[August 28, 2023] The movie scared me more than 60 years ago, and I still get shivers from that memory of watching the original 1933 adventure horror animal film King Kong. I was 9 years old, my brother two years younger, and we had somehow convinced our Mom to take us to this classic and frightening show, most frightening to these two little boys. Our Mom was not in the theater because she was off doing important motherly things. We were by ourselves. The theater was dark and smoky (people were allowed to smoke cigarettes during the running of movies in the early 1960s), well attended by what seemed like all adults. There we sat, frozen in awe of our very first theater movie. Like our television, the movie was in black and white, giving the film a nightmarish feel.
The giant ape-like King Kong gave my brother and I had a deep fright. I’d never been truly scared, yet intellectually, we knew it was only a movie, and that knowledge kept my brother and I in our seats. At that point, Kong grabbed the heroine to take her to his lair in the jungle. My brother briefly came out of his seat, and I thought for a moment he would bolt away, but he stayed. Good for him. Two ladies behind us screamed, and another left in a panic (I thought it was a panic). Looking back decades later, our reaction gives me a bit of a laugh, but I can’t help feeling sorry for the two small-town boys in the big city theater. When the show was over, we were experienced veterans of horror films. We waited outside the theater for our Mom, who promptly picked us up.
Although I had tried, I couldn’t get my Dad to take us to see the King Kong movie and watch it with us. That would have been a great dad-son excursion, but it was not to be. He did, however, seem a bit disappointed afterward when we told him the story of the giant ape taking over New York City. The final scene was heart-wrenching. We said it was not the aeroplanes that killed the beast but the heroine and her beauty. Much like the beautiful fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast in a superb 1991 Disney production, it tells the tale of the true feminine hero. In this story, the beauty is not interested in the guy who isn’t the beast. She’s interested in the guy who is the beast, and that’s exactly as it should be. She’s interested in the guy who is the beast that can be civilized and disciplined. And that is the same myth in King Kong when the heroine saves the beast Kong from his primitive self.
I was looking through some old family photos. One has a picture of my brother and I playing in a dirt drainage ditch in front of my home. We are about 7 and 9 years old, dirty, shirtless, and happy as pigs in a pigsty. Our Mom took hold of us and tamed us sufficiently to live civilized lives. That was sometimes touch and go since we always wanted to run off to fish, swim, hunt, camp, float down rivers, and other similar outdoor activities. She taught us, mostly successfully, to sit still in church, smile at adults, say please and thank you, and not to do anything too stupid. My Dad’s job was to ensure good order and discipline in the household, but he would not fulfill my Mom’s role to tame us, calm us, and see to it that we kept ourselves straight morally. Our Mom was the feminine hero of the household.
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Get job my friend. As a country boy myself I remember those days playing in the river creek channel, walking in high water when the road in front of my small house was flooded. Mom out of the house us kid’s skinny dipping in the water. We had fun. We all had high respect for our mom and the adults. We knew what would happen if we didn’t have good manners. Back then we were spanked, now days it’s child abuse. I turned out well.
The role of the Mom is critical to the glue of the family. Dad’s are the disciplinarian of the family. Moms are the storm calmers. Proverbs 31 addresses her as precious as diamonds and rubies . Read it.
Now back to good manners. My grandmother and mom would always say to us Good Manners don’t cost you anything. Good morning
Gen. Satterfield, you continue with this series and not only me, but my entire family is now reading them. I also print them out and putting them into a binder for reading later. I hope that you follow through on a previous hint that you just might turn these into a book. I hope so.
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Gen. Doug Satterfield came from very humble beginnings and only on rare occasions do we get a glimpse at what these were. In this case, he and his brother were playing in a drainage dirt, shirtless, and having a wonderful time with each other. Those are the kind of stories that draw me to this website and also, of course, the leadership advice he gives us. For those that are new here, be sure you do yourself a favor and purchase one of his books from Amazon. Just click any of the two links above and it will take you there. The cost is cheap and the value is endless.
Well said. I got my books. My favorite is the last one, “55 Rules for a Good Life.” Who in their right mind would not read such a book!!!!!!!!!!!
Nothing like a heart-warming article early in the morning from Gen. Satterfield.
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Reminds me of when I was a kid many decades ago. We did things that kids would never be allowed to do today and for reasons that are obvious (higher crime, esp, in cities). When you encourage people to be good and provide incentives and disincentives, they will generally be good. And the opposite is true, like VP Kamala Harris encouraging crime by leftists, just to further her power.
Fred, spot on comment. And thank you for the thoughts too about the idiot in the White House (not Joe Biden altho he is an idiot, but Kamala Harris who has embarrassed herself repeatedly).
Yepper, Joe, loving this website and the content of the many comments that you and others have given us. Keep the faith brother. 👍👍👍👍
Yes, as always keep the faith for that is what protects us from the crazies run by America’s Democrat Party.
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Well said, indeed, Fred. Looking back, someone needs to write a clear explanation why there was less crime and craziness 50 years ago. Or maybe we just didn’t see it.
BEST paragraph….
The giant ape-like King Kong gave my brother and I had a deep fright. I’d never been truly scared, yet intellectually, we knew it was only a movie, and that knowledge kept my brother and I in our seats. At that point, Kong grabbed the heroine to take her to his lair in the jungle. My brother briefly came out of his seat, and I thought for a moment he would bolt away, but he stayed. Good for him. Two ladies behind us screamed, and another left in a panic (I thought it was a panic). Looking back decades later, our reaction gives me a bit of a laugh, but I can’t help feeling sorry for the two small-town boys in the big city theater. When the show was over, we were experienced veterans of horror films. We waited outside the theater for our Mom, who promptly picked us up.
The best of the best, well done. Gen. S.
yes, i agree with u edward, the best one yet
Great to hear from you again, Jerome. I know you’ve commented before on this mini series (or maybe a large series) of Letters to My Granddaughter. I’ve got to say that I continue, every day, to look for the next installment of his time as a little boy growing up in rural NE Louisiana. Thanks again Jerome. Stay cool.
As usual, Gen. Satterfield, wildly good article …. this time in a movie theater. Love your stories.