out of dancing to rock-n-roll music.
The town leaders, especially the preacher, Shaw Moore, think by banning these things, they will keep everyone safe, physically and spiritually. Throughout the film Moore can be heard speaking of how he feels responsible for the spiritual and moral wellbeing of the congregation. But his good intentions to keep sin away backfire on him, and when he realizes it, he decides to advocate the school dance; he says, “If we cannot trust our children, how will they ever become trustworthy.” This film’s message is about the positive effects of trust, like healthy relationships, and the negative effects that come from over controlling people when there is lack of trust.
An example of lack of trust can be seen in the relationship between Moore and his daughter, Ariel, who is the town wild girl. Throughout the movie, the daughter is doing destructive things like sniffing spray starch, playing chicken with trains and tractor trailers, losing her virginity, dating a town bad boy, and lying to her father. The less he trusts her, the more reckless she gets. He keeps trying to control her, even as far as slapping her in the face and shaking her, to try and get her to behave the way he would like her. When Moore realizes he can’t spiritually micro-manage the whole town, let alone his own daughter, the tension between them eases, and she stops acting out and they start rebuilding their relationship by trusting and communicating again.
The relationship with Ren and his mother, Ethel, which is basically the opposite of the preacher and his daughter, shows an example of what can happen when parents trust their child. During the scenes at home, Ren’s uncle brings up the slanderous rumors that are going around town about Ren; untruths about things like doing drugs and starting fights. While the uncle is accusing Ren of causing trouble, Ethel stands by her son; she even goes as far as to defend him at work when her boss, who believes the rumors, fires her because he thinks she needs to be home more often to so she can be a better mother to Ren. Despite all the tension at home with the uncle, Ethel and Ren have moments where he speaks openly and honestly with her about why he’s so driven to have the school dance. They also talk about his father abandoning them and how it taught him that he has to do something for himself, because changing in hopes that it will make someone else happy doesn’t always work. Their relationship is an example of a parent trusting her teenage son to make good choices and she’s rewarded with a son who is honest with her and resists peer pressure.
Taking the theme a little deeper and going beyond the focus of children and parents, there is another example of the damage that comes from over controlling and lack of trust. Rodger, head of Bomont High School is very focused on keeping “evil from taking root.” Almost every scene he’s in, he is talking about firing an English teacher or fretting about a book that the children shouldn’t be reading. Eventually, there is the turning point of the film; the Preacher Moore is interrupted during a heated argument with his daughter to come running to a courtyard just outside the school library, where there is a barrel full of fire, people yelling and hollering, and Rodger—throwing books into the fire. This disturbing scene is broken up quickly by Moore, who tells them to go home and “sit in judgment” on themselves. Rodger’s fear based lack of trust in teachers, books and the children themselves led him as far as the heinous act of book burning. The act of Rodger burning books was coming from the good intention to protect students from evil taking root in their minds. Moore banning things he believed were dangerous or led to kids to becoming sexually irresponsible was coming from a good intention to take on the spiritual well being of the whole community as well as protect his daughter. Both led down a road to disaster because they were afraid to trust others to think for themselves. After Moore hears some scripture quotes about dancing from Ren at a town counsel meeting, and a conversation with his wife, Vi, about the flaws of feeling responsible for everyone and forgetting what it’s like to be a kid, things turn around and the teenagers get their dance.
posted by michelle @ 11:46 AM
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