After The First is a parable - a story that has a moral or teaches a lesson. To figure out the moral of the film, first ask yourself what lesson Steve's father and mother wanted him to learn? Second, what do you think Steve actually learned?
Then discuss what you took away from the film.
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As parent your job is to help your child grow and develop. This may include teaching you kids about morals and helping them emotionally mature. In this short film Steve's mother and father seem to be sending different messages to Steve. His mother seems to think he is too young to go hunting and probably doesn't think he's emotionally ready. She may want him to mature emotionally and is more intent on his "feelings" surrounding hunting. I think his father was much more intent on him growing up and leaving adulthood. His father was etching him how to be a man and accept death as a factor of life. I think Steve learned that he wasn't prepared to face the realities of life and death. I also think he learned that he doesn't need to impress him father to be accepted by his family. In the film I think some family dynamics could have been made more clear. It's unclear weither hunting is a nescessity (only source of food) or if hunting is more of a "sport". I think the motives for hunting could have been clairified
Though I found “After the First” to be poorly acted out, I thought the film was very clear at showing the different emotions that each character had throughout the event. I thought the initial feelings of the dad, mom, and son to be completely understandable. Each person sees the situation from their own perspective; the son is ready to try out a gun, the dad is eager to take him into the woods, and the mom is nervous. Because of the excitement that the son showed, I thought it completely reasonable that the dad expected him to be comfortable witnessing what a gun can do. When the son killed his first rabbit I sympathized with him because he did something that he didn’t want to do because of the pressure he felt from his dad; however, I don’t think it was the dad’s fault since he had no knowledge of his son’s conflicting emotions beforehand. As for the father’s comment at the end, I agree that things get easier after the first time because people gradually become numb or can repress pain.
Both of Steve’s parents wanted to teach him different lessons, his mother wanted to teach him that hunting is dangerous and that he isn’t ready for it, but his father wanted to teach him that hunting is fun and a rite of passage. I think that Steven learned something very different about hunting and life. At first he was very excited to shoot a gun, but then after he realized what that gun was capable of he was taken back and it made him feel uneasy. He had an innocent understanding about the gun and didn't like shooting it anymore after he learned what it could do. He leaned a valuable lesson about killing that could have only been learned by experience.
In the film “After the First,” Steve’s mother wanted Steve to wait until he was older and emotionally ready to go hunting because she didn't think he was ready to kill a living animal. Steve’s father wanted him to learn how to use a gun and “become a man” because hunting was a ritual that he participated in with his father when he was about the same age. This experience was a “coming of age” ritual that Steve could impress his dad with and because of this, he was excited to be able to hunt. He finds using the gun fun only when he is shooting inanimate objects. When the first bunny is shot, Steve immediately realizes that it goes against his morals to kill and becomes solemn. The father believes Steve will have fun hunting because he finds it easy to do now that he is desensitized to the killing, however, he shouldn't be so quick to judge Steve. Steve didn't want to shoot the second bunny, but due to the pressure his father was putting on him to shoot, he gave in and went against his morals. Without this pressure, Steve wouldn't have gone against his morals. By the end, Steven no longer wanted to hunt and would never want killing to get easier “after the first” kill. The moral I took away from the film was that societal pressure causes an individual to conform even when it goes against their morals.
When the movie begins, the scene in the kitchen shows that Steve's mom is skeptical about Steve going hunting but his father convinces her that he will be fine. I believe that Steve's dad wanted to take him hunting because he wanted to raise him the way he was raised, which was to be "a man". In his eyes hunting is a man's activity and Steve is growing up and it is now his turn to learn to be a man and partake in male activities. Steve's dad was just doing his job as the father which is to show Steve what life is about, as he said it himself it's the circle of life. Steve's dad seems to belief that the circle of life is that the dominant species must prey on the weak to stay alive and to keep their place in the hierarchy. At the end Steve's dad also tells him that it will get easier after the first time, meaning that he is encouraging Steve to continue hunting to that he becomes unaffected to killing. Steve learns about the power of guns and how in one second a life can be taken away very easily by evil predators which makes him fear the world.
