MovieChat Forums > Disturbing Behavior (1998) Discussion > My thoughts on Disturbing Behavior...

My thoughts on Disturbing Behavior...

posted 6 years ago by CinemaDemon989 (1286)
2 replies | jump to latest

1) For whatever reason, this seemed like a made-for-TV movie, and not an actual motion picture. But still, that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable to watch.

2) When Steve took away Gavin's gun, that turned out to be a huge mistake. On some terms, I would say that Gavin's brainwashing transition was all his fault. Maybe things would've turned out differently if Gavin would've had that gun. Just sayin...

3) What I didn't understand was, if all the trendy high school students were brainwashed with some sort of implant technology, did the corrupt school staff ever consider what would happen to these students when they grow up and get out of high school? Did they ever take technical malfunctions into consideration? I mean, the brainwashing process seemed to only focus on making teenagers participate in school activities and group-think. But what about when high school is over? What then? The mind control project seemed overlook a lot of important details.

4) Another thing I didn't understand...were the implants designed to prevent the students from having sexual impulses or something? How exactly were they supposed to become normal members of society? Better yet, seeing that the brainwashed students were so 'pure' and all, and yet weren't capable of having sex...how exactly were they expected to start a family in the future? And also, every time they did have a sexual impulsive or desire, their mind would switch over to violence and murder. How exactly was that supposed to work out in the long-run? Yet again, more flaws in the mind control project.

5) What was up with Steve's dad?! Seriously?! That dude had like no personality at all.

[–] momur (107) 4 years ago

1) Agreed. I personally blame the cuts MGM made to the movie. It threw off the pacing quite a bit and several of the characters seemed set up for more development than they actually ended up having.

2) Agreed again, but if you think about from Steve's POV, Gavin was basically just a paranoid stoner talking about how he was planning to go home and shoot whoever was there waiting for him, even his own family. I'd probably have taken the gun away too if I'd been in Steve's situation at that point. The only reason we as the audience know it was a mistake for Steve to take the gun is because we saw more examples of disturbing behaviour (pun absolutely intended) from the Blue Ribbon crowd than he had at that point.

3) I think the basic overall plan was what was sort of hinted at in the end: the Blue Ribbon kids would grow up, find other messed up kids and basically continue the cycle with the ultimate end goal of making everyone like them. Caldicott was playing God, he wanted to create the "perfect teen" and presumably would have kept trying until he succeeded, and then set about making that the default.

4) The Blue Ribbon kids seemed to be modelled on the stereotypical "idyllic teenager" that a typical middle class conservative parent would want: good grades, good at sports, well-spoken, doesn't swear, drinks soda at a 50s style diner instead of alcohol, etc. And this apparently includes abstinence when it comes to sex. It's established that the side effect of violence is a flaw in the implant they've all been given - I'd imagine the ideal way the implant would work would be that it would prevent sexual desire completely so that sex would only be reserved for procreation after marriage (again, fitting in with what these types of adults think teenagers should be: completely non-sexual beings).

5) Agreed. 100%. I'm guessing it could be explained as his eldest son's suicide really messing him up, but again I personally blame the cuts. And the acting a little bit.

[–] CinemaDemon989 (1286) 4 years ago

The problem is, they were trying to make perfect idyllic teenagers. But the Blue Ribbons couldn't be teenagers forever. Eventually they'd reach adulthood. So that's where the mind control program ultimately failed. It didn't logically take the long-term perspective into consideration.

And I understand what you mean about Steve taking Gavin's gun. But still...such a shame.

And I know what you mean by the editing. The weird and abrupt cuts in the editing process is what made this seem like a made for TV movie.