Is REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE a Gay Movie?

you're tearing me apart Rebel Without a Cause is one of the most iconic and enduring films ever made debuting in 1955 it left an indelible influence on everything from acting to literature to politics from Westside Story to Elvis Presley to George Lucas to David Bowie not to mention Akira Paula Abdul and the room you are tearing me partly starring James Dean as a tortured teen lashing out at the conservative 1950s Rebel find the very concept of teenage rebellion and your folks didn't understand they never do but behind the fast cars and tough talk at Rebel's heart is a tender friendship that's easy to read as a gay romance hey you want to come home with me I mean there's nobody home at my house heck I'm not tired and although sensors and Studio Executives issued Furious demands to cut anything queer the filmmakers loaded the film with same sex desire drawing on elements from their own personal lives together they created a blueprint of teenage an angst and desire that shaped American culture for decades to come I just once I want to do something right this is the story of Rebel Without a Cause it's making the subtle queer content that they snuck past the sensors and why its Spirit lives on today so if you've never seen it Rebel is a story about a group of teenagers who develop an intense all-consuming emotional bond in a highly compressed span of time while disaster looms overhead it's all over the world ended in that sense you can think of it as sort of like Romeo and Juliet but set in the 1950s 2 years before a story based on that very idea arrived on Broadway but Rebel has a few key elements that make it more than just Boy Meets Girl for one thing it's really Boy Meets Girl and other boy but I'm happy now here and for another the three main characters of Rebel have something important in common they're all lonely Outsiders longing for someone to connect to but they're not getting it from any of the people in their lives and in fact they're actively prevented from getting what they need that's all set up in a brilliant opening scene here's how it plays out the action starts late at night on Easter Sunday 1955 the first teen is Jim played by James Dean Jim's family just moved to town and he's not making a great first impression the police found him wandering around town drunk you want to lean him up against something but he's not just intoxicated a sympathetic cop can tell there's something upsetting him thing's pretty rough for you at home please lock me up I'm going to hit some bu I'm going to do something I don't Jim has no one he can talk to least of all his parents when they arrive at the police station what's the matter with you anyhow he's just loaded honey I was talking to Jim they ignore him they talk over him they're mad about being called away from a party at their country club more interested in bickering with each other than in their own kid I cut loose pretty good in my day too really Frank when was that can't you wait till we get home and by the way if Jim's dad seems familiar it's Jim bakas the millionaire from Gilligan's Island Boys Love Trains myar know railroad definitely goes to Gilligan and the voice of Mr meoo there he is active little fellow spitting image of his father in other words he's perfectly cast as a quintessential old man who doesn't have a clue about what's going on around him Jim's parents argue in circles over him until finally he snaps you're teing me apart what you you say one thing he says another and everybody changes back again it's a shocking moment one of the most memorable in the film but Jim's parents still barely take notice that's a fine way to behave well you know who he takes after he tells the cop if I had one day when I didn't have to be all confused I didn't have to feel that I was ashamed of everything if I felt that I belong someplace Jim just wants to figure out where he belongs to find people who accept him but everywhere he goes he feels like he just doesn't fit it's a feeling of isolation that's probably familiar to a lot of teens then and today but what Jim doesn't know is he's not as isolated as he thinks there are two other troubled youth at the station that night one of them is 16-year-old Judy played by Natalie Wood like Jim the cops picked her up because she was wandering around town in the middle of the night and like Jim she feels like an outsider in her own family he hates me makes you think he hates you Judy he looks at me like I was the ugliest thing in the world Judy wants to be more grown up but her father gets mad when she dresses like an adult they grabb my face and he started rubbing off all the lipstick but in a later scene we see that her dad also gets mad when she wants the same affection that he gave her when she was young girls don't love their father since when since I got to be 16 stop that sit down Judy tries to put up a cool facade like it doesn't bother her but privately I'll never get close to anybody she feels like she can't fit anywhere that no one will ever love her it's pretty heartbreaking and like Jim it's a feeling of isolation that's probably familiar to a lot of teens and that's also the case for the third Outsider at the police station his name's John but he goes by Plato if Jim and Judy's parents are giving them mixed messages play parents are at least on the same page about their kid they can't stand him I don't care for Joe Plato's dad left years ago his mother goes on long vacations and leaves Plato behind with a nanny but Plato is spiraling into terrible