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Beware movies with dogs I flipped the channel to the movie "Snakes on a Plane" Saturday night. I lasted about 15 minutes before I flipped over to an Andy Griffith rerun. It wasn't fear of snakes that made me change the channel. It was what I like to call the "Old Yeller rule," and it kicked in about the time I saw a chihuahua was in the movie. "Old Yeller" is a book and a movie and stands as one of the most traumatic moments of my life. It is the story of a wonderful dog who ends up taking a bullet at the end of the movie because he has fought with a rabid animal to save his family. It is one of those stories that teaches many things and the lesson I best remember is beware of movies with dogs. The dog is usually gonna die. Somebody's usually gonna cry. That was, and is, usually me. So, when I saw the little chihuahua was a passenger on the plane, I knew trouble was coming. I knew at some point that little dog stood a good chance of being snake food and I didn't want to watch. So, I watched Andy instead. At some point, I walked outside and there on the carport was a little baby kingsnake. I told it how lucky it was I flipped the channel. If I saw a snake during the viewing of a snake movie, I probably would have gotten the hoe without a second thought. But back to Old Yeller. When I was little and saw the movie, I left the theater with swollen, red eyes and that hiccuping, gasping breathing of someone who has cried a little too much. If anyone mentioned the movie, or even said "old," I tuned up again. This lasted for weeks. The residual effects included crying the minute the theme song to "Lassie" started playing and breaking into full sobs when Lassie was in danger. Watching me watch "Lassie" became family entertainment, but no one ever took me to another sad dog movie. I wonder if my great appreciation for dogs began with the untimely death of Old Yeller. To this day, I have never watched "Old Yeller" again. As Scarlett O'Hara vowed to never be hungry again, I vow never to cry again over a dog named Old Yeller. So far, so good.
While I swore off the movie, I didn't swear off one of the stars. Fess Parker was always one of my favorites and I still love his Davey Crockett today. Shoot, now I'll be singing that theme song the rest of the day. Davey, Davey Crockett...
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