Generic Conventions of Teen Movies in the 1955 Film Rebel Without a Cause
'Rebel without a cause' was the first ever film to be targeted at the newly established Teenage audience and caused the creation 'Teen Movie' genre because of its incredible success. The creators of Rebel without a cause saw that there was enormous potential for the teen audience as they had never been targeted before and they had money to spend on entertainment as they had no outgoings at all. The film starred James Dean as Jim Stark the troubled teenager in a new town. He is portrayed as the outsider and the protagonist as he fights his oppressive authoritative figures.
James Dean: Role Model for teenagers
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This is another theme which can be seen in the 1955 Rebel without a cause, as all teenage characters are trying to make it as mature adults. This is a great task for the teenagers as the ideal of "the love of your life" must be found before the transition is complete. The message of the film is that when love has been found life will be so much easier. This offers social and economical reassurance for the audience that the problems of the teenager can be overcome and that true love can be found. The theme of transition ties in with the sub theme of adulthood and what the right way to be a man is.
"You're tearing me apart!"
[IMAGE]The issue or masculinity is debated in its three character forms: Jim's dad shows us how he is emasculated and his role of man has been reversed with Mrs Stark. This is seen as he cleans up the meal he has made for his wife in a piny. Jim himself is portrayed as the picture of perfect masculinity as although he is rebellious he is charming and treats Plato as his surrogate son and Judy as his loving partner. Because of Jim's heroism in the film, Jim's dad's masculinity is restored and he realises that they need to resolve the conflict in the family unit. Plato offers the third view of masculinity as he is portrayed as coward and seems to need someone to replace his Parents who have
Rebel Without a Cause led way to the first on-screen teenage bad boy. James Dean plays a disgruntled teenager (Jim) is unsatisfied with life and the patriarchy of following the rules. He hates that his dad lets his mom run the household and caters to her versus the traditional father makes all the rules stance. Rebel Without a Cause allows for a deep consideration of what the stereotypical 1950s teenager felt. The movie looks at teenage relationships with the older generation and exclaims the disdain both parties share for one another during the tremulous coming of age time. Jim’s parents are not sure how to raise him the best way, and he loses respect for them judging on how they interact with him and each other. The other main teenage characters within the film are Judy portrayed by Natalie Wood, and John "Plato" Crawford portrayed by Sal Mineo. Natalie Wood’s character is probably reminiscent of what many young female teenagers went through at the time. She deals with gender issues and must find her way as a developing young woman when her parents seem clueless to her concerns and struggles. Her father does not know how to guide her through this next stage of life and instead turns her away which causes her to feel bad about herself. Her Mother has no real clue on how to help either of them as well. Plato is also a striking character within the story that is utterly confused and has no real guidance in life. All three
The 1990 documentary, Berkeley in the Sixties, offers a retrospective of the realization and evolution of the Free Speech Movement (FSM) at the University of California, Berkeley. Through a mixture of archival footage and “talking head” interviews, the film makes a compelling argument about the importance of Berkeley in the protest movements of the 1960s, but at the same time falls victim to some of the pitfalls common in documentary films that make them unreliable as historical documents. The film offers plenty of firsthand accounting and contemporary footage that give it a sheen of authenticity, however, in its lionization of UC alums it also manages to conflate an entire decade and a complex national gestalt with static instances and the hindsight remembrances of a handful of activists.
During the winter his wife, Mae, hears that the gas and electricity will be turned off so she moves the kids to a relative's house. This angers Jim very much so he sucks up his pride and asks an old boxing buddy for money to
In the movie Rebel Without a Cause there are many relationships throughout the movie. Some the main characters’ relationship arcs with the characters Jim, Judy, Plato and also their parents go through relationship with their parents and each other. There main relationships are stray with the parents and then it branches of from that point. One of first characters you met in movie is Jim and when he was playing with the toy in street at night.
