“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve…”
This film appeared in my life as I awkwardly began navigating Junior High – being shoved into that heady time when early burgeoning social pressures crept in and started edging me outside my childhood comfort zones. I’d spent a lifetime perfecting “being a kid” and suddenly all those skills were obsolete.
Appreciating the right fashions, music and attitudes suddenly became of historic importance. Cool kids casually hugged each other in the hallways and I was suddenly expected to be articulate and interesting outside of owning the best game watch in class.
This movie was my swansong for that final, childish summer of Tree houses, BMX jumps, and Robotix. It helped me realise that the lazy golden days full of exploration and adventure had come to an end, and a darker and more serious adult world lay across the threshold. It was the life lesson I needed – at the time I needed it most. Much like The Wonder Years did a couple of years later, this film taught me to examine and record my evolution in real time, to accept every passing change and not fret the uncertainties that come with the knowledge that all things must end.
Stand By Me helped me. It helped me understand the power of nostalgia, and it stood by me when I needed to grow up. -Pop