MovieChat Forums > Susan Slade (1961) Discussion > Sooo many things wrong here.....(spoiler...

Sooo many things wrong here.....(spoilers)

posted 14 years ago by parks8321
6 replies | jump to latest

1. Susan naivete--c' mon, she's lived in another country for 10 years, but she wasn't on the moon.

2. Her parents--smothering and social-climbing busibodies with no other things to think about except their young adult daughter's dresses or boyfriends.

3. Conn White, the mountain-climbing con-man--"Eh, don't tell your parents' honey..." and "Blah, blah, blah....virgin mountains....uh, yeah, honey....I like to climb virgin mountains."

4. The Japanese decor--these people have been in Chile for the last 10 years...maybe somebody could lay off the ethnic decor and let these horsey people be. Also, the host says, "EVERYTHING in here is yours..." Like the housegirl? Another thing: what's with all of the Japanese clothes?

5. The lighter--Dad dies, Mom takes up smoking (and drinking?) and leaves her lighter around for the baby to find, THEN she spanks him--HARD--when he does.

6. The baby barbecue--was clearly a doll and reminded me of the doll that they used to portray JonBenet Ramsey's corpse in that TV movie: stiff and too thin and Barbie-headed. The real baby was chubby, as babies are. Do I want to see a real baby on fire? Nope. Just don't want to see a baby afire at all, if you really want the truth.

[–] smoke0 14 years ago

The real thing wrong with this movie is child abuse. Not the spanking, that was clearly not hard enough to hurt. The reason the baby starts wailing is because he knows he was treated unfairly; he is given something to play with and then is scolded and spanked for playing with it. I am surprised they didn't set him on fire also.

Revenge is a dish that best goes stale.

[–] artistathome 12 years ago

OP, please. How old are you? This movie was made 52 years ago! It reflected the times back then. Nothing you are complaining about would have even been considered changing in a teen movie back then.

Plus this was made from a book. So blame the novel.

Are you aware of the majorly hokey movies of the 80s? A worse decade I cannot think of. And some of the teen movies made today are gross.
Transformers? Talk to me in 20 years and let's see how THAT one survives kids of the 2020s!! They will think everything now is cheesy too.

My grandchildren already think 90s movies are oh so dumb.
However, the use of the creepy vinyl doll was ridiculous even for 52 years ago. yes, the baby caught on fire, but how about off screen or maybe further away so we can't obviously see it is a doll with straight hair?

You'd think in the editing room they'd have realized it was so cheesy.

[–] filmklassik 8 years ago

Every generation likes to pat itself on the back by thinking that its own art, music, culture and politics are better and more enlightened than all that came before, and that previous generations were well-intentioned but mostly clueless.

It ain't so. At some point we are going to look back on the first two decades of the 21st century -- an era marked by dour, sanctimonious superhero movies, political correctness, neck beards, reality TV, and lots and lots of tattoos -- and ask ourselves what the hell we were thinking.

[–] lolarites 13 years ago

What got me was they were too stupid to put up the crib side. When my first child was born, my mother said I should start slapping my daughters hands. I said no way. You are supposed to keep danger out of their reach, not leave it around and punish them when they grab it.

[–] eliz7212 13 years ago

You are so right I can't begin to tell you. When I saw the crib side down, I said "uh oh"

[–] ksf-2 12 years ago

.. and when he's on the changing table, he plays with a bottle of baby powder... a big puff comes out, makes him sneeze.... its gone for a moment, and they ask him if he wants it back again.. that can't be good.