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Post by Layce on Oct 18, 2017 23:13:49 GMT
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Post by elaine on Oct 18, 2017 23:22:50 GMT
Wasn’t it Bobby Benson who played him in the movie?
We were discussing this song on the 70s song thread.
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Post by katlady on Oct 18, 2017 23:26:01 GMT
Yes, Robby Benson! I remember the movie! And he wasn't pushed in the movie, he jumped because of something that happened to him (would it be a spoiler if I said what this many years after the movie? lol!)
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Post by Layce on Oct 18, 2017 23:41:51 GMT
Well, even The Movie was a guesstimation. Man, I heard this song today on the oldies station, and I can't stop the -- what is it called? -- the earwig. Earworm? Layce
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Post by burningfeather on Oct 18, 2017 23:47:45 GMT
Let me just leave this here.
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Post by dulcemama on Oct 19, 2017 0:05:33 GMT
Let me just leave this here. Holy Crap!! I wasn't a fan then but I think I'm a fan now!
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gloryjoy
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,332
Jun 26, 2014 12:35:32 GMT
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Post by gloryjoy on Oct 19, 2017 0:12:15 GMT
I always liked his eyes, and he looks like he has aged well!
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Post by scrapsotime on Oct 19, 2017 0:18:08 GMT
I get a totally different story from those lyrics.
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Nanner
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,960
Jun 25, 2014 23:13:23 GMT
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Post by Nanner on Oct 19, 2017 2:23:56 GMT
He's certainly aged nicely!
I remember having a huge crush on him after the movie "Jeremy". Anybody remember that one?
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valincal
Drama Llama
Southern Alberta
Posts: 5,626
Jun 27, 2014 2:21:22 GMT
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Post by valincal on Oct 19, 2017 2:26:37 GMT
Let me just leave this here. Whoa! Who knew?!?
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Post by garagesaler on Oct 19, 2017 2:32:45 GMT
I always liked Robby Benson. He was the voice of Beast in the animated Disney Beauty and the Beast.
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Post by elaine on Oct 19, 2017 2:43:30 GMT
I read and loved The Chosen as a teen, so know him mostly from the movie adaptation of that book. He was so geeky way back then in the 70s, but I agree that he is much more handsome now as a mature adult!
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Post by grammadee on Oct 19, 2017 2:55:57 GMT
If he didn't jump, then why is that song running through my head now in a neverending loop?
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Post by lucyg on Oct 19, 2017 3:01:41 GMT
I never saw the movie, but I sure loved that song when it first came out and I was a very young teen. Never understood all the hate. I always thought he jumped. No mystery.
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Post by newfcathy on Oct 19, 2017 3:51:09 GMT
Never saw the movie, but please spoil it for me.
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Post by Basket1lady on Oct 19, 2017 3:53:00 GMT
I took the lyrics to mean that they had a crush going and something went wrong, so he took his own life. Maybe that he fell? Not that he was pushed.
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rodeomom
Pearl Clutcher
Refupee # 380 "I don't have to run fast, I just have to run faster than you."
Posts: 3,658
Location: Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma
Jun 25, 2014 23:34:38 GMT
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Post by rodeomom on Oct 19, 2017 3:57:51 GMT
In the movie he jumped because he had been with a man. Everyone thought he did it because Bobby Lee was pregnant. She was not. In the end the man who was Billy Joe's boss came clean to Bobby Lee.
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anaterra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,827
Location: Texas
Jun 29, 2014 3:04:02 GMT
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Post by anaterra on Oct 19, 2017 4:00:38 GMT
I've never seen the movie... but I thought he Jumped because he got raped... i don't even know where i heard that from... i don't even really know the song...
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Post by katlady on Oct 19, 2017 4:13:37 GMT
I've never seen the movie... but I thought he Jumped because he got raped... i don't even know where i heard that from... i don't even really know the song... I think this version is from a book.
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Post by elaine on Oct 19, 2017 5:10:28 GMT
I've never seen the movie... but I thought he Jumped because he got raped... i don't even know where i heard that from... i don't even really know the song... I think this version is from a book. I think you are correct. I read the book and saw the movie - I’m fairly certain it was a “made for t.v.” movie. But, that was 40 years ago now, so I don’t remember all the fine details. LOL!
