MovieChat Forums > The Sandlot (1993) Discussion > Theory: were all childhood events in mov...

Theory: were all childhood events in movie supposed to be exaggerated?

posted 11 years ago by GotMilk00
7 replies | jump to latest

This movie was released when I was like 10. I saw it throughout childhood, but now recently viewed it as an adult. I'm wondering, is the entire childhood section of this movie supposed to be viewed as exaggerated, like a child's perspective? Or was it real? Let me explain.

Ok, so we all know that when Squints tells the story of "the beast," that it is a made up kids campfire tale. And we know that when the kids imagine the beast across the wall, that it is supposed to be exaggerated. But is the entire movie supposed to be like that? For example, did the dog really jump through a movie theater screen? Did the kids really have vacuum cleaners explode on them? Did Smalls really throw a ball a few inches when he tried to make his first throw? Was his stepdad really that unpersonable and intimidating?

Or was all of this stuff in his head? The base story was true, and then all the events were exaggerated since he viewed it from the perspective of a kid. So fro example, his first throw was bad, but not AS bad as portrayed in the film. OR his stepdad was a normal, nice guy, but they just hadn't become close yet.

Maybe this is an unusual theory, or maybe it's so obvious everyone knows it and I'm last to the party. But just wanted your perspective. Thanks!

[–] fairyqueen 11 years ago

I was thinking that too and also thought that Smalls made Benny seem more perfect than he actually was because he idolized him and was grateful to him.

[–] Geeky Randy 11 years ago

Theory: were all childhood events in movie supposed to be exaggerated?

While the film does take a lot of time portraying the differences between myth and actuality, I think it's pretty clear that some of the outlandish stuff is intended to be real (i.e. the dog running through the theater). Much of the things in the film proven untrue or questionable are either grainy (like the "fooooreeever" flashback, or Benny's dream) or unseen. Since much of Scottie's narration parallels or doesn't contradiction the segue from his childhood into his adult years, we should assume everything he is telling us is true. If it were from a child's perspective and thus exaggerated, why would we have adult Scottie telling the story?

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[–] Maximus-8 11 years ago

You can still have him tell the story, and while it's basically all true, it is through the lens of nostalgia, which makes things seem bigger, more epic than they were. Was the beast a huge, terrifying monster, they imagined when they couldn't get a good look at him? Most likely no. But that's how they pictured him. If he's going to tell the story, he'd be telling it how he remembered it. And he remembered the beast being practically mythical. The chase probably DID go through town and wreak havoc. Did he burst out of a movie screen? Maybe. It's not totally unimaginable. They present it in a believable way. Really, though, stick with the MST3K explanation. Repeat to yourself "It's just a show, I should really just relax."

[–] Tri-State_Skater 10 years ago

I say it was real, but they didn't notice everything. They were young and accepted everything as it was. They were not rick kids. 98 cents was more in the 60's, but other kids would have had 98 cents put together to buy a new baseball. They were also from the Valley. They were probably all working class, except for maybe Smalls and a few others. Smalls probably had more money than them, but less than other kids.

When the dog jumped through the screen it was probably really old and battered anyways. On its way out before the dog's leap.

Small probably did throw the ball a few inches. One time I got sick for a week during fourth or fifth grade. I could barely run after that, but I had been athletic before. Smalls probably stopped playing sports when his Dad died. It had been at least 5 years. He would be terrible at sports, but as an 11 year old he could improve quickly. If he had even been a few years older it would have been too late.

[–] toky-world 8 years ago

Yes

Even us, telling our kids tales from our childhood. They have some element of embellishment and/or exaggeration.

[–] zandert33 8 years ago

Saw this film for the first time in about 10 years or so. I came away thinking the same thing, the story we see in the movie is an exaggerated version of the events. The big explosion caused by the vacuums is a good example.
The kids completely destroying the other baseball team.
The 4th of July with tons of fireworks in the sky.
The amount of vomit during the carnival ride.
And on and on.
It fits the themes of the movie perfectly, and I can't imagine it wasn't done on purpose.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

Yes, I've always thought that.

I've always thought that the story is supposed to be exaggerated on purpose since the story is about kids. We are seeing it through their eyes. Like the crazy camp fire stories and them imagining the dog is some huge scary beast, it's not really like that, it's supposed to be what the kids are imagining. And I think that's pretty realistic. A lot of kids have wild crazy imaginations. I always have thought that this movie tried to show that kids have lots of fun and crazy wild adventures. I find many of the exaggerated events hilarious! That's what I like about this movie. It doesn't take itself too seriously