Rebel Without A Cause1000 word essay: Significance of family in...

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BY RICHARD TARR

Rebel Without A Cause (155) is perhaps best known as the vehicle which helped establish its lead actor, James Dean, as a Hollywood icon and subsequently one of cinemas most recognisable figures. However the aspect of the film I wish to discuss is that of Jim Stark (Dean) and his relationship with his family, in particular his father, which I propose gives the rebel of the title, a cause.

Robert Linder penned the story of Rebel and as a renowned expert on adolescence (as well as a pioneer of hypnotherapy and a criminal psychologist), in his words, his interest was with the conflict between protest and conformity that faced young people today and the problem of the individuals desire to preserve himself in the face of overwhelming demands for social conformity (Sight and Sound, 156). These themes were taken to heart by the movies director, Nicholas Ray, whose original vision saw the film titled The Blind Run, due to his vision of a fast moving world which offers little opportunity of guidance for youth.

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Ray and the three script writers whom worked on the movie (Uris, Schulman and Stern), worked to produce a piece which looks at delinquency in a manner which, possibly, wasnt typical of the mainstream stories of youth at this period in history. The mid nineteen fifties saw the blandness and the hangover of two decades of economic uncertainty and war cast off in America, and as a consequence there was a youth market which seemingly gained momentum rapidly and became a viable market for utilisation and comment by the media. The unusual nature of the film is that it showcases a delinquency not of the usual teenage angst for freedom and nonconformity, but rather the lack of guidance offered to youth and the young people of Americas desperate need (wish) for society to help them to conform (to be the Americans they want to be).

The role of the family, in particular the interaction between Jim and Mr Stark, is the main theme of Rebel.

Rays directing style uses many set pieces during the film but this initial scene sets the tone for the remainder of the film..

Jim Stark is a young man who drinks and gets into constant scrapes with other people and his family. As the film begins Jim is shown, drunk, in a police station. He is drunk in this scene and despite this supposedly adult situation, Jim is shown to be a child in a adult location. The displacement utilised by the director is exposed to the audience by our initial glimpse of the Stark family as they enter the station and confront Jim. Jims mother, despite being composed, is visibly upset with her boy, yet her father seems to be taking the events in good heart. When Jim asks his father to sit in the stations large throne- like chair (in the station waiting room) and be the king (childlike) his father duly obliges thinking it will please his son, Jim however becomes angry with his father. It is clear that Jims statement to his father was a genuine wish for him to be assertive/ alpha male (in his converse with the detective he spills out his dissatisfaction with his father and says if he could hit her, maybe, just one time in reference to his domineering mother, in a attempt to have a house of conventional order). Indeed it is almost a wish to be chastised by his father instead of his mother. In a final point on this scene, it is as though Jim has absorbed male stereotypes into his psyche and believes that it should be his father drunk in the station, but as his father doesnt show any inkling of masculine behaviour (in Jims, and 150s eyes) Jim almost seems possessed (feels its his duty) to perform this behaviour. This is set against his stature of being at heart a kind man, at the same time as almost having to be a drunk (when he offers Plato- unknown to Jim at the time- his coat).

Another moment in the film which somewhat underlines the matriarchal tendencies of the Stark family, is the split tray scene. Jim hearing a crash calls out mom? Only, upon investigating, to find his father drastically trying to clear up a tray of food which he has obviously tried to take to his wife and dropped. Jim tries to force his father to be a man throughout this scene. His stomach noticeably turns when his father replies to him you thought I was mom? in a light hearted manner. It is clear at this point that the father has no idea of Jims thoughts. Jims father is attired in a grey suit, but the most striking thing about his dress is that of a apron adorning his chest, not just a plain apron but a floral apron. This is a signal of femininity to the audience and one not lost on Jim. He is disgusted to see his father, a man he is supposed to look up to, in the attire of a woman (almost as if he has seen his father wear his mothers clothes). It is again a blurring of what Jim feels is the correct form of a family with gender roles clearly defined and adhered to. Indeed the camera work of this scene shows Jims mere masculine superiority to his father by the way his father is shown on his knees as Jim towers over him, and Jims attempts to pull up his father off the floor by the apron. The conversation between the pair forces home this point (somewhat heavy handed) with Jims insistence that his father get mom to do it (clear up) but with his father daring not to disturb her.

