Lawn Dogs

Lawn Dogs (1998) is a controversial U.S. film dealing with class relations. It was directed by John Duigan and screenwritten by Naomi Wallace. It stars Sam Rockwell and Mischa Barton.

Template:Spoiler The term "lawn dog" refers to someone who mows lawns, and the main character, Trent (Sam Rockwell), is doing just that when he meets a lonely 10-year-old girl-dreamer, Devon, who comes from a wealthy bourgeois family that has deliberately isolated her. Trent lives in a trailer in the woods, and Devon lives in a walled-off compound (see gated community) with security guards at the end of the street.

They strike up a friendship, which is later completely misunderstood by the townspeople. They begin to suspect he is a pedophile (he isn't, but one of his pursuers is). More importantly, he is resented as a dirt-poor working-class man corrupting a "respectable" child.

Themes

Lawn Dogs interrogates, criticises and subverts the values and behaviours of middle class America. It is a scathing satire on the monetarily rich but morally bankrupt, materialistic, competitive and paranoid behavior of the bougeois.

It deals with themes such as - Marxist ideas of middle class exploitation - Hierarchy within modern America - Security is frivolous because threats are from within, not the outsider - The culture of violence will lead to the eventual downfall of America - Love and compassion are being sacrificed for reputation and power in our modern society - The level of one's wealth gives no indication of one's real worth - The capitalist 'dog eat dog' world has lead to a corrosion in the American moral fabric - Wealth and material possesions are no substitute for traditional parenting and compassion.

These themes are communicated through narrative elements, such as characters who embody sets of values, narrative techniques, and filmic codes ( symbolic/audio/technical)

Values and Attitudes

Values are embodied in characters, and how we respond to the characters indicates the intended response to the values and attitudes. Duigan both draws on the values of the audience (Middle-Class America) to ensure he does not isolate them, but at the same time challenges them to make the film a memorable experience

Lawn Dogs denounces capitalist values of perfection, reputation and wealth through creating the repulsive Stockhards, Devon's parents. They are willing to go to any length to increase their social status, even if it means isolating their daughter. Devon is sent to sell charity cookies to the neighbourhood, especially to those 'on the school board', to which understandably rebels against. Yet when she doesn't sell the cookies, her parents are not worried about the charity not receiving money, rather '...It would be a shame id some other little girl got their face in the paper'. Most disturbingly, when an older boy, Brett, puts his hand up Devon's shirt her parents choose to overlook this because 'Brett's father... is the vice president of Maxitaw Kentucky'