Sid Davis' "Boys Beware"
When Denver Pastor Ted Haggard finally admitted to being a homosexual, many of us scratched our heads when we read yesterday that he is now in the process of being "Spiritually Restored."
For some, finally coming clean and admitting a lifelong secret is the spiritual restoration itself. But when you're surrounded by people who grew up during a time when homosexuality was considered an illness and unlike any other "sin" in your bible, you can understand why guys like Haggard are so fucked up.
And part of that blame probably goes to guys like Sid Davis.
Los Angeles film producer, real estate wiz, and mountain climber, Sid Davis, died last month to little fanfare. He began his career in Hollywood as a stand-in, most notably for John Wayne.
In late 1949, after a string of rapes occurred in the wake of the rape/murder of a 6-year-old LA girl, Davis got a loan from the Duke for $1,000 to produce his first "social guidance" film. He sold it and dozens more to schools and police departments and became rich. He also lucked out on the LA real estate market.
He parlayed his wealth to make more films including tonight's Midnight Movie, 1961's "Boys Beware", which is supposed to warn schoolboys about the dangers of child molesters but somehow identifies them as "sick" "homosexuals".
During his long life Davis produced and directed over 150 social films about sex, health, drugs, and alcohol that were used in school health and science classes. This one was probably shown only to boys in school while the girls were shown something in a separate room about their menstruation cycles.
Let's hope those films were more accurate and not as laughable as this one, which was produced in part by the Inglewood Unified School District and their police department.
Much more about Mr. Davis on Metafilter, which deserves more than just a hat-tip, but the whole damn hat.