• Home
  • News
  • Top Picks
    • Movies & Films: Top 25
    • Documentaries: Top 25
    • Films For Students: Top 10
    • Music Videos: Top 10
  • Categories
    • Film
    • Documentary
    • Shorts
    • Blog
    • Calendar
    • Links
    • About

Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World

Libertarian Movies, Films & Documentaries

Careful, He Might Hear You (1984)

Tagged: Individualism

A young Australian boy is the victim of his manipulative aunt, until he asserts himself for the first time. [ Careful, He Might Hear You credits: Dir: Carl Schultz/ Wendy Hughes, Robyn Nevin, Nicholas Gledhill/ 113 min/ Drama/ Australia/ Individualism]

“Careful, He Might Hear You is a clear winner, with beautiful and clever cinematography, haunting music, and a very moving story.”

There’s a lot going on in Careful, He Might Hear You, but the theme that will be of interest to readers of this guide is the birth of self-identity and personal independence in a young child. The story is also illustrative of the self-destructive effect, on a personal level, of authoritarian behavior.

It centers on events in the life of a small boy, nicknamed “P.S.” by his now dead mother, the initials standing for, in her words, “a postscript to my ridiculous life.” Following his mother’s death, joint custody of the now orphaned P.S. is given to his two aunts.

At first, he lives happily, if modestly, with one of the aunts. Then the other, more manipulative, aunt arrives and begins gradually taking over his life. As it turns out, she’s not only authoritarian but also sexually abusive. Nonetheless, because she’s rich and powerful, she may be able to get full custody. Enter P.S.’s last hope—his heretofore absent father, a gold miner and drifter. He detects that P.S. is unhappy, and inspires the child to defy his domineering aunt. After that, it’s open rebellion.

Up to this point, P.S. has been nothing more than a helpless and immature extension of the adults who fought over him. But now, having discovered that he can affect his own world, he gains a degree of psychological independence and thereby the strength to assert his own self-interest.

In artistic respects Careful, He Might Hear You is a clear winner, with beautiful and clever cinematography, haunting music, and a very moving story. Several scenes are shot from a child’s perspective, as befits the subject. Although Wendy Hughes is given top billing, it’s Nicholas Gledhill, one of the most subtle child actors ever, who steals the show in his role as P.S.

Note: there is a brief scene of sexual abuse, so this is not an appropriate film for small children.

How to See It

Netflix
Amazon (DVD)
Amazon (DVD)
YouTube Video Search
Google Video Search

Links

IMDB
Wikipedia
Google
More Films About: Individualism

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Featured Post

Emperor of Hemp (1999)

The story of Jack Herer’s efforts to expose the truth about the beneficial qualities of the hemp plant, and to re-legalize its production and use. [ Emperor of Hemp credits: Dir: Jeff Jones/ 59 min/ Documentary-Educational, Biography/ Legalize Drugs] Note: the full documentary can typically be found online … Continue Reading

All the King’s Men (1949)

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER: BEST PICTURE A political reformer, hungry for power to do “good,” becomes thoroughly corrupt on his way to the top. [ All the King's Men credits: Dir: Robert Rossen/Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge/ 109 min/ Drama/ Power Corrupts, Corrupt Government] “All the … Continue Reading

Keeper of the Flame (1942)

A reporter writing the biography of a dead national hero gets a lesson in the nature of political power. [ Keeper of the Flame credits: Dir: George Cukor/ Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Richard Whorf/ 100 min/ Drama/ Power Corrupts, Power Worship] “In many ways Keeper of the Flame is a classic mystery … Continue Reading

Themes

Abuse of power American revolution Anti-draft Anti-regulation Anti-slavery Anti-socialism Anti-taxation Anti-war Ayn Rand Corrupt government Creator as hero Democide Econ 101 Eminent domain Equality & law Escape from socialism Freedom of speech Free press as hero Government as bigot Government as torturer Government enforced morality Government healthcare Government schools Incompetent government Individualism John Stossel Law & liberty Legalize Drugs Libertarian heroes Libertarianism 101 Power corrupts Power worship Pro-capitalism Pro-immigration Propaganda Psychiatric coercion Resistance to tyranny Right to secede Search & seizure Second amendment Sexual liberty Social tolerance Unions & monopolies Voluntarism Working for government

Genres/Categories

Action-Adventure Animated Biography Blog Comedy Documentary Drama Family Featured Film Foreign History Horror Music-Dance Netflix News Romance SciFi-Fantasy Shorts Thriller Upcoming Western

About Miss Liberty

This site is a collection of films and documentaries of particular interest to libertarians (and those interested in libertarianism). It began as a book, Miss Liberty’s Guide to Film: Movies for the Libertarian Millennium, where many of the recommended films were first reviewed. The current collection has grown to now more than double the number in that original list, and it’s growing still.

  • RSS

© 2023 Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World. All Rights Reserved