At first this movie looks to be one of those now-unwatchable "youth culture" films of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the pop music, mop haircuts on the boys, and other fads. The early scenes with the seagull appear to be symptomatic of such movies. The bird supposedly symbolizes innocence and freedom, and the three youths share in these qualities by rescuing it.
Then comes the disillusionment. It turns out that the seagull is not a symbol, just a bird, a wild creature. After it bites Sandy (Barbara Hershey), she secretly crushes it to death with a rock. Goodbye innocence, hello cruelty.
There is another, more profound death mentioned, though not shown,in the film, that of the mother of the girl Rhoda (Catherine Burns), as recounted by her daughter. An expert swimmer, she was drunk when she undertook a challenging night-time swim on a dare. She was killed, and Rhoda spit on her grave because of her anger at being left alone. If the death of the seagull is the result of cruelty, the death of Rhoda's mother is the result of her selfish, reckless pursuit of fun, without regard for its effect on others.
Reckless pleasure-seeking is in fact the order of the day for the parents of all four young people in the film. Eventually we see plenty of the same behavior on the part of Sandy, Peter, and Dan; often it is combined with cruelty. The three kids tease and taunt Rhoda, they show contempt for her "date" Anibal and abandon him to be beaten by thugs, and ultimately they force Rhoda to submit to gang rape.
Even Peter (Richard Thomas), who is an imaginative, seemingly sensitive boy who has become fond of Rhoda and treats her kindly, joins in violating her. As Rhoda previously pointed out, around Sandy and Dan he becomes a different person.
The movie is an indictment of a society obsessed with pleasure, fun, and entertainment, with little sense of responsibility. It's a powerful, disturbing movie.
Then comes the disillusionment. It turns out that the seagull is not a symbol, just a bird, a wild creature. After it bites Sandy (Barbara Hershey), she secretly crushes it to death with a rock. Goodbye innocence, hello cruelty.
There is another, more profound death mentioned, though not shown,in the film, that of the mother of the girl Rhoda (Catherine Burns), as recounted by her daughter. An expert swimmer, she was drunk when she undertook a challenging night-time swim on a dare. She was killed, and Rhoda spit on her grave because of her anger at being left alone. If the death of the seagull is the result of cruelty, the death of Rhoda's mother is the result of her selfish, reckless pursuit of fun, without regard for its effect on others.
Reckless pleasure-seeking is in fact the order of the day for the parents of all four young people in the film. Eventually we see plenty of the same behavior on the part of Sandy, Peter, and Dan; often it is combined with cruelty. The three kids tease and taunt Rhoda, they show contempt for her "date" Anibal and abandon him to be beaten by thugs, and ultimately they force Rhoda to submit to gang rape.
Even Peter (Richard Thomas), who is an imaginative, seemingly sensitive boy who has become fond of Rhoda and treats her kindly, joins in violating her. As Rhoda previously pointed out, around Sandy and Dan he becomes a different person.
The movie is an indictment of a society obsessed with pleasure, fun, and entertainment, with little sense of responsibility. It's a powerful, disturbing movie.