The film showed how Steve’s personality changed from the beginning to the end. In the beginning, Steve was very excited to go hunting for the first time with his dad. When he was in the pickup truck with him, he asked his dad if he had killed anyone in the war. This showed that Steve was a little scared when going hunting because he had never killed anything before. After Steve killed the rabbit, he was upset that he killed something, and I think was a little in shock of that; due to the fact that he had just shot a gun for the first time. His mother was not a fan of Steve going hunting with his dad not only because of his age, but she did not believe in the sport.
In the film clip “After the First” it was clear that the moral Steve’s mother and father wanted him to learn was how to use a gun properly and the power in which the gun has. It is clear in the beginning that Steve and his father have a very close relationship. His father wanted to teach him step-by-step on how to use a gun properly just like his father once told him. Steve’s father thought this was a becoming of age ordeal. Steve was great a target practice and hit several targets. When his dad killed a squirrel is when it stuck Steve that this was against his morals. He didn’t like that thought of killing anything and his own morals told him it was bad. When it came time for him to kill something himself, instead of standing up for his morals he gave in and killed the squirrel even though it wasn’t something he had to do. Steve was unable to go up against the group which was persuading him to do something and eventually ended up caving in doing something he new was bad in his own morals. This happens everyday when big groups of people persuade others into doing something that may be against their own morals. But who is going to stand up for themselves when it’s just them against the group. It’s unfortunate that Steve couldn’t standup against the group because sooner or later he will have to learn how to do so.
I think that the lesson that Steve's father wanted him to learn was about how "everything dies." Life is a cycle and that there is nothing wrong with killing something as long as there is a reason behind it. Steve's mother, I couldn't tell if there was a lesson that she wanted Steve to learn or if she was just trying to protect/shelter him from the cold world and having to see things such as death at such a young age. I can tell that this is how she felt not only based off of her facial expressions and the comments that she made when she was talking about how they should wait to have Steve go hunting, but I know from just being a girl who has been protected by my mother my whole life that I wouldn't want my child to be exposed to death at 12 years old. While hunting Steve realized that he wasn't ready for this and he wasn't interested in killing things for what seemed to be like fun for his father. The movie taught me that you can't pressure someone to do something that they just aren't ready for.
Steve's father, Steve's mother, and Steve all have very different attitudes towards hunting at the end of the film. Steve's mother makes her opinion very clear in the beginning of the film: she's against hunting in general but specifically against her son being exposed to hunting and killing so early in life. His father is in complete disagreement. He believes his son is ready for this "rite of passage." Likewise, Steve feels he is ready. He's excited at the prospect of making his father proud and following in the footsteps of many men before him. It isn't until after his father makes the first kill that Steve seems to understand the severity of what he has gotten himself into. All is fun and games, but when he realizes the gun has the power to truly kill, Steve becomes apprehensive. When he is behind the gun and about to kill a rabbit himself, it's suggested that he learns something much bigger than the danger of a gun. It seems as if he learns about the power of pressure, specifically that which comes from his father, and how easy it is to "pull the trigger" when someone urges you to do it. In class, when we discussed the meaning of "Don't be so quick to judge," I related it to the idea of pressure. It's unfair to judge someone when you don't understand all the factors that go into a decision that that person makes. It's extremely easy to initially judge Steve and his family: they could easily be called heartless for hunting for sport. However, Steve had many influences in his life that caused him to shoot that rabbit against his will: his father's expectations, the family traditions, etc. It is clear that shooting that rabbit goes against Steve's morals, but it is still unjust to judge him until we fully understand how he came to the decision he did.
At the beginning of the film, it seems that Steve's mother wants to protect her son from the violence associated with hunting and wants to keep him young and innocent. His father, on the other hand, values tradition, so he wants to teach his son to hunt simply because his father taught him to hunt. Based on his apprehensions about killing the rabbit and his feelings after doing so, it seems that Steve himself is morally opposed to hunting. However, because he values his father's opinion of him so much, he decides to go against his own views in order to please his dad. I think the lesson to be learned from this film is that we often find ourselves at a crossroads between different things that we value, so we must choose which ones we value the most in order to make decisions.
