A short "educational" film, Boys Beware may have set out with good intentions- to warn children about sexual predators. That's a subject we're actually more sensitive about today than when the film was made, so modern audiences can relate to that. Where Boys Beware emerges as a relic of an old-fashioned prejudice is in its insistence on treating child molesters and homosexuals interchangeably. Homosexual is the word used to describe the predators in the film. It's called "sick" and not "normal." And "homosexual" is defined as someone who seeks a sexual relationship with one's own sex. So it's all homosexuals painted with one brush- never mind that most have adult relationships, all homosexuals are potential molesters.
To me, going out of your way to describe molesters who attack boys as gay is like referring to molesters who attack girls as straight. Child molestation just isn't a healthy orientation either way, and to associate it with one is dangerous. Conveniently, this film overlooks that some predators prey on girls. Maybe its intentions weren't so noble after all. At the end of the day, this is something people today can look back at with wonder, similar to Birth of a Nation's treatment of blacks. Thank God we've (mostly) moved passed this.
To me, going out of your way to describe molesters who attack boys as gay is like referring to molesters who attack girls as straight. Child molestation just isn't a healthy orientation either way, and to associate it with one is dangerous. Conveniently, this film overlooks that some predators prey on girls. Maybe its intentions weren't so noble after all. At the end of the day, this is something people today can look back at with wonder, similar to Birth of a Nation's treatment of blacks. Thank God we've (mostly) moved passed this.