Memos from Purgatory story
A young author joins a gang to collect material for his latest book. Directed by: Joseph Pevney. Story by: Harlan Ellison.
18 total · 1 choice · 9 major · 8 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| criminal gangs | choice | The story concerned the felonious antics of a violent youth gang known as "The Barons". |
| belonging | major | The Barons gang satisfied the need of its juvenile delinquent members to belong to something bigger than themselves. Fish, for example, flipped out at the thought of breaking up the gang. |
| betrayal | major | Everyone in The Barons felt betrayed by Jay when it became known he was there to study them and write about them. Most of all Filene and Tiger felt done wrong by. |
| creative writing | major | Jay was an aspiring author intent on writing a novel based on the the violent gang known as "The Barons". |
| embarrassment | major | Candle was serially humiliated by Jay who outsmarted him at every turn. Tiger, an alpha male gang leader, was humiliated when he read aloud an excerpt from Jay's personal notes articulating that Tiger was afraid of the opposite sex. |
| initiation rite | major | Jay was went through a three phase initiation to become a full member of the Barons youth gang. Phase one: pass through a gauntlet of belt-wielding goons. Phase two: bonk a girl of the gang's choosing (which he sidestepped). Phase three: kill someone. |
| male-male rivalry | major | In particular Jay and Candle became rivals within the gang after Jay humiliated Candle and usurped his position. |
| murder | major | The Barons were proven murderers. Murder threats were made aplenty. In the end, Tiger stabbed Filene who, presumably, died from it. The third and final Jay's initiation was to murder someone. The Barons harbored murderous intentions toward a rival gang whom they were intent on assailing with lethal weapons. |
| sociocultural issue | major | A story concerned the felonious antics of a violent youth gang known as "The Barons". |
| young lovers | major | Jay and Filene became besotted with each other. They even held hands in the movies. |