TV-16+
Ornery Owl's Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
Review and Thoughts:
I saw this movie when it initially aired in 1977. I was twelve years old. I found myself sympathizing with Richie. My family seemed to understand me less and less the older I got. I'd started smoking cigarettes and pot and was keen to take any pills that would make me feel invincible or even just okay for a while. Anything that made me feel like someone other than myself was good with me.
It frightened me that my father took the side of Richie's father. He had a vehement anti-drug stance. Part of me wondered if my dad wouldn't have shot me the way Richie's father shot him. My emotions seemed to be getting more and more out of control. I wondered if I would be locked up or dead before graduating high school. I wanted to get counseling, but my father said having a record of being a "mental patient" would prevent me from getting a job in the future.
Richie seems to have been well-liked by many of his peers, although he endured bullying for his chunky physique when he was younger. It shouldn't need to be said, but bullying someone for their body type is unacceptable. It shouldn't be seen as deserved or a rite of passage. Fuck that shit.
There may have been a physical component to Richie's drug use. I don't seem to have a predilection towards physical addiction. I was a heavy drinker when I was younger, but when I decided it was time to quit I had no problem doing so. Ditto with cigarettes, although I did have a hard time giving up smoking while driving. I'd get bored behind the wheel and want to light up.
As I've gotten older I've tried to have compassion or at least understanding for Richie's father. I feel like he resented his son for "getting in the way" of him pursuing his goals. Richie wanted to try counseling and his mother was agreeable, but his father rejected the idea. He instead took such actions as calling the police on his son. It was devastating to watch as Richie's father destroyed the safe hiding space Richie had created for himself in his closet.
Richie's mother appeared to be a benevolent but overall ineffectual parent. She was raised to obey her male overlords. Her father proudly states as much at a Christmas party.
The disdain society feels for addicts is clear in the fact that Richie's father was never punished for shooting his son. Even if the jury felt it would be too hard on his family to be without his salary, there should at least have been a period of probation. There was never any justice for Richie.
I've been meaning to read the biography this film was based on for decades. Simply titled Richie, the book was written by investigative journalist Thomas Thompson. You can find it here.
My rating and review of the book.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
An excellent work of investigative journalism. I felt the narrative was balanced rather than strongly favoring either the victim or the perpetrator of the act that ended Richie Diener's life. While George Diener's actions were certainly wrong, the reader comes to understand that he was desperate rather than evil. A tragic story well told.
There is a blog that includes thoughts from Richie's friend Lenny Langone.
There are conflicting thoughts about the real Richie. A man who says he went to school with him says the person portrayed in the movie was nothing like the real Richie Diener. He says the real Richie Diener was "a punk" and "mean." However, he does say that Richie's father was abusive and Richie didn't deserve what happened to him.
~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~
