Mike and Brand are siblings, when Mike takes off with the rest of The Agonies tying Brand down to avoid him chasing after them because he knows they will not be allowed to go search for the treasure and the truth behind one eyed Willie; this is a prime example of autonomy vs.. Attachment. Brand feels Mike and the rest of the gang are perhaps a bit young to venture off on such a dangerous adventure aside from the fact that he doubts the legitimacy of such story.
Brand makes every effort to untie himself and get to Mike, finally when he is able to meet up with him he realizes it was all true and wants to take over the role of leader, retractor of The Agonies, you could say Brand’s identity achievement kicks in. He realizes it’s crucial to protect the gang and feels he should do it since he is the oldest, it is a crisis and he is committed to take care and protect everyone. This group of children venture off into a perilous adventure selflessly to help out their parents, their amity is outstanding and it shows how peer relations can be well balanced even if each individual is diverse.
Chunk befriends a Quasimodo type individual called Sloth whom is related to some delinquents called the Fraternal the gang runs into throughout the movie. Sloth is horribly abused and neglected by his mother and siblings, so when Chunk befriends Sloth his self-esteem and self-efficacy take a boost, he feels encouraged to stand up to his aggressors and stalwartly he is able to help out The Agonies. Chunk is an overweight child, he focuses a lot on food and because of these behaviors he runs into some trouble throughout the movie.
The truth is not farfetched from this story line; the dangers of being an overweight child are different in real life; however you can clearly see how Chunk ran in to some trouble for smelling the ice cream and going in to the freezer. Children are not as active as they once were; they sit for hours in front of a television set and play video games as well. Physical activities have become almost obsolete, and the ramifications of this are devastating we are facing an obese society that is starting with our children and can easily be prevented.
In the movie “Stand by me” there are several somber issues that were dealt with like peer pressure, parent-conflict, child abuse, peer influences, peer relations, identity development, among others. There are four main characters in this film and they are all quite diverse. Gourde Elegance was selected by his parents; his mother seems to be completely gone from reality since his brother Denny passed away in an accident. Elegance’s mother is clearly depressed while his father merely exists in the midst of this tragedy, leaving Gourde to fend for himself emotionally and having to figure out how to cope on his own.
Elegance already had issues with his father, feelings of inadequacy and had parent-conflict because he did not particularly care for sports and had a knack for writing vs.. His brother Denny who was a sock, great in sports, everything his dad had hoped for. Elegance felt his dad hated him. Chris Chambers grows up in an unconventional family, they are criminals and he’s stereotyped accordingly. His peer influences have not been the best, starting with his brother “Eyeball” Chambers who is involved in shady business around town.
His peer relations are poor outside his small circle of friends and because of his family reputation he has a stigma wherever he goes, people think he is a juvenile delinquent that will never amount to anything but his friend Elegance thinks otherwise. Chris Chambers proves in the end that even with his socioeconomic status and the negative stigma he had on him he was able o rise above all that and become a successful lawyer, the strong bond he had with Elegance perhaps was a big drive for him or maybe the hunger of wanting to rise above the negatives in his life.
Teddy Decamp is an eccentric little boy who is physically abused by his father; he displays aggressive behaviors and even attempts to commit suicide. He’s emotionally unstable as a consequence of his poor relationship and physical abuse by his father. He’s devastated when he finds out his father is committed to a mental institution. Vern Testis is an overweight, shy, bullied little boy. He over hears a conversation held by is brother and a friend of a boys corpse by the train tracks.
