Influence Of Adolescence In The Film 'Rebel Without A Cause'

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Adolescence is commonly known as the transition stage between childhood and adulthood, a time when the physical, intellectual, emotional and social aspects of an individuals self are crucial as they develop into maturity, enabling them to prepare for adulthood. This period of development is characterised as a time for socialization as their individual perspectives enable a didactic synthesizing of a multitude of understandings of ones self and ones world, thus forming the raison d 'être of the adolescent experience of personal, social, cultural and emotional facets of adolescence. Within Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Michael Apted’s Nell (1994) socialising agents effecting personal identity and development throughout adolescence
The film’s central drama is placed upon Jim, whom is an adolescent going through the ‘rebellious stage’, which seems to be triggered by his lack of parental role modelling and guiding resulting him to a lack of identity. Jim has a non-existent value and belief foundation since his parent’s lack any instil. This causes Jim to attend school struggling to fit in with peers and identify similar values and beliefs within these peers. When the parent’s proper guidance and authorisation is non-existent in Jim’s life, this leads him to taking upon dangerous actions to find a sense of belonging and acceptance within his peers. This leads to Jim being injured and a peer’s death. This incident was the residue of the unstable family structure and Jim’s desires not being answered. Jim desires for his father to become a parental, authoritarian figure and to stand up to his wife who uses him. The evident disconnection between the parent’s affects Jim significantly as his paternal figure is emasculated and the palpable desire for a paternal role model is not yet obtained. Therefore, the socialising agent of family is extremely significant within an adolescences life as it helps them builds the foundation of their values and beliefs and has a strong impact on their personality development and

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