What was I doing watching this film at age 9?

That is the most damning cultural aspect of this type of film being made. I also went to see THE THING alone and was so terrified I slept in my parents bedroom for weeks. Yes, of course it was all a bad dream from a bump on the head of the young boy but up to that point it was quite terrifying to view. The family sure put the little girl in the ground fast and then it was a message of- "Well, we all have to learn to move on and not spend our time mourning".

The so called Great Generation had no idea how these types of films could upset a young viewer. They may seem laughable now viewed as an adult revisiting that time but they were pure exploitation of a young viewer's budding psyche- all to please the God of the Bottom Line ("Thou shall not worship any God above me!"). I think it signaled an American empire already foul to its core.