It's hard to understand the thinking of the creatures who made this thing. As everyone who's seen it is aware, the film's attitude toward Gays is utterly vile, but it is in keeping with opinions of the time-- it wasn't that long ago that the American Psychological Association decided that homosexuality isn't a mental illness (it is truly hilarious that the narrator labels it "contagious.")
One of the worst things about this film is that the filmmakers were so ignorant of the subject matter, and yet promoted this as an educational film. In doing so, they put the boys who were their intended audience MORE at risk, not less. Had they bothered to do the research, they might have found that many molesters are actually heterosexual-- some having families of their own; that the average Gay male does NOT engage in this behavior, and finally that, far from the *ahem* Gay men in cars shown in the film being the significant threat, that spot is reserved for people the boy already knows, and can include clergymen, Boy Scout leaders, neighbors and even friends and family members. Advice to be careful if the adult seems too friendly is useless in such a case.
I read a book several years ago about sexual abuse in the Scouting movement. One of the men the author profiled was one Thomas Hacker, who began to molest boys in the Scouts in 1961. A film like this must have been a godsend to men like him. What boy in 1961 would suspect the Scoutmaster of having designs on him after watching this?
One of the worst things about this film is that the filmmakers were so ignorant of the subject matter, and yet promoted this as an educational film. In doing so, they put the boys who were their intended audience MORE at risk, not less. Had they bothered to do the research, they might have found that many molesters are actually heterosexual-- some having families of their own; that the average Gay male does NOT engage in this behavior, and finally that, far from the *ahem* Gay men in cars shown in the film being the significant threat, that spot is reserved for people the boy already knows, and can include clergymen, Boy Scout leaders, neighbors and even friends and family members. Advice to be careful if the adult seems too friendly is useless in such a case.
I read a book several years ago about sexual abuse in the Scouting movement. One of the men the author profiled was one Thomas Hacker, who began to molest boys in the Scouts in 1961. A film like this must have been a godsend to men like him. What boy in 1961 would suspect the Scoutmaster of having designs on him after watching this?