James Dean: The Ultimate Rebel

Finally I have seen this film. For years, my dad has been nagging me to watch it, but we never owned it on DVD or never caught it at the beginning on television. And man I was captivated by this film. Not just by the storyline but by James Dean's performance. I found some of his lines to be some of the greatest delivery in film history- "You're tearing me apart!" and "You already are involved!" Pretty much anytime Dean is screaming at his parents I loved. It just seemed so realistic, I don't know, it just really got to me. Being an actor myself, I was greatly impressed.

But moving on from that, I found the film to be very interesting. Compared to the Mystery Science Theater film we watched, there are numerous obvious differences. In the MST we are shown this perfect family, with instructions on how a typical day in the life of a typical family should be. But the reality is that no family is your "typical family" or perfect family, and there are certainly no instructions that will enforce this, well maybe Dr. Phil helps a little bit. But Rebel without a Cause shows how true American families operate. It shows how no family is perfect and that no matter how glamorous or wealthy a family may appear, there is always the chance of dark secrets to be hidden somewhere.
It is amazing to me how this film showcased how parents and children interact. Yes, the parents in this film were not really there for their children (either dead, just not caring, or too big of pushovers). But we see how children at that time dealt with this absence of parenting. And it is not good. We see a troubled little boy with no parents, who just wants to be loved by someone, and to help them keep their sanity. We see a teen boy who has no guidance from his parents because they don't come down on him like he wants him too. And then we have this girl who isn't noticed anymore by her father. So this leads her to find attention from the boys in town.

Now, the girl here I feel is the most messed up. Her boyfriend just died falling off a cliff, yet two hours later or so, she is running around with Dean and making out with him. It is as if the previous boyfriend meant nothing to her, just as long as she had another man holding her in their arms. I feel she was the character who needed the most help. Well, the kid with the gun needed serious help too.