Rob Reiner’s nostalgic coming-of-age tale from 1986, Stand by Me, follows the Labor Day weekend adventure of four misfit 12-year old boys in 1959. In this scene, the boys’ transistor radio plays that sweet, silly, Doo-Wop single, “Lollipop” by The Chordettes. This catchy, upbeat track can only evoke feelings of sweetness and joy and innocence; it is clearly not the “Lollipop” of Lil’ Wayne. Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) and Vern Tessio (a chubby, pre-pubescent Jerry O’Connell) dance and sing along to the tune, while Chris Chambers (River Phoenix) and Gordy Lachance (Wil Wheaton) follow behind. The boys are walking through an uncorrupted woody forest, where there is not a sign of pollution, machinery, or industry of any kind.
Not only nostalgic for the “innocent” era of the 1950’s, Stand by Me is also deeply nostalgic for the radio. Much of the music in the film is diagetic and is played through the transistor radio that the boys bring with them on their campout. The radio DJ is present throughout the film, introducing the track in this scene. Throughout the scene, “Lollipop” shifts from diagetic to non-diagetic, then back again to diagetic. It’s a clever sound design technique that defines the differences between both sets of boys. The song is not present when we hear Chris and Gordie’s deeply intense conversation; but it drifts back in on Teddy’s radio when Vern and Teddy debate the powers between Mighty Mouse and Superman. Reiner’s soundtrack is clearly inspired by that of George Lucas’ American Graffiti from 1973: the quintessential nostalgia film. In Jon Lewis’ American Film: A History, he discusses Lucas’ influence on later nostalgia films and their soundtracks. He states, “Lucas’s work with music in American Graffiti set a trend for a generation of filmmakers. All the early ‘60’s music that plays throughout the film was of course post-produced, but as we watch the movie, we assume that a source for the music exists within the space of the film…” (Lewis, 320). This sonic device can also be seen in The Last Picture Show.
Additionally, the lighting gives the aesthetic of the scene a shadowy dreamlike quality. Many of the shots in this scene almost seem like a memory, in that the sunlight drifts through the trees; we can barely make out the spectral figures of the boys while we peer at them through the forest. We seem to drift back in time, as The Chordettes sing those familiar words.
1959 is prior to the Vietnam War, the political assassinations of 1968, the Watergate scandal; the political and social chaos of the 1960’s and ‘70’s is but a speck on the horizon. The film was made in 1986, in the crux of the American economic boom and spending frenzy. In Stand by Me, the boys, symbols of innocence, never wear clothes with labels (besides Gordie’s NY Yankees cap), spend thriftily, and live in an uncomplicated world where they can go on camping trips without the parental paranoia that they may be kidnapped by a lunatic or run over by a drunk driver. The issues in their world are pure: cartoon characters, the importance of friendship and the pain that comes with having a “fucked up” family. Both groups of boys share their respective, age-appropriate, yet completely innocent and pure issues.
American Cinema: 1960-Present 