I think the film “After the First” raises many interesting points about societal and cultural practices and their effect on new members of the society. The film uses a dad who is excited about showing his son how to hunt, which seemed to be a coming of age ritual. The boy is excited about the day because it is a major part of his culture that he is yet to experience. The boy and father assume that since the father enjoys the culture, there is no way the boy won’t embrace it. This idea is quickly challenged by the boys values when he clearly has a problem with his dad killing a rabbit. After the boy sees his dad kill a rabbit he begins to struggle, not knowing if he should hold onto his values, or if his values are even worth having, since his dad clearly has a different point of view. The boy decides to let go of his values when he makes the moral choice to shoot a rabbit. The boy probably did it to see if he would be happier once he was a part of his father’s culture, but he quickly regretted his decision. The boy was even mad at his dad for pressuring him to do something he didn’t believe in. The film also showed how cultures can make people desensitized to violence, so they stop realizing that their actions are morally wrong.
In the film "After The First" Steve's mother did not want him to go hunting at such a young age because she was worried for his safety. His father on the other hand, was eager to take Steve hunting, just like his grandfather had taught him. In Steve's family going hunting was a right of passage into adult hood, so he was eager as well. When Steve saw the bunny get killed, his feelings towards hunting immediately changed. He was supposed to find hunting fun and easy like his father, but having to kill an animal was hard for him. It was clear through Steve's body language and actions that he was hesitant in killing the bunny. He knew that there was pressure on him to impress his father, so he did it anyway. This film shows us a few things. First of all, how people can interpret different activities/ideas differently. Also, how "rights of passage" and pressure put on us by our families can be stressful and unavoidable. We as humans feel the need to impress our parents and do not want to disappoint them, even if we are going against our personal beliefs.
Steve's father only wanted to have his son be just like him when her grew up. He wanted Steve to hunt and learn the way he did, and also feel the way he did. The father was trying hard to make Steve comfortable as a learning hunter, but unintentionally pressured him into a situation where he was not as comfortable as he once was as a kid. It's unknown whether it is Steve's emotions or maturity that makes him become gloomy and distant by the end of the film when he kills the rabbit. His mother says he isn't old enough at the very beginning, which could be the cause of Steve's inward struggle. Steve was caught between a rock and a hard place, whether to prove to his dad he could kill the rabbit, and then suffering inside because of his hatred of killing animals, or maybe Steve had the option to not pull the trigger and use his better judgement. Steve and his father learned that Steve loves to shoot, but not kill. However, at the end, Steve's father says, "it gets better after the first time". Which could be true, or it could be his father in denial that his son has different views towards killing and might be sensitive towards the subject.
In the beginning of the movie you see the mother not wanting her son to go hunting to protect him. She felt that her son may be sensitive to killing animals, which he was. The father was all for Steve going hunting just so he could start to desensitize Steve from killing animals. Once Steve was along with his dad in the woods his dad says the his dad took him here on his first time hunting when he was twelve. When Steve had shot the stump he was perfectly fine with it, but when it came time to a rabbit he wanted no part of it because he didn't want to kill, he just wanted to shoot a gun at tree stumps.
It sounds cliché, but every child, at least initially, looks up to their parents as a reflection of what they should be. They also look to their parents to teach them in many ways how to be normal, "normal" in the eyes of some people, whether it be to society, their culture, or even just their family unit. All of childhood is really an act of fitting in, not just socially but also within your family, we're taught that our family and home is the place we're meant to be, which is why feeling isolated or disconnected from your own family is particularly unnerving. Most of the children I know want to please their parents or at least earn their approval, just like Steve who was probably looking forward to a day out hunting not only because it was exciting but because it would give him a means of relating to his father. His father viewed hunting as a rite of passage and way of bonding with his son, since it was a tradition passed down from his family. His mother was naturally nervous, perhaps because she didn't want her innocent son suddenly being thrust into a more mature world, or because she didn't want Steve's own identity to molded by his father. Despite Steve's willingness to learn and participate in the tradition, he was quickly disillusioned by the sight of killing, and when it came to killing the rabbit himself, he was hesitant and clearly took no satisfaction in it afterwards. He learned that something his father enjoyed only gave him anxiety, and that can be a difficult lesson. The final few moments of the film are culminating, when his father admits he felt the same way when he was a child but it gets "easier after the first time," this reveals how vulnerable children are to their parent's influence, as well as how our desire to please, fit in, and relate to others, even just our family, can be hazardous.
