The Continued Relevance of Rebel Without A Cause
A film with lessons for the 21st Century (Contains Spoilers)
Last month, I watched the 1955 film Rebel Without A Cause starring James Dean for the first time. The film and its star are well known, and, for me, the two were interchangeable concepts. I bought the film on DVD after discovering it in a CeX store.
I turned on Rebel Without A Cause with a lot of preconceptions about its nature; I was surprised to discover its actual character.
The film is razor sharp in its social commentary and especially relevant for 21st century western nations.
The Great Misconception
The title Rebel Without A Cause suggests that the film will in some way glamourize teenage rebellion and juvenile behaviour. So I expected to watch a 1955 version of the musical Grease (just without the singing and dancing).
But Rebel Without A Cause doesn’t do any of the above and only shares superficial elements with Grease as the plot events here will show:
Jim (James Dean) gets on the bad side of a High School group comprised of petty criminals and their girlfriends. He wins a “friendly” knife fight with the leader of the group named Buzz.
Buzz, not graceful in defeat, challenges Jim to an extremely dangerous car dare called the “Chicken Run”. Buzz dies but Jim only gets a few bruises.
None of these events is portrayed in a glamourous or positive manner, instead, the opposite is the case. The music creates a sense of foreboding and when the disaster finally strikes the whole film lurches into dark apprehension as everything falls apart.
What the film is actually about
But if Rebel Without A Cause is not about the glamorisation of teenage rebellion and sticking it to one’s parents, what is the message of the film?
Rebel Without A Cause is about family and, in particular, family dysfunction. The film opens with a drunk Jim walking the streets of the town to which his family has recently moved. In a conversation with an insightful police sergeant, he calls his family a “madhouse” and a “zoo”. Jim’s father is not strong but is overly agreeable and afraid of upsetting his wife; Jim’s mother is not warm but sharp-tongued and Jim’s grandmother is as cold as ice.
His parents and grandmother are not good on good terms and this is the main cause of Jim’s poor behaviour. Yet, while Jim is the “rebel without a cause”, he isn’t so much a rebel as he is a confused teenager trying to learn how to be a man. Unfortunately, Jim’s father isn’t the best role model and, to exacerbate things, his home isn’t a happy place. Hence, his poor mental state and his desire to gain social status among a group of high school criminals.
This theme of familial dysfunction is not only explored with Jim but also with two other leading characters: Judy and Plato. Judy’s problems stem from her father showing no love and affection. It is suggested that this is what made her enter into a relationship with Buzz.
Plato, on the other hand, never sees his parents and neither does the audience. Plato’s father sends checks to him and his servant-carer in the post. As a consequence, Plato is socially awkward and seeks familial love from Jim and Judy. Eventually, Plato has an emotional and mental breakdown and shots one of Buzz’s gang with a Colt M1911.
The audience is never shown Buzz’s parents but we can infer from the example of the other characters that his home life was not ideal either.
By the end of the film, Jim’s parents actually improve and the story leaves the audience with a sense of hope and optimism. Alas, in too many cases of family dysfunction, improvement and reconciliation prove elusive and suffering continues.
Relevance for Today
As someone who has seen familial dysfunction and broken homes first-hand, the content of Rebel Without A Cause strikes true.
In the past, I made friends and met people from broken and dysfunctional households and I could see the effects on their personalities. Guys who come from these backgrounds tend to either be unhealthily selfless and submissive or unhealthily selfish and aggressive. The latter group become “bad boy” types and have more success with members of the opposite sex than the former group but their relationships are far from healthy. I’ve seen both types.
Both groups tend to care little for fixed rules and structures and have an inordinate love for speeding and drifting in cars (to be fair, both things can fun and rebellion is also stimulating).
Whilst it is never appropriate to remove personal responsibility and individual autonomy from the equation, Rebel Without A Cause reminds us that many of the “rebels” we see in our society come from dysfunctional households and are trying to navigate a world without any effective guidance.
They don’t have a cause, they are just trying to make sense of themselves.
