I’m not exactly sure what the target audience for “Stand By Me” is. A group of small-town 12-year-old boys in Oregon in 1959 set out on a mission to find a dead body. By that description, this may sound like a horror movie. But it is far less the end goal that matters here and more the journey along the way. In my opinion, “Stand By Me” is the definition of the coming-of-age genre. Four kids are on an adventure, each facing their problems and having some sort of revelation that redefines the values they hold of themselves and their friendships.
I imagine this movie was made for the dads of the ’80s, something relatable to reminisce on their boyhood. I don’t think the producers would have guessed that a group of young girls about that same age in 2017 would have this be the movie of choice at sleepovers.
I saw “Stand By Me” for the first time when I was in middle school when my best friends were going through an “I wish I was born in the ’80s” phase (courtesy of “Stranger Things”). Our Gen X parents, who had the times of their lives in this era, were entirely too eager to fuel our fascination and introduce us to just about every ’80s movie worth watching. I even remember us making the completely rational decision to abandon our phones for walkie-talkies. However, this ended quickly when we discovered only two of us were within the distance to actually use them.
It was at one of our typical sleepovers, where we would eat too much candy and be up the whole night talking about the extremely important and philosophical topics that trouble middle school girls. “Stand By Me” was the movie we put on to commence this Friday night and then quickly became a featured movie on many Fridays afterward.
The movie is narrated through the protagonist, Gordy, an adult writer telling the story of him and his three friends, Vern, Teddy and Chris, walking along train tracks in search of the body of a missing boy from their town with hopes of getting credit for his discovery. Each character embodied a typical kid stereotype. Gordy was the smart and quiet one. Vern was the clumsy, bashful one. Teddy was the comedian with a rebellious spirit. And Chris was the misunderstood and protective leader. As they walk along the tracks, they run into several interesting scenarios, from unconventional campfire stories to swimming in leech-infested rivers. Each debacle they run into brings out both the humor and drama in this story.
It was the comedy that is incorporated into “Stand By Me” that caught my initial attention. This is shown mainly through the way the four boys interacted with each other, which is not far from the way my friends and I interacted with each other or the way any close-knit group of friends interacted, for that matter. Of course, we were a group of girls, and at no point were we on the hunt to find a dead body. But that didn’t stop us from giving someone a light punch on the arm for flinching, telling each other that a joke was so funny we forgot to laugh, or reciting many other quotes we gathered from that movie.
As a kid, the drama and hardship in “Stand By Me” was always an afterthought. Even well into high school, I was a little surprised to see it featured in the show “Euphoria” with such a solemn tone. Now, after rewatching “Stand By Me” yet again, this time halfway through college, I can safely say that this movie is one that will leave you in tears.
The beauty of “Stand By Me” is how it can grow with the viewer. The humor and innocence of friendship among kids and the way life can take unexpected turns can be relatable to anyone at every age. “Stand By Me” is one of those movies that never gets old and comes with a new surprise and deeper layer of meaning with each watch. It is a story about the way life can change and how things that seem so important at one point in time could become a distant memory. It beautifully depicts the importance of friendship and is a reminder to enjoy the life you live in the moment.
If you only know the phrase “Stand By Me” as a song by Ben E. King, then I implore you to make an addition to your next movie night (though I have to add, the song is great, too). I am normally not dramatic enough to call a movie life-changing, but I would say that “Stand By Me” has the potential to alter your perspective.