The short film "After The First", makes a few good points and raises some valid questions. Steve's mother feels somewhat alienated form the gun/hunting culture and perhaps hopes that Steve will feel the same, while his father feels that hunting is simply a great pastime that in turn teaches valuable lessons about the circle of life. I think the film did a great job in that it didn't clearly settle with Steven or his father on the issue of hunting and left the viewer to make their own decision. When Stevens father states that "it gets easier after the first time", thereby justifying the killing of the rabbits by saying that even though it might feel immorally wrong at first, if you keep doing it, you'll ultimately become emotionally immune to such actions. This can be applied to violence on a larger scale, where people turn essentially indifferent to hurting other people.
Although the clip "After the First" is short and outdated, it certainly carries an important message: don't be so quick to judge. At the beginning in the kitchen, it is clear that Steve's mother doesn't think that he is ready to go hunting. On the other hand, his father is adamant about the fact that Steve is ready to go since it is his birthday. Steve doesn't have much to say, but the viewer can tell that he is quite hesitant. At first, Steve loves shooting the rifle like his father taught him, but once he is actually faced with killing an animal he freaks out. Steve hates the idea of killing things, even if it's just a rabbit. With his father pressuring him, however, Steve shoots and kills the rabbit much to his dismay. Steve's father figured that since Steve was a boy, he would naturally enjoy hunting. Since the father liked hunting, he figured that his own son would surely like hunting. The film shows that even though at first it appears like Steve will like hunting, he really isn't the type of person who kills animals. It is important to not make judgements of a person based upon what you see initially because these judgements are frequently incorrect.
Today in class we watched the short film “After the First”. In this film the parents of the main character Steve is taught two different lessons and values by his parents. His mother is only present at the very beginning of the film, but shows her opposition toward Steve hunting for the first time. Steve’s father objects to that, saying he started shooting when he was nine, and later telling Steve he had killed people in the war. I think throughout the play Steve’s father is unconsciencly putting the idea in his head that killing is okay, and that it is part of the ‘life cycle’. By the end Steve’s father pressures him to kill the rabbit even though the audience can see his moral struggle. I think Steve learns that hunting is not just fun and games like he downplays it to be.
I think the story of "After The First" is a great example of how parents help their child grow and develop. I don't think Steven ever experienced killing or seeing another animal be killed before, so his father felt this was something that he needed to go through in order to understand that things like this happen. Stevens father wanted him to understand that life is a cycle, and that in order for him to grow as a man, he needed to understand how these types of things work. Steven's mother thought otherwise, and believed that Steven was not emotionally developed enough to handle a situation like this. I think Steve's father did not do anything wrong because hunting is something that he was taught at a young age and he wanted to pass it on to his son. But I also think that in the future it should be Steve's decision whether or not he wants to go hunting again, and if his father truly cared about Steve's morals, he would not pressure him into doing something he doesn't want to do.
This story shows how important a relationship between a parent and their child is. Even though the acting wasn't the best, you could tell the lesson of understanding your child and the time in a child's life where they were growing up was trying to be showed. The mother and father saw the situation in different ways, the mother was scared, but the father was excited, because he knew how important the first time he went hunting was. It's hard for the boy because at first he doesn't understand the life cycle and that he needs the rabbits for food to survive. I didn't really think this was the best way to portray someone leaving childhood and entering manhood.