trouble the police picked him up because he did something truly awful do you have any idea why you shot those puppies John if you want to set up a character as a villain in an opening scene this is pretty much the easiest way to do it and Plato's definitely Disturbed but he's also not entirely villain he's as upset as anyone else about what he did in one version of the script he says I guess I'm just no good and explains that he saw the puppies nursing with their mother and experienced a hysterical breakdown at the sight of a mother who actually cares for her children that certainly doesn't excuse what he did but it at least points in a direction that might help do you know if the boy ever talked to a psychiatrist oh Mrs Crawford don't believe in them sir like the other two teens it would probably help for Plato to have someone he could talk to about his feelings but his mother won't let him it's a recurring theme of the film adults who think they're helping but really just getting in the way the entire police station scene is really brilliant we meet all three characters and we see how similar they are but the characters themselves don't know anything about each other the set's designed so they can see each other through panes of glass like zoo animals but they can't make contact they can't talk to each other there's just one moment of contact when Jim sees that Plato is cold and he offers him his jacket and watch off to the side how Judy notices gim and her compact but then the police immediately intervene and separate them and that's the real tragedy of the scene all three are upset for basically the same reason if I felt that I belong someplace I'll never get close to anybody nobody can help me all three think they're totally alone if they could just hear each other they'd realize that's not the case but they can't at least not yet we end the police station scene with everybody isolated so what draws them together well you see that play out in the scenes that follow starting the next morning Jim sees Judy walking to school and he tries to make a connection hi I've seen her before but Judy's not into it well stop the world especially when Jim mentions that he recognizes her from the police station the previous night look at how nervous she gets when she realizes he saw her in a moment of vulnerability I know where it was where what was where I first saw you Judy doesn't want anyone to know how lonely she feels she tries to adopt a tough Persona with one of my favorite lines in the film you live here don't you who lives she's so ridiculously over the toop with her attitude that it comes around to being funny my whole life is a dark room so why is she so resistant cuz she's part of a tough crowd they all have to show off how cool and aloof they are Judy does the same to fit in what's that oh that's a new disease at this point Judy's walls are up as high as they can be she's putting up a front that she doesn't need anyone but we know and Jim probably suspects that's not really true and to his credit Jim doesn't push it he just watches her go for now and while Judy may not be ready to open up to jym Plato certainly is it happens at school the next day Plato's at his locker and he sees Jim in a mirror it's a moment that Echoes the police station when Judy first caught sight of Jim in her compact Plato is Spellbound he can't stop staring what's so captivating well there's a clue right under the mirror in his locker it's a picture of Al lad an actor who was in a lot of westerns at the time considered a tough man's man Cinema heartthrob I hear a lot of talk in town about you what kind of talk I what kind would you expect handsome fell like yourself can't stop people from talking not if they've got dirty minds and there are a couple of ways to read that photo and what it's there to tell us one is that maybe Plato has it there because he wants to comb his hair like a cinema hunk it's the movie's way of telling us that Plato wishes he was cooler or maybe it's there to show that Plato wishes he had a strong male figure in his life we know his dad left when he was young or it could be there for the same reason I always pick Bowser and Mario Kart Plato just likes looking at hot men or maybe it's a mix of all three whether you interpret Plato is looking for a role model or a mentor or a lover or all of the above this one little turn of the head is pretty meaningful from this point on Plato stops looking at a photo for what it is that he needs from now on he's looking to a real person and he's going to pursue him Plato makes his move later that day on a school trip to a planet Arium the planetarium show is weirdly apocalyptic so much that it frightens PL at one point and there are lines that are unusually nihilistic man existing alone seems himself an episode of little consequence after it's over Jim sees that Plato was upset and he calms him down hey it's all over the world ended Plato stands up and look at how adoring his gaze is here and he says this what does he know about man alone unlike Judy Plato has no problem opening up showing Jim that he's lonely and Jim seems to get it Plato's looking for companionship Jim's looking for someone he feels like he belongs with and they both look pretty comfortable together they might not realize it yet but there's a new family starting to take shape two lonely outcasts together at last but just how together are they well it's not hard to see something romantic going on at one point a little later in the film Plato's daydreaming out loud and he says maybe next sumbody he's going to take me