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Post by katlady on Oct 19, 2017 6:55:21 GMT
I think I need to find the movie and watch it again now. Lol!
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Post by disneypal on Oct 19, 2017 11:10:11 GMT
In the movie (which was made for TV), Billy Joe was crazy about Bobbie Lee but he ended up having sex with a man and was ashamed (he confessed this to her). He committed suicide by jumping off the bridge. Everyone thought he did it because Bobbie Lee was pregnant, but she wasn't. However, she left town to let everyone think that she was pregnant, so she could save Billy Joe's reputation.
It is a very good movie and if you haven't seen it, you should.
Another good Robbie Benson made for TV movie is "The Death of Richie"
ETA: Ode to Billy Joe is available to rent on Amazon Video for $2.99
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anaterra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,827
Location: Texas
Jun 29, 2014 3:04:02 GMT
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Post by anaterra on Oct 19, 2017 11:53:41 GMT
Just because we are talking Robbie Benson.... my favorite movie was Ice Castles... i looovveee that movie
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Nanner
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,960
Jun 25, 2014 23:13:23 GMT
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Post by Nanner on Oct 19, 2017 11:56:39 GMT
My recollection was that he jumped.
Robby Benson was also in Tribute, wasn't he? With Jack Lemmon? I cried - no, I literally sobbed terribly, when I saw movie when it first came out. what can I say? I was 20 or 21.
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Post by giatocj on Oct 19, 2017 12:34:41 GMT
I love this song, and recently found some big, long, convoluted forum about what it's all about. It was a pretty interesting read, but way over the top in regards to the meaning behind a song. I can't even remember how I came across it but I do remember thinking that some people have way too much time on their hands .
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maryannscraps
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,728
Aug 28, 2017 12:51:28 GMT
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Post by maryannscraps on Oct 19, 2017 12:59:58 GMT
I had a huge crush on him when I was a teen. I remember seeing the movie, but I can't remember anything about it. Ice Castles, however, was one of my favorite movies as a teen. When she trips on all the flowers, sob....
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scrapaddie
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,090
Jul 8, 2014 20:17:31 GMT
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Post by scrapaddie on Oct 19, 2017 13:32:25 GMT
Pushed.... no way! He jumped. He and Billie were in love. She got pregnant, which was a real Problem because her parents would never let them be together. She either miscarried or did a home abortion ( this is what they threw off the bridge). Having lost the girl and the baby, he jumped.
I remember this song playing every five minutes all summer long.... but I have never seen the movie
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Post by disneypal on Oct 19, 2017 13:36:56 GMT
He and Billie were in love. She got pregnant, which was a real Problem because her parents would never let them be together. She either miscarried or did a home abortion ( this is what they threw off the bridge). Having lost the girl and the baby, he jumped. That isn't how it happened in the movie. In the movie, he jumped because he had "been with a man" and was ashamed. She was not pregnant but she let the town think she was so she could save Bobby Joe's reputation. They threw (rather dropped) her doll off the bridge. I suppose the song, itself, could be interpreted differently though
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 29, 2024 15:31:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2017 13:56:07 GMT
There has never been an actual explanation for why he jumped or what they threw off the bridge, and Bobbie Gentry didn’t really want there to be.
As Gentry told Fred Bronson, “The song is sort of a study in unconscious cruelty. But everybody seems more concerned with what was thrown off the bridge than they are with the thoughtlessness of the people expressed in the song. What was thrown off the bridge really isn’t that important.
“Everybody has a different guess about what was thrown off the bridge—flowers, a ring, even a baby. Anyone who hears the song can think what they want, but the real message of the song, if there must be a message, revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. They sit there eating their peas and apple pie and talking, without even realizing that Billie Joe’s girlfriend is sitting at the table, a member of the family.”
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Post by mommaho on Oct 19, 2017 14:38:11 GMT
What happened on Choctaw Ridge stays on Choctaw Ridge! Thanks for the earworm - I'll be singing it all day!
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