Rebel Without A Cause

I just saw the classic James Dean movie last night, for the first time. I know it's famous, but I never really understood what it was about, and thought I'd give it a chance. I have never really heard people review it or talk about it other than to refernce it, so I'd do a little review of my own thoughts and reactions to it.

Warning: This is a major spoiler! :-)

James Dean is a pretty good actor, convincing as a good kid gone bad (as the back of the movie case helpfully explains). But why was this 'good' kid suddenly bad? We gather throughout the first 15 - 20 minutes that he is driven to do these bad things (such as get drunk, and gets into trouble often, apparently) by the horrible family he has, the zoo, or circus as he tells the guy at the police station in the 2nd scene. His parents constantly bicker and knit-pick.

It was shocking to me how the mother was so disrespectful to her husband, breaking him down and outlining his faults in front of her son, her mother, and the police. She didn't rest from trying to control him. She even tries to dissuade Jim from going to the police when he needs to, she says "No one has to know! Jim! Why should you be the only one? What about the others? They were there, too!" But he replies, "But I will know, and I was there!" He knew it didn't matter who else was there, he was there and that alone was enough to create a problem.

The father had similar problems, he would argue and quarrel with his wife also. But his main fault was not being a man, not standing up and making a decision. This is an awful thing to happen to a family, when the father figure will not lead his family. That is the worst kind of authority, the kind that thinks it can't or shouldn't do anything. This problem is a main theme, because Jim (James Dean) tells his father to stand up several times, to make his mother stop trying to ignore the real reasons why she keeps making them move. But even though you can see Jim is torn up by how weak and wimpy his father is, even though you can see his eyes are begging his father to actually be a father, his father never even attempts to take authority like a man.

Jim's problem was not that he was a good kid gone bad, but rather a good kid driven bad, a good kid without guidance, a good kid who needed love, and leadership.

I still didn't understand what the whole problem with Judy was, but it probably was, again, all about her parents loving her. A few short scenes showed that her father didn't want her showing him affection, and that drove her to seek that manly affection from the bad boys who were willing to give it. She acted cool, acted tough when she was with them, but she was also drawn to Jim who was calm, and didn't take the bad boys too seriously. He didn't brush them off, but he didn't show fear or let them think they were a real threat. He handled himself well, showing leadership after he won a knife-fight and said "I'll meet you again (because Jim knew they wouldn't want to stop) but not here, not now." That sort of leadership was attractive to Judy, because her father seemed to not know how to treat her since she grew into a young lady.

The other kid, John, or Plato as he liked to be called, also craved to have family love. His father died, but Plato changes the story two different times, and when Jime points this out he says "What difference does it make? He's dead." And Plato's mother apparently leaves the home constantly, and sends checks for the black housekeeper to take care of him. Plato latches onto Jim, because he doesn't shrug Plato away or ignore him. Jim treats Plato like he is someone, and Plato helps him figure out the ropes (since Jim was a new kid at the school) when he first tangled with the "kids" (the bad boys). When they all become friends after a terrible accident towards the end of the movie, Jim tells Judy "He made us his family."

This is the story of three very different kids, with the same problem: a lack of love and leadership. If the parents aren't home, or refuse to teach their children, how on earth are their kids supposed to turn out good? They will leave the home and go looking for that love, for someone to look up to.
As it turns out, they found what they needed from each other. Jim is a wise (as far as a public highschooler can be!) leader, Judy looks up to Jim and is tender with Plato, who fawns on both of them and is happy just to be wanted.

This movie is a tragedy, but I liked it. I didn't have any idea what the movie was really about when I started watching it, so the character of Jim was a surprise. A pleasant surprise. No wonder it's a classic.