Judge Hardy And Rebel Without A Cause

Throughout both Love Finds Andy Hardy and Rebel Without a Cause, the role of a father figure influences the main characters develop. However, Judge Hardy and Frank Stark are nearly polar opposites. Judge Hardy is more of the stereotypical father from the 1930’s, stern, yet loving. Furthermore, Frank Stark is very submissive to his wife, and in turn not a very supporting father to Jim. To convey this, the directors use a variety of techniques.
George Seitz, director of Love Finds Andy Hardy, uses motifs, and dialogue to show how important Judge Hardy is to Andy. A motif used throughout the film is the new car Andy desires. This car symbolizes the desire to be free and adult like. At first Andy is unable to buy the car due to his father’s disapproval

and his own lack of funds, showing he is not ready to become an adult. To achieve the rest of the money, Andy decides to take his friend’s girl to the winter dance; Andy believes this is a mature move and will grant him the money to buy the car, it backfires. Andy loses almost everything due to his fiasco, but finally he talks to his father. His father pays off the rest of the car for him, essentially granting him freedom, and adulthood. The dialogue between Andy and his father, also shows how important a father can be. Andy asks his father for help involving his love life. Once Andy receives advice he finally works out his situation and gets back with his girlfriend as his father has helped get him from a child’s mindset into an adult’s mindset.
Additionally, the director of Rebel Without a Cause, Nicholas Ray, also conveyed the importance of fathers in a young man’s life.

Jim Stark is seen as a struggling teen during the 1950s, however it is not his fault. Jim’s father is very submissive to his wife, allowing the family to move homes constantly to keep Jim safe, however, Jim never stays safe. Jim’s father also constantly refers to him as “chicken,” which Jim does not like. This term causes Jim to get himself into trouble with a the local hotshot, this result in the death of the hotshot. From this point on Jim is different, he confronts his dad physically, and runs away with a girl. Jim then comforts a younger boy with a gun. It can be inferred that Jim does not want to become his dad, submissive, so he goes out and becomes dominant, talking down the boy, challenging the hotshot, and getting the girl, all while his dad is at home wearing a pink apron. In the end, his father realizes this and promises to be a better father. Additionally, Plato is raised without a father and is seen as an outcast, he is presumably gay in a time that homosexuality is frowned upon, also he goes on an angered induced rampage with a gun; the presence of a father may or may not have changed his sexuality, but it would have changed his mindset when he needs to fight back, nothing lethal, but something to make his

point.
As displayed in these films, fathers have a great impact over their teenage children. Whether it be by guiding him into manhood, like Andy and his father; or by being the opposite of what they want to be, like Jim and his. Whatever it be, fathers will always have the greater influence over their sons lifes.