Steve's mother in the beginning of the film wanted Steve to learn that hunting was bad. Steve's dad throughout the film wanted to teach Steve that hunting was fine. He also wanted to teach Steve that killing another animal may be difficult the first time, but it gets easier later on. Steve learns quick about killing an animal is not exactly an easy thing to do. He was very excited at the beginning of the film, but his mood rapidly shifted. This shows that you can not just judge something so quickly, because the decision to kill the animal is a big decision.
Steve's mother and father both wished to teach him a lesson. However, each had a different lesson that they wanted to teach him. Steve's mother was worried about her husband taking him out to go hunting at such a young age. She doesn't want Steve to learn how to hunt yet because she feels that it is too violent for him to handle. Steve's father's argument is that he was several years younger than Steve when his father took him hunting. He may want his son to grow up to be just like his father, and hunting is one way to ensure that his son learns how to be a man. While Steve has difficulty in killing his first rabbit, his father is pleased with him and tells him that it gets easier after the first time. Steve's father is no longer bothered by the idea of killing animals because he has been doing it for many years. His explanation is that it is the circle of life and has to be done.
The film After The First, depicts a conflict between two parents trying to raise their son right and teach him about life and how to go about every situation. They both had a difference in opinion about Steve going on his first hunt. His mother thought he was still too young, while his father thought it was time for him to start learning how to be a man through hunting which clearly didn't work out so well.I think that after Steve's dad shot the first rabbit, Steve didn't quite know what his dad meant by saying its a way of life. And after he shot the second rabbit, which he was pressured by his father to do,I think he realized that hunting wasn't something he would enjoy doing especially if it meant killing innocent animals. I also think at that last moment his father realized to that he wasn't emotionally prepared for hunting.
The 1971 short film After the First depicts the experience of a young boy on his first hunt, influenced by the background of his father. This film shows the differences of the background of the boy and his father as well as the opinions that the boy, father, and the mother have on killing and death. The boy is enthused by the gun, and is ready to go on a hunting trip. This seemingly holds significance in the culture of the family, as the father remarks on his first time being taken into the woods and being taught how to hunt. A coming-of-age ritual, the father takes his son and pressures his son to kill a rabbit. The son is bewildered and frightened after succumbing to the pressure, though the father remarks “it gets easier after the first one”. This shows the fathers views on killing and hunting, and how his experience in the war has desensitized him to the shock that the boy initially has after taking the rabbit’s life. This displays that the father and son have different perspectives on killing based on their background—the boy has no experience and may not be ready to kill another creature though the father is numb to the shocking feeling the boy has. When considering the views and experiences a person has, it is important to take into consideration their background—it is wrong to judge based on you own experience. This pressure that the father added on the son displays his lack of thought about his son and his basis on his own experiences.
After watching the film, "After the First" I was surprised at the boys decision. Even though his initial behavior made it seem as though he would've enjoyed hunting, when he saw his dad kill the first rabbit my expectations changed. I saw him sympathize with the first rabbit and did not expect him to kill the second one. Although I thought he went against his morals by doing it, I somewhat agree with what his father said about killing being "part of the circle of life" and is a sort of survival technique. I thought it was interesting how this could be related to war on a larger scale and how the father being in the war had made him numb to killing.
"After the First" was a unique film that made me feel a little weird after watching it. Although the movie did a good job showing the rights of passage in different cultures, I couldn't help but focus on the weird music and angles that the film was shot in. Needless to say, my favorite part in the movie was right after the boy shot the rabitt. He said, "Is two enough?". I think this showed his innocence in that, he was just trying to please his Dad.
A parent's job is to help guide their child through the course of their adolescence and into adulthood safely. Now, knowing when and when not to introduce your child to certain things is life is obviously a challenge, as it is up to solely the parents decision and it can impact the child for better or for worse. Mother deary wanted to shelter little stevey and keep him safe from exposure to violence and death. Father said it was not only a tradition but something more than that. Steve loves the feel and fun of the gun, but the cold bitter end that death exposes him to his something much greater than what the father intended his boy to enjoy.
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