All societies have a basic structure, and in order to function well with others, a person must conform to the laws and regulations of said society. In the novels Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, a variety of themes are discussed, with the major theme being rebellion. The main characters of both these novels struggle with the established structure they are living in and are unwilling to conform to its rules. They both rebel by openly defying laws, and disobeying authoritative figures. The novels’ main characters are furthermore comparable because they not only rebel but also guide others to do the same. The men whom they lead carry on
Rebel Without A Cause’ and ‘Raw’ effectively elucidates the profound struggle of adolescent transition into adulthood. ‘RWC’ follows the story of protagonist Jim stark, an emotionally distraught, morally perplexed individual. Projected throughout the film are Jim’s struggles to adapt to the experiences of the broader world because of his confusion on what it means to be a man. Resulting in a constant quest for a stable role model to guide him to a virtuous and honourable way of life. ‘Raw’ pursues the story of Brett Dalton, an adolescent delinquent determined to dismiss any form of life-enhancing assistance from anybody. The narrative follows the evolution of Brett’s personal values in conflict with the broader world, and furthermore his transition
Rebel without a Cause is a 1955 drama, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring James Dean as Jim Stark, Natalie Wood as Judy, and Sal Mineo as Plato. The film revolves around protagonist, Jim Stark, as he starts a new school after running away from several others. Jim is an extremely troubled teenager much like the rest of the characters in the film. He first befriends Plato, who has just been released from juvenile for killing puppies. Plato is clearly very unpopular with everyone else in school. Judy is popular and has a large group of friends but she is very unhappy because she does not have her father’s love or approval. She desperately seeks affection from her father and even went as far as to get herself arrested in hopes that he would pick her up. The film takes a sharp turn in the scene outside the planetarium when Jim and Buzz engage in a knife fight. From that point on the film continues to get darker. Before Jim goes to the chicken race he gets into a fight with his father about honor and insists he must go, but his father wants him to be rational, slow down, and make a pros and cons list of going to the race. Perhaps if he had listened to his father that neither Buzz nor Plato would have died by the end of the film. Buzz dies when he is unable to exit his car during the chicken race, and Plato is shot dead by the police. Because Judy does not receive love or affection from her father, she has a skewed outlook on love. She believes
Much like it’s cinematic contemporaries Rebel without a Cause is a product of postwar American society. The depiction of Jim Stark’s attempts to deal with the world around him provide a narrative rich with examples of both the relative economic prosperity and generational conflicts that came to characterize this period in American history, and while facts of life such as these are utilized by the filmmakers to a large extent they are not the film’s principal themes. Rather than prioritizing these aspects of American life, the focus of the film is shifted to examining the often overlooked issues of the era and the reactions that they had elicited from those who lived through them. In particular those of traditional gender roles, peer pressure,
The movie Rebel without a Cause presents the social issue that both teenagers and their parents in the time struggle for locating themselves into the right and appropriate social identities, yet they also have the difficulty of facing this issue. For the adults, they tend to dodge the fact that they should undertake the responsibilities of guiding their children during the awkward and confusing period of growing into adults. On the other hand, the adolescences often behave radically and dangerously in order to fight their places in the society and caught up parents' attentions. The film illustrates the conflicts on genders ideologies by presenting the constant argues between Jim's parents and even his grandmother. Additionally, the film questions about the correctness of the role model from the teenagers' perspectives.
Romantic love in teens is simply a conventional mismatch of an over exaggerated emotion. To state in pure words, romantic love is a strong feeling of affection, concern, and care towards another person and relationship. It induces many feelings of deep emotional, sexual, and spiritual recognition, as well as many other influential feelings. Different people have different perspectives and thoughts as to what ‘romantic love’ truly is, and whether or not it is simply an overstated infatuation. According to scientists, the ultimate motivation of romantic love is to pass on genetic information to an offspring.
“True love is hard to find.” “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”. These words have been told to and heard from family, friends, co-workers and even words in a poem. (A.C. Bradley). These words are said to someone to comfort and express sympathy and understanding to one that is having a relationship issues. Only a lucky few have found true love the very first time love has entered the into their space, some have managed to remain married over forty years or more. Life’s dilemmas interfere with true love from entering the lives of the people that love has touched. Parents protecting their children, worrying about what other think, love not being reciprocated, fell in love too young, self-esteem too low, looking for
He is a recovered alcoholic who is not a subtle flirt. Jim is a skinny young man who manages a tiny costume jewelry store on the Upper East Side. Like Ceinwen, both Jim and Talmadge smoke. They both encourage Ceinwen’s love for classic films and they adore her fashion
The stark divide between love and marriage shown right the way through cannot be comprehended fully by the twenty-first century reader: in today’s society marriage and love are mutually exclusive - you very rarely get one
Sociological perspectives explains love relationships as not perfect but a working progress. A commitment which relies on continuous maintenance and reassurance. Love relationship practices and investments are configured in experiences that will be shared in the past, present and in the future.
The film The Breakfast Club was directed and written by John Hughes and was released in the year 1985 (IMDB, 2016). The film’s running time is 95 minutes and can be categorized under the genre of comedy and drama. It follows five teenagers, who all vary in personality and stereotype, get stuck in detention on a Saturday morning. They are all different types of people in nature but when stripped down and seen through without a stereotypical lens, they all have something to share and have something in common amongst themselves despite being so different from each other. In the movie, they are stereotyped as, a basket case, a brain, an athlete, a princess, and a criminal (IMDB, 2016). The setting takes place in a library and whilst they are in detention, they go through varying phases. They start off with solitude, then proceed to share a few words, and later into the film they start to disclose information about themselves that normally would be very difficult to disclose. While they are in the library they start off as complete strangers and barely talk to each other. As the movie progresses, they start doing a lot of things that a normal group of friends would do such as dancing, playing music, sneaking out together, and even smoking a joint together.