The 1955 film, Rebel Without A Cause has been deemed a timeless film, a movie classic if you will. James Dean, Natalie Woods, and Sal Mineo starred in the film directed by Nicholas Ray. When this movie was released it was a highly revolutionary film. It talked of love, violence, and the cruelty of teenagers. Judy (Natalie Wood) and Jim (James Dean) were the two main characters. Jim was the new kid who was a social outcast and Judy was "that girl" who, in the beginning of the film, was dating "that guy." Tragically, Judy's boyfriend died in a game of chicken gone wrong. Judy and Jim had been noticing one another from afar but with Judy's boyfriend out of the picture, the two teens were free to become involved. Their friend, "Plato" (Sal Mineo) was shot by local policeman because he appeared to be threatening the officers with a loaded weapon that was actually unloaded. Judy and Jim, who both suffered from less than ideal home lives, were broadsided by the tragic death of one peer and one close companion in a very short time frame. The film is left with an open ending, but the two teens presumably go on to live their lives haunted by the memory of their losses.
Initially the theme of the movie is very basic and quite predictable; the social outcast that falls for the popular girl and is taunted by the popular boy that the girl is dating. However, a twist occurs when the boyfriend is killed when he drives his car off a cliff during a game of chicken with Jim. Jim immediately runs home after the death of Buzz. His reaction is one of horror and sorrow for the untimely death of a fellow teen. He also is left with a sense of guilt and feels as though he should go to the police and explain what happened, but his parents tell him to do otherwise. This sense of responsibility that Jim portrays seems like a somewhat idealistic characteristic as opposed to a realistic one. Judy reacts with tears, a very typical and predictable response from a teenage girl. In the movie, Jim is the only character that is a truly developed character. The reactions, emotions, and thoughts of other characters are viewed only in a very limited sense. The grieving process for Buzz is a very short one. It seems as though he is forgotten in just a few short hours after his death. He is not mentioned after Judy, Jim, and Plato go to the abandoned house on the hill. And only Plato's death at the end of the film seems to extract an appropriate emotional and psychological response from the characters.
The whole movie moves very quickly from one scene of misfortune to the next. No teens life is ever this plagued by death, violence, and parents that don't define the word responsible. It loses any sense of realism in the unrealistic course of events that snowballs out of control and in the poor responses by the characters. The movie itself lacks a sense of depth because each character, with the exception of Jim, is defined by a stereotype followed by a broad generalization.
Rebel Without A Cause is no different then teen movies in today's society. It sends a message of "anyone that isn't popular rules" and "even then your life still sucks". The only difference in the 1955 version of a teen movie and the 2012 version is that there is no mention of sex or drugs and there is a very limited amount of foul language. Even with these commendable cultural differences in movies from fifty years ago, the plot line, theme, and character development of films directed toward teenagers are shallow and basic at best.
