Comparative Visual Analysis - Rebel without a Cause - Movie Review Example

Comparative Visual Analysis The film Rebel without a Cause is an American piece of visual art that was released back in August 1955. The film is primarily centered on the life of a middle-class teenage boy who experienced increasing challenges associated with his social deviance problem, especially when his family moved to a new town. Apparently, the film provides an anecdotal perspective of the conservative mid-1950s United States, primarily through the eyes of an adolescent character affected by youthful deviance. During the 1950s United States, there was a sharp rise in the problem of youthful deviance and youth exploitation, essentially attributable to emergence of the rock ‘n’ roll culture. During that period, there was a considerable increase in teenage rebellion and restlessness, especially teenage boys. As a result, conventional values of honesty, decency and religious conformity were in short supply among the American male teenagers (Mulley 01). However, members of the mainstream society were still rigid conformists; hence gender stereotyping was prevalent. Basically, this film, Rebel without a Cause, shows that behavioral deviance and cultural dissonance were the main characteristics associated with teenagers of the male gender. Technically, the main aspect of gender portrayed by the film is gender roles, specifically gender stereotyping. Apparently, the 1950s United States expected teenage boys to demonstrate lack of conformity to behavioral norms, while teenagers belonging to the female gender were perceived as being inherently obedient and possessing insignificant tendencies towards behavioral deviance. In this context, the society adopted distinct gender roles for boys and girls. Therefore, teenage boys were assigned male stereotypic roles like lack of social conformity regarding to elements of sex, drugs, and other risky behaviors (Driscoll and Smith 19). Within the film Rebel without a Cause, there are identifiable scenes where the aspect of gender stereotyping is explicitly portrayed. One scene where gender stereotyping is portrayed is the time when the main Character, Jim, together with his two friends sneaked from their homes at night and went to the planetarium. Another scene is when Jim is confronted by Judy’s father when Jim brought her home. When Jim’s family moves into the new neighborhood, Jim made new friends at school. Apparently, some of his friends, especially Plato, were also struggling with social deviance problems. One evening, Jim took Plato to their family house where they met Jim’s father. While at the dinner table, Jim’s emasculated father engaged in a conversation with the two boys. During the conversation, Jim’s father told the two teenage boys that young men should be not only physically expressive and confident, but also rebellious and functionally threatening. On the other hand, older men should be quiet and reserved. In response, Jim and Plato decided to express their youthfulness by stealing a gun from Jim’s mother, and heading out to make trouble. While at the planetarium, Plato and Jim fought for who should carry the gun. In this midst of the public scuffle, Plato is deliberately shot by the police for possession of a firearm, and for threatening the life of his friend Jim. After Plato was shot, Jim appeared undisturbed by the incident. One police at the incident commended Jim’s emotional composure by patting Jim on the back and saying, “You are a tough character son” (Lindner 57). Based on the events just before and after Plato’s death, it emerges that teenage boys were not only expected to act in a deviant manner, but were also encouraged by members of the society to express their youthful strengths. Jim’s father categorically mentions that young men should be physically expressive, and functionally threatening. These assertion from a parent encouraged Jim and his friend Plato to pursue the social expectations of teenagers and young men. When Plato is shot by the police, Jim is commended for expressing no emotions for his ill-fated friend. Apparently, open expression of emotions was an attribute reserved for either older men, or for the female gender. In this case, the police man commended Jim for not expressing emotions that are not stereotypically expected from teenage boys. At this juncture, it is evident that gender stereotyping was practically portrayed in the film. Apparently, communities in the 1950s United States perceived socially deviant teenage boys as strong male characters, while utter conformity to social norms was an attribute assigned to members of the female gender (Mulley 01). As aforementioned, another scene containing conspicuous elements of gender stereotyping is when Jim is confronted by Judy’s father. One evening, Jim met Judy his neighbor, at the Juvenile Hall, and eventually became connected to her because of their delinquency attributes. Jim started spending lots of time with Judy, often escorting her to her family’s house. One evening, Jim brought her neighbor Judy home, and when he was about to depart, Judy’s father emerged from within the house. Judy ran to her father, and kissed him on the cheek. In response, Judy’s father reacted negatively by telling her daughter, “Girls your age don’t do things like that!” (Driscoll and Smith 23) Judy responded to her father’s negative reaction by claiming that girls are supposed to physically appreciate their parents even at their teenage ages. However, Judy’s father responded that such kissing stuff is, “…either childish or common among boyish psychopaths like your friend Jim.” All the time Judy was conversing with her father, Jim remained standing at the doorway. After Judy’s father insinuated that Jim was a psychopath, Jim slammed the door on his way out. Out of mild bitterness, Judy’s father yelled to her daughter saying that such acts of slamming doors are characteristics of gangster-related behaviors in their inception stages. Based on the dialogue between Judy and her father, one can easily appreciate the fact that teenage boys are perceived as being naturally delinquent. Actually, the level of deviance prevalent among teenage boys in the 1950s United States became the new milestone for marking adolescence among teenage boys. Adolescent boys who openly expressed their lack of conformity to societal norms were often referred to as psychopaths. On the contrary, teenage girls were often expected to act passively, and remain under the direction of their parents (Slocum 35). Whenever a teenage girl like Judy acted in an unconventional way, parents and other members of the society were quick to express their discontent with the girl’s lack of social conformity. However, expression of behavioral deviance by boys like slamming of doors was often overlooked, simply because behavioral deviance was supposed to be expressed by teenage boys and not by teenage girls. In essence, there was widespread adoption and advocacy for conventional culture within the United States in the 1950s. However, the aspect of gender stereotyping ensured that lack of deviance among girls was never tolerated, while lack of deviance among teenage boys was deemed unusual (Slocum 38). Therefore, gender stereotyping was the reason why Jim and Judy received distinct treatment and criticism for their unconventional behaviors. Technically, the film Rebel without a Cause is one of those films which explicitly portrayed the distinct gender roles between boys and girls in the American society. Rebel without a Cause reinforced the idea of juvenile delinquency among teenage boys. Undeniably, ideas related to juvenile delinquency and behavioral dissonance contained on the film would later set the stage for widespread behavioral dissonance for American’s teenage boys. Rebel without a Cause not only highlight typical behavioral habits exhibited by delinquent teenagers, but also elaborates on the depth and breadth of the society’s perception on juvenile delinquency among teenage boys. In this context, gender stereotyping in the 1950s may have perpetrated the issue of teenage behavioral challenges. As aforementioned, the 1950s was the time of rock ‘n’ roll in the United States. The lifestyle ideologies of rock ‘n’ roll, especially those represented by iconic artists like Elvis Presley influenced teenagers substantially. In essence, Elvis and other rock ‘n’ roll artists created a big-brother illusion on most American teenage boys (Slocum 48). On the other hand, members of the American societies started to accept the exploding culture of deviance and limited social conformity among teenage boys. Therefore, contextual scenes in Rebel without a Cause highlights on the aspect of gender stereotyping, especially on behavioral habits expected of teenage boys like Jim. Works Cited Driscoll, Catherine and Smith, Mark. Teen Film: A Critical Introduction to Film Analysis. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2011. Print. Lindner, Robert. Rebel without a Cause: The Story of a Criminal Psychopath. Pittsburg: Cengage Learning, 2014. Print. Mulley, Sheila. “Rebel without a Cause (1955): New Restoration Playing at the Film Forum.” Web, April 8, 2015. http://www.sheilaomalley.com/?p=73844 Slocum, David. Rebel without a Cause: Approaches to a Maverick Masterwork. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Print. Read More