Rebel Without a Cause: Examination and Action

Iconism: An Examination 

Having seen this film multiple times before, I had a very different take on it then I do with most Ray films. The newness was gone and I started to feel myself slipping into that critical phase of movie watching that is uncomfortable and inappropriate. I was fighting the urge nitpick, when something amazing happened. As James Dean was walking off screen someone in the front row was scooting out of the theater in step with him. He looked nearly identical to James Dean: Leather Jacket, slicked hair, and simple t-shirt. He even hunched over in a similar manner. The film instantly took on a new life. Are we a generation, unintentionally shaped by the iconism of former celebrity? I started watching the film as if it were the first time, as if it were a new exploration of pop culture in our generation. The implications were startling. Could Ray have known that he was orchestrating the sentiments of generations for decades to come? When Jim fights against his parents’ ideals, when he labors to make sense of their conflicting attitudes, he taps into an undying sentiment in youth culture. What does it all mean? He screams the line, “You’re tearing me apart!” and though it isn’t always articulated so melodramatically, people can relate to the extreme anxiety that Dean is expressing. 

A Personal View: Consumerism 

I continued watching as if the film were some encrypted message from the past, beckoning us to take our lives more seriously and see the traps that our predecessors were setting for us. How long before we all simply concede to the mentality that is marketed to us every day? How long before our consumerism eats us up? How much more of this can we tolerate as a society? Who is right? Who is wrong?  

Buzz: A Man of Action 

“We have to do something right?” Buzz Gunderson, played by Corey Allen poses the question coolly as he hops into his last joyride. Our generation could learn a thing or two (or three, or more) from this exchange. It isn’t about pacifism; it’s about getting to the root of the problem and doing something it about. It’s about feeling alive; it’s about regaining control. Buzz chose to aggravate, agitate, instigate and otherwise push the people around him to maddening limits. Without this accelerating personality he felt he might fall into the masses of pacifists who have lost a sense of worth. 


Meaning: Rebel Without Cause
What was Ray saying to the fifties generation? It’s clear that he wanted the youth culture of the time to be the next movers and shakers. It’s clear that he couldn’t help but be one himself. What can we, as a modern audience, take from these intimate moments? What was Nick Ray really trying to say? I’ll apply it to the standard of living that we adhere to today. I’ll look at it in terms of one man’s quest to explore his inner struggles and in doing so I’ll look at my own. Ray’s power of persuasion is impressive and I think that if we all look closely we can find that rebellion in all of us.