I rewatched Stand By Me recently for the first time in decades, and was shocked at the language in it.  It struck me as gratuitous and excessive, not quite right for a so-called "coming of age" story set in 1950s America.  We didn't even talk like that in the 80s.  Of course, the movie is based on a story by Stephen King, a wellspring of cultural excellence known for raising the bar so high even snails can't reach it.  How were we to know he was off in the head?  A cultural and spiritual termite assigned by Satan himself to undermine the foundations of society with a spirit of fear, one gratuitous "horror novel" at a time?

There was no way to know.

I was shocked and saddened by the brutal murder of Rob Reiner and his wife this week.  Watching this interview, it is difficult to not have contempt for their son.  He comes off in ways that are awkward at best.  There is no connection between him and his father.  It is clear he is seething with contempt, and he has the air of a firefly trapped in a jar full of loathing.  Honey is for amateurs.  We only drink hatred in this glowing, gilded latrine.  Dad wants to do a movie about addiction, in an attempt to connect with me.

What a joke.

The first, natural reaction to the news of Rob Reiner's murder is one of revulsion toward the rich kid who "had it all," and was jealous of his father's success.  We can look back at films like This Is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, and many others, and wonder what the problem of a kid born into that kind of privilege, power, and wealth could possibly be.  On the surface, Rob Reiner seems like he would be a cool dad to have.  Obviously interested in his son's life, trying to connect, a great director with an impressive filmography, lives in Brentwood... What's the problem here, exactly?

Nothing?

Nothing.  There is no problem here.  There couldn't be.

There is only one way to understand the context in which joking about a guy's famous father whoring his son out to his friends is funny, and it isn't a humorous one.  I don't have it.  But to deny the context, or to laugh it off, is to do the story a great disservice.

Was Nick Reiner a spoiled brat who was such a scumbag that he killed his own parents out of pure spite?  Is his value so low, lower even than a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his dad's shoe, that he turned to drugs and hatred to cope with "problems" most of us would pay large sums of money for the privilege to enjoy, in spite of all the attempts of the father to love him?  Does he actually deserve the contempt of society at large?

Or was he the victim of some kind of weird Hollywood abuse, and finally snapped?

I don't know.  But to assume the worst about others is to assume the best about yourself.  Being too easy on yourself is as bad as being too hard.  Just be honest.  If there's more to the story of the Reiner family, may it come out in trial, even if Nick Reiner never sees the light of day again.

Thanks for all the great movies, Rob Reiner.  Nobody deserves to go out like that.

Rest in peace if you can.