Teen Rebels in Search of Love In the movie Rebel Without a Cause, directed by Nicholas Ray, we meet three “typical” teenagers from the 1950’s. These three teenagers are Jim Stark, Judy, and Plato. Jim Stark is constantly the new kid in town, because whenever he gets in trouble his parents just move the family to a new town. Jim is in constant turmoil striving to fit in, which only leads to more trouble. Judy is a teenage girl who needs attention. She longs for her dad to care about her and give her affection, but her dad refuses to meet this basic need. The lack of her father’s attention drives her to seek male attention from guys her age. Plato’s parents ran off and abandoned him, leaving him to live with a maid. Plato longs for love and …show more content…
friendship and for a father figure to look up to who cares about him. All three teens in the movie rebel, and the movie opens with them in jail. Jim, Judy, and Plato are typical teens who are disenfranchised and rebel in an attempt to fit in with other teens and feel loved. The children seem to be normal, stereotypical teenagers. These teens experience the same struggles as teens today. We want to fit in; be a member of a “group.” We need to be accepted by others, and feel confident about who we are. We need our parents to love and approve of us, and even want teachers to look at us favorably. We seek independence and want to grow up. Jim simply tries to fit in, he wants to be accepted and viewed as a man and feel confident as a man. Judy lacks the love and attention she needs from her father so she seeks it elsewhere. This leads her to hang out with large groups of guys, trying to please them and gain attention. Plato desperately wants to fit in, to be accepted by his peers, and to be loved by someone. The lack of his parents presence makes him yearn to have someone to look up to and for someone that cares about him. Like teens today, these teens are searching for their identity, and striving to be confident in in who they are. Disenfranchisement plays a key role leading to the teens’ rebellion. Disenfranchisement means being deprived of something, to be left out or not included. All these teens experience this feeling of being disenfranchised. Jim Stark has a constant feeling of disenfranchisement due to the fact that he is always the new kid at school. Being the new kid at school is very tough mainly because you have no friends and feel as if you are being left out of everything. Jim also sees his father as a weak man, and feels deprived of a much needed strong role model. Judy feels left out because she does not have the homelife she wishes she had. She feels deprived of love and affection. Plato feels disenfranchised because his parents abandoned him and he is left to live with his maid. He is deprived of a loving family. Although all three experience disenfranchisement in a different way their longing leads them to rebellion. The kids’ rebellion is sparked by different things, but has the same foundation; wanting to fit in, find their way, and to be accepted.
Jim Sark rebels because he wants to be known as a man, unlike his father who he views as a feminine figure, or a chicken. When Jim is the new kid he is constantly trying to prove himself, and he wants to be viewed by his peers as a man. He never has time to show people his true self so he rebels in an attempt to be liked, and in an attempt not to be like his father. Jim’s rebellion is triggered when he is called, “Chicken,” which reminds him of his father and how he doesn't want to be. When called “chicken” he cannot back down from a challenge. This is shown when he gets into a knife fight, and then agrees to the chicky race. Judy rebels when frustrated with her home life. She longs for a male figure to love her and give her attention. Her father rejects her so she decides to hang out with a gang and get a boyfriend to get the male attention she wants. Perhaps she is getting back at her dad as well. Plato rebels because his parents abandoned him. He wants friendship and a fatherly figure to look up to that loves him. He expresses his longings with misplaced anger by doing wrongful acts such as shooting
puppies. These rebellious acts are all triggered by different circumstances, but all have the same root cause. Just like today Jim, Judy, and Plato want to fit in, want someone to love them, and do not want to feel left out. All three teens are disenfranchised because they have a stained or non-existent relationship with their parents. They are left to figure things out on their own. Although their behavior is misguided, they are trying to fill voids in their life and grow up.
Sammy is a rebel because he quits just because he wanted to stand up for the girl. He said,"I quit". The girls in the story are rebels also, they go around the store in their bikinis not having a care in the world what people think.
The institutions, cultural forms, and economic powers were lifted as the term “teenager” itself was created to differentiate young men and women from adults (University of Toronto 145). The clothing trends, hairstyles, dances and even the language was different from that of adults (Armstrong et al, 134). Young men and women enjoyed dressing themselves with blue jeans, leather jackets,and pony tails for women, which stood as an identity for teenagers as it differentiated them from adults (Armstrong et al,135). This idea was amazing to acknowledge because a new type of people are emerging, and this added to Canadian multiculturalism and acceptance of the different types of people.The adults response to the wild nature of teenagers was that they were left shocked at first, yet later they acknowledged this act as just a phase during one’s life, they got used to this unique behaviour as time progressed (OC University 10). With the brutality of World War 2, the youth at the time were simply left neglected (OC University 10). Many believe that teens during the 1950’s were greatly influenced by being raised during a war generation (OC University 10). The youth distinguished themselves through shocking, yet enjoyable behaviour such as dance moves and their overall mindset on life. In addition, advertisers convinced teens to purchase certain products which
Is rebellion a childish act, or one that shows maturity? Many would argue the former, but others could claim that rebelling shows a person’s individuality, that they have grown as a person and are not afraid to show it off to the world. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles shows how rebelling can lead to learning from prior mistakes and how breaking free from the crowd can lead to learning who someone truly is. Gene is shown in the novel as a character that follows the rules and does what is expected of him. Finny, on the other hand, rarely follows the rules and is always going against what is expected of him. With the characters and events in A Separate Peace, Knowles shows how he supports the idea of rebellion by having unfortunate events
Initially, Jim Sloane is an irresponsible, childish and desperate character because of his behavior and his talk with his
Following the defeat of the Confederacy and to lift the morale of a shattered people momentum gathered to enshrine the Myth of the Lost Cause which would transform the Southern soldier living and dead, into a veritable hero.
