Originally posted by Irishman12: Rebel Without A Cause [b]#59 on the AFI Top 100 List *
I was very disappointed with this movie. I had heard so many good things about it and it just didn't do it for me. James Dean did a good job but I thought he was supposed to be this "bada$$" and it just didn't come off that way to me [/b]
...You're... You're fucking kidding me?
First off, you have to understand Rebel for what it was back in '55. Even still, I feel it holds up today, both cinematically and message-wise.
But Dean isn't rebelling to be this "badass" as you so bluntly put it. The kids in this movie aren't rebelling as a 'fuck you' type effort, but more-so to gain the appreciation of their parents. That's what it all comes down to--their parents.
Take Natalie Wood's character. All she would like is the love of her father. Dean's character just wants his parents to allow him responsibility for his actions. He feels that if his parents want to show him they care, then they should let him go off and stop running from his past.
Then there is Sal Mineo's character, who really examplify's the entire message--he lost his parents and their love, and is left with no one but his house-keeper. He's an outcast, and wants nothing more than the love of a parent. Dean een says it himself, towards the film's finale. "You know what he tried to do, was make us his family," or something to that degree.
What Rebel is, is a film with a great story, brilliant acting, great visuals, and more than enough substance.
While I can't sway your opinion, I reccomend you at least give it a rewatch, Irish.
"Somebody told me when the bomb hits, everybody in a two mile radius will be instantly sublimated, but if you lay face down on the ground for some time, avoiding the residual ripples of heat, you might survive, permanently fucked up and twisted like you're always underwater refracted. But if you do go gas, there's nothing you can do if the air that was once you is mingled and mashed with the kicked up molecules of the enemy's former body. Big-kid-tested, motherf--ker approved."
