Royale's Autobiographical Movie List-Post 3:The End of the Early Years

In my life, I feel that there are experiences that punctuate my life. This one was a definite exclamation mark.
I don't know how many movies I saw before the summer of my 14th birthday but it was quite a few. That summer however, I was to see the movie that changed my life forever, or at least how I watched movies. It may have not only been the movie but my situation. I was staying with my brother in Decatur, Illinois. He worked at the Firestone plant on the graveyard shift. His little house was nestled off the street across from the big soybean plant called Staley's . If you have ever been through Decatur you are probably familiar with that strange stench that lingered around the viaduct that expanded over Staley's. For the most part, Decatur was a dirty town back then. I don't want to be cruel to the town but it was the epitome of a "racially angry" 1970's city. The whole place put off an unhealthy vibe. Okay, the scene is set. My brother and I take his Cutlass Supreme to the Drive-In to see The Pom Pom Girls and Dawn of the Dead.
Okay, so I'm 14 years old and definitely loved the "action" in The Pom Pom Girls. But Dawn of the Dead totally jacked up my young brain. I had never seen violence so random and unapologetic. At the time, there had never been a movie like this. I don't know if I blinked through this movie. I was petrified. There was a thoughtless relentlessness that I had never even imagined on the screen, ripping and killing.

When we left the theater we stopped off at a Pancake house my brother had worked for. He was picking up something there, I don't remember what. He asked me if I wanted to come in. I honestly couldn't move. I didn't want to get out but I didn't want to stay by myself. I ended up staying in the car. I felt that most of the people out at that time were either drunk, high, or up to no good. I watched the strange people go by and hoped my brother would return quickly. After that it was a while before I could enjoy another movie. I had seen the pinnacle and it had scared the hell out of me. There was nothing left.
I've seen the movie several times since. Of course as time goes on it doesn't have the same effect on me. Still I remember how it felt the first time. This may sound weird, but it is really a story of hope. When I got older, I learned about the social commentary that lies at the base of the story and also symbology of some of the situations and characters. I don't how much of that played a part in being so awe-struck by the flick and have many times tried to figure out exactly why that movie hit a cord with me. Right movie at the right place and time, probably.
I have always asked myself while watching a movie, what would I do if I were in this or that situation. Dawn of the Dead definitely had me asking new questions. I think that movie killed quite a bit of innocents I had but I also feel that it brought up questions that I had never had the courage or mental vocabulary to ponder.