Cultural Space and Urban Place

This week in class, we watched the classic film Rebel Without A Cause.  In relation to the topics we've discussed in class, this film takes place during a time that is sort of in between the movement from old world order to new world disorder. The war had just ended, which partly contributes to the teenagers being enabled to live this “rebellious” lifestyle. This film also emphasizes on the importance of a father figure, or lack thereof. All of the teens can empathize with each other through the shared feelings of having parents who just “don’t get it,” whether its Plato dealing with the fact that his father abandoned his family, Jim feeling anger towards his father for not standing up to his mother, or Judy who feels like her father does not love her. I think this film also does a good job of emphasizing how highly these teenagers value the idea of “fitting in.” Jim feels that if he doesn’t fight Buzz, everyone will make fun of him and he will be seen as weak. We can relate this to teens today. It is so easy to follow the crowd and do something we may not necessarily believe in just because everyone else is doing it. There is a fear of not being accepted and being an outcast. In my opinion, the title Rebel Without a Cause can be related to the Post-modern idea of the ever-evolving self. The teens are rebels, but it is not clear what their exact cause for rebellion is because it can frequently be changing.