Teenagers in the 1950's are so iconic that, for some, they represent the last generation of innocence before it is "lost" in the sixties. When asked to imagine this lost group, images of bobbysoxers, letterman jackets, malt shops and sock hops come instantly to mind. Images like these are so classic, they, for a number of people, are "as American as apple pie." They are produced and perpetuated by the media, through films like Grease and Pleasantville and television shows like Happy Days, The Donna Reed Show, and Leave It to Beaver. Because of these entertainment forums, these images will continue to be a pop cultural symbol of the 1950's. After the second World War, teenagers became much more noticeable in America (Bailey 47). Their presence and existence became readily more apparent because they were granted more freedom than previous generations ever were.
Rebel Without a Cause is an unconventional story with a conventional, classical approach to storytelling. The film follows the seven traits of Classical Hollywood Cinema and is adapted to the hybridization of film noir, which was primarily a style of B movies, and teen drama films, which was newly emerging in the 50s.
The Anti-Federalists were not in favor of ratifying the new Constitution. Some Anti-Federalists wanted to keep the Articles of Confederation, others wanted to add some things and change some things in the new Constitution before they agreed to ratify it. Some very important Anti-Federalist’s were Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Richard Henry Lee. Anti-Federalists tended to be poorer and in lower classes than the Federalists. These people feared a central government and were afraid that the government proposed by the new Constitution could easily turn into a tyranny. The Federalists argued that the United States needed a strong central government in order to stand a chance against foreign powers, amongst other reasons that were all beneficial
The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson (with the help of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, as well as many others), was signed on July 1st, 1776 in Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence to appeal to the British Parliament and King and explain why the American Colonies wanted independence from England. Thomas Jefferson and the other delegates from the Second Continental Congress agreed that, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator certain unalienable rights” (p. 112) which became the base for nearly all of the points made in the document. Logical and emotional statements were used throughout the document to make impactful statements that would convince the audience of the seriousness of the matters they were presenting.
Brassy fanfares, sweet flute melodies, and intense strings. These are the types of music that are used in the film “Rebel Without a Cause”. This film was released in 1955. James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo star as the lead characters of Jim Stark, Judy, and John "Plato" Crawford. The orchestra music for “Rebel Without a Cause” serves three functions: it reflects the emotions of the teens, it acts as element of the mise-en-scène, and it causes the audience to feel a particular emotion.
Richard Yate’s novel, Revolutionary Road, is an exploration of those people living in American suburbia during the 1950’s. It provides commentary about their struggles, their achievements, and the overall absurdity of the era. He describes a society that is still very much affected by a post-war mindset, and a return to more traditional gender roles that had been discarded during World War II. It created an era that emphasised conformity and sameness, holding onto its sense of security at any expense. While this new conventionality affected all members of American society, it touched women especially. He stresses this through the character of April Wheeler, through her
John Beckett mentions that the Glorious Revolution has been considered a historical event related to the political issues. The main target of this historical event was to create a commercial freedom in Europe. After this revolution was done, trade relations in Europe went up, and the Bill of Rights was also created in 1689. Today, the Bill of Rights is shown and known that it was the first building stone for the British constitution because it limited the monarchic power. During the eighteenth century, the period of the Age of Enlightenment is considered between 1713 and 1789 because Anthony Pagden states that Europe was like a republic of states, and it was like a union acting together and talking with one voice. The Age of Enlightenment
In every society, there is conformity and nonconformity, although we may not notice it. Conformity is when someone is doing the same thing as others because they do not want to be the only one doing differently. Example, if there was a whole class raising their hands would you want to be the only one with your hand down, no so you would raise it with the rest of the class to not look like you don't know anything. This is called social pressures it when a large group is doing something and you're the only one not then you want to be doing whatever that large group is doing.
Revolution is a topic at the heart of the Socialist and Marxist Ideology. The processes that bring about the insurrection vary, but for Marx and Engels, the only viable coup d’état is a violent one, that will enable a transition to the best society and human life. In Marxism, revolution is inevitable because of precedents set by developmental historicism and then inequality rampant in society. These negative and traditional attributes give rise to class-consciousness in a manner that promotes the inexorable path of society from capitalism to socialism.
Once hormones have revealed themselves, children turn into confused young adults that think they can do everything by themselves and that there will no longer be any need for nurturing from adults. The word “young” from “young adults” is what teenagers completely ignore, when actually they should do the opposite and ignore the “adults” part. Furthermore, this causes infliction between teenagers and adults, especially their parents. Once they have the courage to say “no” with consciousness to what they are ordered to do, they come across a feeling, a feeling of being big and powerful. Because of that, teenagers then only focus on their new discovery of rebelling against adults and are, metaphorically speaking, injected with ego.