Portrait Of A Vandal (1978)

Come on. I LOVE THE STEREO, RIGHT? GO UP, BUCKAROO. NOBODY EVER USES A CANOPY IN THE POOL. ALL RIGHT. That's interesting. Vandalism means willful or senseless destruction, especially of something valuable, something hard to replace. How'd you get out? >> I left about 5 minutes before you. Can I have have your skateboard? God, what we do, man? No. What's the use of skipping if we don't have nothing to skip with now? Hey, there's Debbie's house. Oh, yeah, Debbie that stuck up came up to um Can I have your Let's play kickball. Got it. But vandals don't usually think of themselves as willful or senseless. And most of the time they're not. Most of the time they're nice enough people who know all about right and wrong. But sometimes, even a nice person plays the sneak, becomes a coward who's afraid to strike out at whatever is really bugging him. And often, there's a connection between what he does and what he does it to. If a teacher makes him mad, he throws a rock at the school. If a girl offends him, he takes it out on her bike. Hey you guys, I don't think we ought to do this. >> Sneaky. Come on, I don't think we ought to do this. >> Underhanded. Guys, don't you hate Debbie? Yeah, whenever you walk down the hall you say, "Hi Debbie." She just sticks her head up in the air and ignores you. She's so stuck up. I've wanted a long time to do something to her. You guys is dumb cuz Debbie's not even going to know we did it. That's easy. Just find something to write with and we'll leave a message. Hey guys, someone might be in there. Hey, it's open. All right. Hey guys, come on. Someone might be in Come on, nobody's here. Yoo-hoo. Debbie, Debbie dear. Guys, I don't know if anybody A vandal is often a puppet, a dummy without a mind of his own. He can get himself into serious trouble because he's willing to go along. A Pinocchio, but somebody else pulls the strings. Yeah. This has got to be the place. Come on, guys. Oops. You think we should be doing this? Oh, come on, channel be chicken. Yeah, come on, channel. What if the books still here? Oh, forget about the books. We got to find something to write with. Where's the writing utensil? CRAYOLA. HEY, WHAT DO WE WANT TO DO? WE GOT SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH. WRITE ON THE MIRROR. ALL RIGHT. HEY, WHAT ARE you writing? Yeah. Get that out of my mouth. I'M READY FOR SPACE. COME ON, LET'S GO AND GET THOSE BRAS. COME ON, LET'S GO AND GET THOSE BRAS. SNOOPY, come home. A vandal is out of control. Once he's started, he can't stop. It's It's as if he were out of gear on a steep hill. He goes on and on. Oh, is there somebody who's going to be in your home? Well, my aunt hasn't arrived yet. PERHAPS SHE'S HERE NOW. OH, NO. OH. And your first name, ma'am? Charlene. And your address again here is? 2204 Oxford Drive. Can you tell me about what time you arrived home? Um sometime around 3:30. Can you show me the full extent of the damage that's happened here? Well, there was all this and uh Well, would you like to see the rest of it, too? >> Excuse me. Yes. Debbie, do you know anybody who could have done this? No. No, I don't know. Why? Why did they don't to do this? A vandal gets his kicks destroying things which have meaning for other people. And everything does. There isn't anything that doesn't mean something to someone. Whether it's public property or private. Hey John, wait up. Roger. Want to get a coke? Nah, not really. Why not? I don't know. What's bugging you? Nothing. Come on, tell me. Well, can you keep a secret? Yeah. I mean, a real promise. Yeah, sure. Well, you know what happened at Breaker's house? Yeah, I heard about that. Well, we did it. I mean, see, it all started as a little joke. We're going to go A vandal is a snitch. Snitching on himself. messed things up, and so we just went along with him. I mean, how are we supposed to know her dad died? Either he thinks he's done something smart or he feels so guilty that he has to get it off his chest. Sooner or later, he ends up telling everything to somebody. And then the news gets around. Hello? Yes. Well, yes, officer. What is it? Yes, Kurt's our son. Oh, well, I'm sure there must be some mistake. Are you sure? Well, yes, I I guess so. What time? Why? What was that all about? Well, that was the police department. They want us to bring Kurt down there to Kurt? They said that you were involved in that horrible incident at the Bricker house. No, I don't know. Maybe Shawn's trying to get me in trouble or something. A vandal >> sure? is a liar. >> get your name? If he wasn't before, he becomes one when he realizes what he's done. Are you telling us that Maybe for a split second, he is only lying to himself, pretending it didn't happen. But it doesn't stop there. Dad, I swear to you. He lies to his parents. I don't think I could bear it if you were involved in anything like that. It'll be simple enough to clear it up when we get to the police department. I appreciate you bringing the boy >> And he lies to everyone else as long as he thinks he can bluff his way out. Would you mind looking at me, Kurt? Son, there's only one way you and your friends are going to keep your stories straight. That's by telling the truth. I've already talked to Joe and John and their parents. Now I need to hear it from you. Everything you did that day. Okay? I don't know what they told you, but I wasn't with them that day. Well, that's hard to believe. You boys are always together. You're always with them or Shawn. No, Wednesday I wasn't. How do you know what day it was? Wednesday. Wednesday. That's the day I was baking cookies and all you boys came in together. Oh, Kurt. Kurt, you were with them. A vandal hurts people. The people he cares about the most. Kurt, you swore to me and I believed you. >> The people who care about him. I'm sorry, officer. Wouldn't you like to get it over with, Kurt? Tell me all about it. Look, Kurt, everybody makes mistakes. When they do, they have to face up to them. Set things straight. Okay, okay, but it wasn't my idea. I know. We let ourselves get dragged into things sometimes. Don't we, Kurt? Maybe the court will take that into consideration. And since this is your first offense, I think you'll probably get probation. But I'm afraid the court will expect you to pay your share of the damages. Damages? Yes, in this state, those who are responsible must pay their share of the damage they've caused. But But we don't have that kind of money. And for nothing. For nothing. Nice enough people who know all about right and wrong up to a point. The point where fun becomes destructiveness. Then a sneak a liar a cloud. There isn't very much good you can say about a vandal. Well, I was talking to Ellen and she just suggested it all. There'll be times when you will be in situations like the one the boys in this story were in. When you will be part of a group where everybody's feeling good and has energy to burn. Times when temptation lies in wait. The temptation to do something which will make you think less of yourself when it's all over. Hey, look at all these rocks. I I some good ideas with these. Come on, you guys, come get some >> Now is the time to figure out how you're going to handle those situations before you pick up the first stone. Before you get involved with something that could get out of hand. Now is the time to decide. Is this a picture of you?