hunting with him and and fishing I want him to teach me how because I know he won't get mad if I goof in other words he wants Jim to teach him how to be a man and to be gentle while he does it and on one hand you could interpret that as Plato wanting a mentor or a father figure but personally I think Plato's feeling something that's more romantic for a couple of reasons for one thing there's just the body language the better they get to know each other the closer they get physically they lock eyes they touch each other there even a few moments when Plato asks Jim to slip away with him I know a place where we can go hey you want to come home with me I mean there's nobody home at my house heck I'm not tired to me those invitations feel like fumbling attempts at a hookup and Jim never pushes ploh away he likes the companionship and then there's the intent of the filmmakers according to the book The unbridge James Dean screenwriter steuart Stern reportedly said I wanted the role to have homosexual overtones and in fact James Dean loved that aspect of the script he wanted to make it more explicit before salino was cast Dean asked if play could be played by his close friend Jack Simmons Jack had acted with Jim on television before and he was openly gay that was pretty unusual for the time depending on who you ask Jack may also have been Dean's boyfriend there's a lot of evidence that Dean had multiple relationships with other men and we don't have time to go into all of them here but I'm posting a bonus video over on patreon where I go over exactly what we know and what we don't know about the men in James Dean's life another aspect that makes it seem romantic even after the role went to Sal Mino James Dean still wanted to lean into the same SE romance he told director Nick Ray to have Plato gaze at Jim like he's in love that was pretty easy for S to do because he really was in love with James Dean in real life s didn't talk about that until years later but in later interviews he said I was incredibly in love with him we never became lovers he said we could have like that of course as much as they wanted to explore the gay angle they couldn't make it explicit films back then weren't allowed to have openly gay characters anything like that had to be hinted at very subtly like in Hitchcock's rope 6 years earlier how Que in fact as they got close to shooting sensors detected the gay vibe in Rebel and they were pissed he sure gives me the Reds at the time all films had to be approved by a body called the production code Administration and they did not like what they saw a note from the PCA read it is of course vital that there be no inference of a questionable or homosexual relationship between Plato and Jim Studio Executives were alarmed too in one scene the script describes Plato and Jim falling against each other and one executive at Warden Brothers thought that meant amorously he wrote in the margin of the script Jim and Plato kiss in what must have been disbelief to be clear the script didn't call for a kiss and they didn't shoot one but I can understand why the executive thought what he did especially when you see the screen tests which were filmed just days before shooting began in those James and salino are even more intimate they hold each other they lie against each other at one point James nearly lands a kiss on the cheek so knowing how far the filmmakers wanted to push the depiction and seeing in the screen tests how far they wanted to go and knowing how eager James Dean was to make it gay I'm very comfortable saying yeah these guys are into each other but with Jim and Plato now coming together there's still one person missing Judy she's still running around with that tough crowd and something's going to have to change for her to open up to Jim and change it does the gangs decided they don't like Plato or and their leader Buzz challenges Jim to a fight come on give him a knife pick it up I don't want any trouble take a look at this important difference between Jim and Buzz where Jim is honest and open and sincere about his feelings I think that you can't just go around proving things and and pretending like you're tough Buzz is all Swagger he's putting on a show he's a phony in fact when nobody else is around he even admits to Jim you know something I like you that really highlights the distinction between them Jim has no problem saying how he feels that's something that Judy starts to notice and appreciate what's he like he's sincere well that's the main thing but Buzz everything he does is for show and that turns out to be his undoing he challenges Jim to a game of chicken they have to drive toward a cliff and the first one to jump out of the car is the loser but during the game [Music] Buzz plunges to his death because his extremely cool jacket gets caught in the car door it's his own fault he wanted to impress everyone and he paid a terrible price and that changes things the rest of the gang for all their tough guy Swagger are terrified and they flee only three people are left behind Judy Jim and Plato Jim knows they're all traumatized especially Judy who just saw her boyfriend die he sees her staring over the cliff and watch how he takes her hand with Plato standing between them he gives her a little Shake of the head it's like he's afraid she might jump and he's pulling her back from the edge he's rescuing her earlier that day Judy pushed him away in part because she knew he'd seen her at her most vulnerable now he's seeing her even more vulnerable and this time she takes his hand now we've got our family Plato's found