Movie: " The Earthling" -- Growing Up The Hard Way Fast
When I
was a secondary school teacher, I always found an appropriate way to
integrate this movie into my curriculum. I even own three VHS tapes of
it to ensure I can always have it on hand. It's a rare classic that all
teenagers are touched by when they see it. And adults that aren't too
callous appreciate it, also.
"Patrick Foley (William Holden) has
been on the move all his life, indeed a life of adventure truly lived.
Tired of drifting and now ill, he wants to spend his last days in the
isolated Australian valley where he grew up. On his difficult journey he encounters Shawn (Ricky Schroeder), a city-boy whose parents were
killed in an accident in this remote, inhospitable territory. Being
unable to accompany the boy back to the civilized world Foley
reluctantly takes the boy with him on his trip to the valley of his own
boyhood. Along the way, and when the two finally reach the valley, Foley
teaches Shawn the ways of the Australian Outback, how to survive what
most would call an incredibly rugged way of life. He empowers the boy,
teaching him among many things perhaps the most powerful lesson of all,
to embrace and overcome fear. While Foley teaches Shawn how to survive, he in turn receives a priceless gift and lesson of his own, that of
love."
"The Earthling":
