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Tim Scott 'Lon' flashback scene... question

posted 15 years ago by johnchowell
4 replies | jump to latest

MCL is one of my favorite films and I've watched it dozens of times. One scene has always bothered me, because I simply don't understand it. When criminal Lon is in the Morgan house and has flashbacks to a time when he was abused by law enforcement, the memory he has is of him in a chair and he seems to be tied up or his arms being pulled. I have watched this over and over and I still don't understand what his memory is supposed to be. Would someone explain this, please. I think this is one of the best 'drive-in' movies (if not THE best) ever made and even with the few flaws in the film, it still holds up well today. Return to Macon County is great, too. I'm surprised that it didn't get the recognition the original did.

[–] freudified_n_funkified 15 years ago

It's kind of an abstract memory shot in a fairly surreal and subjective way, the jist of it being his prior abuse at the hands of law enforcement. I'm not sure exactly what the particulars were supposed to be - whether he was beaten as part of an interrogation (he resists the forced confession later with what feels like familiarity for those procedeings), just tortured, or something else - but seeing the uniform is enough to trigger those emotions and send him to exact some kind of misplaced vengeance on Mrs. Morgan simply for being married to a peace officer.

[–] johnchowell 14 years ago

Hi, thanks for your reply. Whatever is supposed to be happening in the scene is surely enough to send him over the edge. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. Btw, have you watched the sequel? A great film in itself.

"It's just one humiliation after another." - Shirley Feeney to Laverne DeFazio

[–] BrentLovesMovies (173) 6 years ago

I don't fully understand the scene... What exactly does he do to the wife? Is he masturbating on to her? Is he having some kind of violent sex fantasy?

[–] mobocracy (845) 4 years ago

It was the rural South in the late 40s or early 1950s. "Lon" was probably a career degenerate/thief/troublemaker and the cops back then would just deal with it their own way, which meant beating the shit out of him.