Who Hates the Movie "The Yearling"?

[Jack1000]

Guys,

I am an animal lover as some of you know, and it is very painful for me to see any animals hurt, killed, or mistreated in any way at any time.

The Yearling has been on TCM and yes it is a very touching and extreamlly emotionally intense story about a boy and his pet fawn. (Maybe too intense for some viewers) It's sort of similar to the Disney Classic Old Yeller in story and substance.

I'll skip the details of the movie because respondants to this post know what it's about. The reason why I hated it is twofold. I thought that Jane Wyman's charactor (Ory Baxter) was the single, most cold-hearted conceited b**ch since Nurse Ratchet ever seen on film. Every word that comes out of her mouth is vicious and negative. In a scene, she hits the fawn over the head as he gets at the family's meat. When Gregory Peck's charactor (Penny Baxter) is recovering from being attacked by a bear, the doctor is at his bedside and is relieved to see that he is going to recover...."My Lord he's gonna make it!" Wonderful Jane Wyman has a response that is so cold and insensitive it's almost comical. She says, "He is?" She treats her husband and young son Jody like sh*t throughout the whole move!

Anyway the deer "Flag" keeps eating the crops and the family helps build a fence to help keep Flag out of the corn crop. One night Flag jumps over the fence and eats their corn crop.

The next day, Gregory Peck tells the Jody charactor that "they depend on their crops to live, and that Jody must take Flag out to the yard, tie him, and shoot him...."The boy and the viewer are heartbroken. Jody can't do it because it's too painful for him so he tells Jody to go to "tell Ma to come here, go to your room and shut the door."

A few minutes later, wonderful compassionate Jane Wyman shots poor Flag, but actually wounds him instead of killing him. Gregory Peck, says..."You got to finish him boy....you got to put him out of his torment." and the mother just sits there like nothing is happening. She says, "I didn't mean to hurt him...I can't shoot straight." But I never believed that line. Jody fires a final shot and screams to his parents: "You did it on purpose you always hated him!!!! I hate you!!! I hope you die!!! I hope I never see you again!!! Oh Flag!!!!

If I was Jody, I would have killed Jane Wyman and Gregory Peck right there with that gun! They could have given Flag away to somebody, they could have built a higher fence, the could have let him go far away and set him free. No reason to kill the poor deer!!!

Then we have Jody the kid running for a few days and a fisherman finds him and Jody decides to return home to his family. (Sappy ending) Gregory Peck's final line is, "He's come back and taken the punishment, he ain't a yearling no longer."

I never understood that moral. Many others agree with me. He didn't do anything wrong! It was the mother who was the insensitive clod. I can't understand why people like this movie! It's too painful to watch and the resolution could have been handled in a different way....AWEFUL!

Jack