Dec 10 2011
The Last of the Curlews
“Hey, why are you making me freak out!”
— a grumpy kid
Unfortunately, there are a great number of things that flit into and out of my soggy brain without leaving nary a trace. Because of this, I find it especially interesting when seemingly innocuous things I viewed or experienced years ago carve out a permanent residence in my mushy cerebrum and bind themselves to my psyche.
One case in point: The Last of the Curlews, an animated Afterschool special I viewed a single time as an eight year old. Truthfully, I don’t really remember the specifics of the cartoon. However, I do remember how incredibly sad and depressed it left me for days afterward. Sheesh, even thinking about it now gives me a sad dull ache!
How can a forty year old cartoon have this kind of impact? I thought I was alone in how it still affected me all these years later. However, after some googling, I soon found this wasn’t the case. IMDB was a wealth of info. It was there I found a handful of reviews from those who were affected much like myself.
Actually, here are two reviews taken verbatim from IMDB:
Like others who commented this animated film made such a huge impact on me that i was compelled to search (36 years later) for information on it online. I remember watching it with may sister and the both of us crying all night about it. My mother came home from work, and we were crying so hard she thought someone had died. In school the next day, all the kids were talking about it. One kid actually stayed home sick because she was so upset.
Ouch.
Up to two days ago, I did not know that what I had come across as a child was this. I had caught it maybe halfway thru and the memory of the last 5 minutes of it has been with me forever, yanking at the heart strings with each time I remember…..though I remembered them more like sparrows and not like snipes.
It’s powerful, powerful in memory and powerful in that now I have located a source, I’m not sure I could bear to watch it, knowing what is to come, even though it has been 20-30 years since I’ve seen it. Of course, as an adult, I can use all the compensating techniques that comes with being adult……..but I wouldn’t want to.
Unlike the others who have commented here, I never talked about it the decades before. I suppose being able to do so “now” changes the impact for in the 5 minutes it has taken me to write these 2 paragraphs, being able to see it again becomes an easier thought to approach.
Which is probably part of its impact; it is about being alone and being alone is such a terrible thing. One needs to share something at least.
I found some video clips on YouTube, but I haven’t viewed them. I’m sure the adult me would see them as dated and less impactful. However, at the moment I’m not interested in finding out. I guess I still need a little more time!
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