• Alcohol Trigger Films For Junior High School: The Party, The Mother, The Ride (1979) - As to what they were going for here is really beyond me. Or anyone else, for that matter. Three unrelated scenarios are played out in this short, made to show them high schoolers just how bad the drinking is. Unfortunately, neither chapter succeeds in getting much of a point across: kids are shown partying, and a mother is shown driving while intoxicated — but ultimately, nothing profound and life-altering is shown to come from any of these events. Chalk one for booze, who clearly wins this round by default.
• Carnivorous Plants (1955) - Presented by the Moody Institute of Science, this one takes a “fair and balanced” look at the spectacular world of Venus Fly Traps and other insect-eating foliage. A total dweeb of a youth group organizer-looking feller shows us all sorts of modern marvels (e.g. rockets, bear traps, a bizarro mechanical mousetrap) and then reminds us that God is much better.
• Aqua-Frolics (1950s?) is one of those gimmicky newsreel thingamabobs, showcasing all of the marvelous things people do underwater (ahem). Some of the “fun” depicted includes a Thanksgiving dinner and a man lighting a pipe — underwater. Heh, ha, ho — yes, of course I’m having fun.
• Why Vandalism? (1955) - Well, why the hell not? Three bored youths, each from a different background and each with a different personal problem, band together in the vain attempt to find something constructive to do in the mid-‘50s that doesn’t involve community groups or the church. They don’t succeed, and so they trash a schoolroom instead, killing a poor innocent bunny rabbit in the process.
• Self-Conscious Guy (1951) takes us back to those awkward days of our youths in which we always felt like there was a great big spotlight on us whenever we were required to be in front of others. Interestingly enough, the poor dolt in this short does have a giant spotlight focus on him at those times. But with the help of his peers, he’s bound to work around it — unless his peers are psychotic sadists, of course, in which case they’ll just make him worse (I know from experience).
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