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Most people have found themselves searching for ways to rebel in their teenage years to express their feelings. Yet, the ways of teenage rebellion are individually unique to each decade in their way. The youth of the 50s wanted to showcase new and exciting symbols of rebellion through popular culture. In the 1955 classic film Rebel Without a Cause, director Nicholas Ray exposes the lesson learned that lacking a strong father figure can have effects on the angst and rebellion of teenage boys, best analyzed through the main character Jim, in the setting of Santa Monica, California, with the theme of man vs man.
The movie Rebel Without a Cause was made in the 1950s, which was the time when the United States was becoming the world’s leading industrial power and families were migrating to the suburbs, while the Hollywood was blossoming with a big variety of movies that brought out some of the biggest stars of all time.
(Khan Academy) One of them is James Dean, which plays the main character Jim in the classic film Rebel Without a Cause.
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Furthermore, the perfect family was portrayed differently in the 1950s compared to now. The 50s portrayed the perfect family as having a dominant male father figure and a passive mother figure. The people living in the 50s usually valued traditional family roles, with the mother being the housewife and the father working. Although those specific roles are not shown in the movie, it is portrayed by the mother having the dominant role in the family by being the one that is making decisions and the father passively agreeing with her.
Teenagers in the 50s were becoming more aware of the concept of adolescence and its meaning. Through rock and roll music, which was popular amongst teenagers, rebellion and teenage angst were easily expressed. The 1950s addressed the topic of teenage rebellion often. The Catcher in the Rye, which was a book released in the same decade, discussed the unsettled nature of teen life in the 50s. The book described many aspects of teenage life such as rebellion, angst, and boredom. This was expressed through the main character in the book Caulfield, traveling through New York City, experiencing underage drinking and smoking, while paying for a sex worker. (Hayden Taylor) Similarly, the main character Jim shows his teenage rebellion by underage drinking and often arguing with his parents. This is shown at the beginning of the film when Jim’s parents find him drunk at the police station.
Jim is the main character that is affected by the lack of a strong father figure. Due to his troubled past, his family moves often, hoping to stop him from getting drunk and being involved in fights. Throughout the movie, the main character Jim expresses his opinions of his family as being weak, viewing his father as a passive man and his mother as having the dominant role. Since the way their family was structured was unusual for the 50s decade, Jim saw his father as being emasculated by his mother. Jim’s way of seeing his family is displayed numerous times throughout the movie. One way in which this was represented, was when Jim criticized his father to the officer, Ray, claiming that he wishes to see his father have the guts to stick up for himself instead of letting the mother pick on him. Through this scene, we can notice that Jim sees his father as a coward because of the way he lets his mother control everything. Jim states “If he had the guts to knock Mom cold once, then maybe she would be happy and stop picking on him” (Rebel Without a Cause) This showed that Jim believed that if his father would stand up to the mother she would be satisfied. Additionally, Jim represents and illustrated the idea of a weak father figure. Jim wanted to have a strong father figure who is more assertive so he can have someone to look up to and show him a way of what was defined as being a real man in the 50s. The director’s message is that Jim’s rebellion was a consequence of him having a weak father figure. Additionally, psychologist Frank Pittman, in his article for Psychology Today titled “Fathers and Sons” states that young boys who grew up with weak father figures purposefully get in trouble and do things that are bad for them to prove themselves as men. (Pittman) This supports the message that having a weak father figure can negatively impact teenage boys and could cause them to rebel.
The suburban homestead and lifestyle of the parents representsrepresentoften thein the struggle of a weak father figure. As mentioned earlier, Jim’s family would often move theinMorfordof his answer deal is of infor in hope to give their son a fresh beginning without troubles. However, they were mainly located at their new place settled in a suburban area, Santa Monica, California. Movforg often was a way of their family to deal is ofhisanswer Jimofof his answer Morford that with problems. The weak father figure was shown in several scenes where the mother decided to move each time Jim would get in trouble. The mother was the one making all the decisions while the father was passively agreeing. During the fight with his family, Jim tells his mother to stop using him as an excuse to move again. The fact that his family moves often symbolizes a weak father figure because he cannot make any decisions and stand up to his mother.answer answers he thought-provoking answer Jim constantly rails against his father’s weak figure solidifying the theme man vs man. Jim and his father struggle with their relationship evident throughout the movie. One way this is represented is in a scene where Jim argues with his father while he was cleaning up the food in the fear of the mother seeing it. “Let her see it” Jim claimed. (Rebel Without a Cause) He wanted his father to stand up to his mother and not be afraid of her. In the scene, it is evident that Jim gets frustrated with his father’s passive behavior. He pulls his father by the shirt and furiously throws a piece of cloth on the ground, and ends up walking away in disgust. Another scene that conveyed the theme of man vs man, was when Jim told his father to stand up for him during a fight with his mother. “Dad answersfacanswers her, stand up for me” (Rebel Without a Cause) He wanted his father to defend him against his mother. The father just quietly sat behind with his head down, looking at the ground. The fctof fac that his father was too afraid to stand up for him provoked Jim and caused him to physically attack his own father by choking him. His mother yells at him to stop and Jim ends up kicking the painting that was on the floor and running away. This scene showed that his father’s passivity and cowardice angers Jim and makes him think of him as a weak father figure whenanswerwhen answerswhenthought-provokinganswer Jim while connecting it to the man vs man theme.
The whole movie Rebel Without a Cause provides numerous examples of the lesson learned from showcasing the effects of having a weak father figure through numerous scenes. Director Nicholas Raywhenthought-provoking reflected the time of the decade where traditional families and teenage angst were most common. This movie is highly recommended because of its thought pprovokingprovokingthought-provoking thoughtprovokin, nature, and itsfactoften the culturally significant impact on the youth.
Problems of Adolescents: Man Against Man. (2022, May 24). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/problems-of-adolescents-man-against-man-essay
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