The moral depth of the story is exceptional, especially for 1962. The film is well-directed, the dialogue is powerful and meaningful, and the storyline progresses in a way which is exciting, but also give the viewer time to comprehend what occurs. Of course there's violence, given that it's a war movie, but it's nothing compared with certain movies which are aimed specifically at children that are emerging from the depths of low culture today [two words: Transformers Three]. And by no means is the violence gratuitous- it is only present when it serves a fundamental purpose to the sotryline. There is one somewhat disturbing scene where a young adolescent dies in quicksand, but it's only a couple seconds long. While Lawrence displays certain questionable traits such as sadomasochism, he is ashamed of this and works hard to improve himself, thus I think he is an appropriate role model, as well as a genius. There is some smoking, but Lawrence never smokes in the movie because T.E. Lawrence saw drinking and smoking as bad for his health.