The Utterly Perfect Murder story
A man was tormented by bullies in his youth. Fifty years later, he finally returns to get his revenge. Directed by: Stuart Margolin. Story by: Ray Bradbury.
10 total · 1 choice · 3 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the desire for vengeance | choice | Doug intended to kill Ralph in revenge for childhood bullying he suffered at Ralph's hands five decades ago. |
| childhood trauma | major | Doug was tormented by memories of being bullied as a child, and plotted revenge even five decades later. |
| childish bullying | major | Doug intended to kill Ralph in revenge for childhood bullying he suffered at Ralph's hands five decades ago. |
| letting go of the past | major | Doug was unable to let go of the past. He was tormented by memories of being bullied as a child, and plotted revenge even five decades later. |
| coping with aging | minor | Doug changed his mind about killing Ralph in the end because he saw that time had treated Ralph poorly. Ralph was a tottering old man who scarcely remembered Doug. |
| creative writing | minor | In the introduction, Ray Bradbury shared with the viewer the wellsprings of creativity that inspire his writing. |
| husband and wife | minor | Doug's wife made him breakfast the morning after his 60th birthday party bash. |
| peer pressure | minor | In a flashback scene, Ralph and the other boys tried to goad Doug into hurling a rock through one of Old Man Wiley's windows. This Doug had to do to get into Ralph and the boys' club. |
| the nature of creativity | minor | In his introduction, Ray Bradbury gave his viewers an intimate window into his writing room, and some of the self-professed sources of creativity that lay about within it. |
| how to murder someone and get away with it | not | The title notwithstanding, the only murder that was featured, albeit not carried out, was by no means meticulously enough planned that the perpetrator would have gotten away with it. |