Ellington

Welcome to 1950s Perfect Suburbia, U.S.A. The opening credits appear over a black-and-white scene that instantly reminds me of "Leave it to Beaver," so much so that I half expect to see June and Ward waving from a front porch. This appears to be a place where perfect families live in perfect neighborhoods and everyone knows everyone.

In this setting, we encounter the love-struck teenage girl, Judy, who adores Mr. Jacket-Clad Bad Boy, Rick—whom her father absolutely despises. "This Family is Safe and Protected!" reads a sign planted on the father's well-manicured lawn. And he doesn't just mean from Soviet missiles. This appears to be a warning to low-life James Dean-wannabe boyfriends as well.

This world literally stops when any emotion outside of Pollyanna-type bliss is exhibited. When the father grabs tough guy Rick around his jacket collar on the front lawn, everyone passing by who witnesses the scene—from the milkman to the unseen driver of a car rolling along in the background—stops in open-mouthed astonishment. Only after Dad flashes his pearly whites at them do they once again feel reassured, and the soundtrack of perfect suburbia life for them resumes.

In the midst of all of this is that pesky threat of a Soviet nuclear-missile launch. Sure, it's evident from the news and from Judy's family fallout shelter stockpiled with shelves atop of shelves of giant cans of soup in every flavor imaginable. But a missile still appears to be far from possible, and definitely not as immediate a concern to Judy's dad as chasing away the scumbag chasing his daughter.

That is, until a siren wails in the distance. This is not a test. The missiles are coming. But even as they appear in the evening sky, one illuminated blip at a time, I feel that surely even they will not be enough to destroy Nirvana, this perfect suburbia.

"Sheltered Love" screens at 7:20 p.m. April 4 on Screen C as part of the Shorts 1: Dark Comedy & Satire block.