Jims participation on a fatal game of chicken is brought about by him not receiving any advice or orders from his father. Jim in conversation asks his father (pleads almost) how do I be a man? During the dialogue between the two men, Mr Stark evades Jims questions and when eventually replying giving non-advice, make a list, It is Mr Stark who fails to impose any boundaries on Jim (much to Jims disgust) who forces Jim to run off and take part in the incident Have I ever tried to stop you?. This is precisely the point. The pain that Jim is forced to bear is because of his dysfunctional family environment. (It is interesting that Jims father notices Jims wounds in this scene and proceeds to attend to them like a female character would be expected to. Also Jims father finds a blue folder whilst looking for some paper for the list and seems to be distracted by it. It seems that he doesnt comprehend the mental turmoil Jim is in, thinking it to be adolescent problems, japes and scrapes perhaps. He thinks that nothing too serious can occur?).

Another scene which uses Rays techniques to visually form the symbolisation of his thoughts is the argument on the stairs.

Mrs Stark is shown to be at the head of the family in this scene where the three Starks argue on the stairs. Mrs Stark takes her place near the top of the stairs with Jim near the bottom and Mr Stark at the bottom of the stairs usually out of shot and generally quiet throughout the argument, despite Jim wanting his dad to back him up - You better give me something real quick dad!. The culmination of the scene with Jim attacking his father out of frustration and kicking a picture of his grandma (symbol of feminine power in the family) seems to lead Jim into the state of mind that nothing makes sense in his home surroundings forcing him to look for solace elsewhere, attired in a symbol of rebellion, his red leather jacket.

Other family units are commented on in the film and the character Judy (who finds friendship with Jim due to the accident and a certain kinship, possibly due to their family problems) has problems with her father at home. Her father is shown to be the strong patriarch who possibly struggles to understand his and his daughters relationship now that she has breasts and now looks every inch a woman (mirror image of her mother). Her kiss in the film and her fathers disdain and rebuke for the action is the catalyst for her fleeing the home (misunderstanding of emotion and position) as the line between child and adult blurs.

Plato is the third and final character under discussion. Plato is shown early in the film to be a trouble maker by his appearance in the police station with his carer. He is shown in a different light to Jim however as he committed a physical (moral?) violation by shooting some puppies. His behaviour is explained away by the absence of his mother (who appears to have gone on holiday - possibly permanently) and the non-existence of his father (possibly dead). Whereas Jim has a matriarchal family environment and Judy a heavy matriarchal background, Plato seems to be akin to a ship without anchor, with no safe heaven to exist in and no parental love, experience, organisation, rules or education of life to call upon.

The three character whilst together parody a family scene whilst hiding in a abandoned mansion with Jim as the strong patriarch, Judy the attentive mother and Plato the loving and loved son. Whilst the characters laugh and joke with each other it is painfully obvious that all three so revel in their roles that they yearn for these roles to enter their family lives so they can revert to childhood (teenage) and live a typical life.

In the films climax Plato is shot by a policeman. This occurs because Plato strays from the boundaries of society that hold the other characters in place. Jim and Judy may not have the ideal parents but they still have their parents. This social commentary suggests and shows salvation for Jim (and Judy) with Jim passing on the symbol of his rebellion to the dead/dying Plato, the leather jacket, and finally Jims father taking his role as the head of the family. In a role reversal from earlier Jim is pulled of his knees by his father, who puts his arms around him and tells him hes going to take care of him (and Judy whom is introduced by Jim, possible marriage etc.). Simultaneously this cuts off the necessity of the mother to make any comment, thus restoring Jims father to the alpha male and the family head. Jims father understands the severity of the situation (blue folder incident) and by his actions shows Jim it will not happen again.

Rye shows the viewer of the importance of the status-quo of the time. The patriarchal family, and the problems which could be incurred if this formula is broken. However the sanitised nature of the characters and the quick fix method of climaxing the film appears to break the logic of the real world RWC resorted to the compulsory happy ending, promising redemption and reconciliation. (But) if tradition demanded such endings, then logic rebutted them (Considine).

The issue of delinquency is rather hackneyed in this film, the sentimentalised (Biskind) characters and their lack of rebelling just because they are bored is not discussed. The (traditional American) family is seen as the saviour of youth in Ryes work. Bibliography.

Class notes inc.

The Cinema of Adolescence, David Considine, Pg. 6

Seeing is Believing, Peter Biskind, Pg. 00

The Story of the Script, Sight and Sound, Autumn edition 156.

and

The Emergence of the Young, James Calbrough, A.W.L. Ltd, 184

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