What comes
to mind when you hear the words “teenage movie”? High school. New kids. Outcasts.
It is never a surprise to see that the main character is a new student or a
group of kids that don’t quite fit. Being the outcast, the new kid, is actually
nothing new. In Nicholas Ray’s “Rebel Without A Cause”, there are three young
teens that, wouldn’t you know it, each feel like an outcast and incomplete.
Dealing with
both parental issues and neglect, Jim Stark (James Dean), Judy (Natalie Wood)
and Plato (Sal Mineo) star in this 1955 teen movie. Jim is the new kid at
Dawson Highschool in California who has recently escaped the consequences of
getting in a fight at his old school by moving towns. The night before his
first day of school, Jim is picked up by the police for being publically
intoxicated. The police station is where all three teens first meet, Plato being
called in for shooting puppies, and Judy for running away from home.
The next day
Jim approaches Judy in a friendly manner, little does he know that Judy is the ‘it’
girl of the school, and she treats him like the new kid he is. Judy and the
cool kids then bully Jim, and Judy’s boyfriend Buzz (Corey Allen) challenges
him to a cliff race. Plato, a lonely bystander, befriends Jim and creates
fantasies within his mind that involve Jim acting as a father figure. Jim, Plato
and Judy all feel neglected by their parents. And after the death of Buzz at
the cliff race, they all three come together and form their own version of a
happy family.
Despite the
stereotypical aspects of the movie that cannot be ignored, “Rebel Without A
Cause” is certainly enjoyable. Its focus on troubled teens opens viewers’ eyes
to what may inhibit teen’s minds. It allows insight and clarity into the teen
mind.
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