someone to look up to Judy's found someone who understands her and Jim has found people who accept him all three are starting to look out for each other and they're going to need that support because they're about to face a world that is very much against them so why does it feel like the world is out to get them and you can find the answer to that by looking at how the adults treat them after the incident of the cliff Jim turns to his parents for help but well far be it for me to tell you what to do you going to preach do we have to listen to a sermon now they are totally unhelpful his dad is weak and cowardly his mom is domineering aggressive do you enjoy doing this to me or what this aspect of the film doesn't age great back in the 1950s people thought men should be assertive and women submissive that if they fail to live up to those roles that their kids could become abnormal at one point the film shows the dad wearing an apron and Jim freaks out don't I mean you shouldn't don't at another Point Jim has an unbelievable suggestion if he had guts to knock mom cold once then maybe she'd be then she'd sto picking on him that line is just awful and so is the way that the film seems to blame Jim's problems on his parents not living up to traditional gender roles that's a reflection of the sexism of the time back then audiences would have taken it as a sign that Jim's parents were failing him but today it just comes off as terrible and it's especially unfortunate because the parents have some much more legitimate problems like how they don't listen to their kid they don't take Jim seriously and they give him terrible advice when Jim asks his dad if he should participate in the game of chicken we've got to consider all the pros and cons well I'll get some paper and we'll make a list that advice is so out of touch it's just funny and then later when Jim comes back and tells his parents that someone died I don't want you to go to the police there were other people why should you be the only one involved his parents make a Bonker suggestion that he should just act like everything's fine just tell a little white lie you learn when you're Jim or that maybe they could just run away from their problems well it doesn't matter anyway because we're moving even when Jim tells them exactly what he needs from them their reaction is totally unhelpful out of touch it's like they're dealing with someone from a totally different culture because in a sense they are Rebel reflects a real life cultural shift that was happening in the US in the 1950s with teenagers at the center this movie came along just when the world was totally changing for people in their teens when Jim's parents were young the idea of teenagers didn't really exist people tended to think of kids going straight from childhood to adulthood and it was until the 1940s that they started thinking of teen years as something unique and some of that's because of the baby boom there were a ton of births starting in the 1940s and by the mid-50s there were more teenagers than ever before eventually their numbers doubled there were so many teens it was kind of overwhelming may I have your attention may I have your attention oh what the heck and that's not all after the Depression in World Wars the US had a period of affluence and that extended to teens don't I buy everything you want a bicycle you get a bicycle a car you buy me many things not only were there more of them but now they had a lot more money than they used to and that meant the company saw an opportunity to make money there was a huge rise in products for teens especially entertainment before this entertainment had previously focused either on small children or adults movie magazines of the 1930s tend not to show teenagers at all when they covered youth they're usually talking about people in their 20s before the ' 50s if you thought of a leading man it was probably somebody rugged even middle-aged but as teens got more numerous and more affluent those old Leading Men went out the window the new style was sigh guys men who were younger smaller more boyish like Tab Hunter Rody McDow and especially James Dean he's different that's right I'm cute too movies TV shows music couldn't churn out teen stars like Dean fast F enough it was the start of what we now recognize as youth culture something that the parents and rebel just have no basis for comparison from their own childhood and then there was one more big change technology more people had home phones radios were smaller cars were cheap enough that teenagers could buy them used all of those things existed before the 1950s but this was the first time that they were so readily available and such a big part of teenagers lives you can see that reflected in the film The Teenagers used cars to go wherever they want often with the adults watching in dismay Jim phones Judy to figure out their next steps although her dad is pissed about it and watch how the gang uses a radio call-in show to issue a threat to Jim this time from the boys down at Anna's Pizza Paradise Jim this is dedicated to you from Buzz they can communicate with each other and get around in ways that previous generations never could and the adults in their lives either have no idea what the kids are getting up to or they're scared by it and that reflects something that was happening in real life a widespread belief that the upcoming generation was violent sexual even perverse in 1954 a senate subcommittee on juvenile delinquency was formed and experts testified that America's modern youth lived in an atmosphere of Deceit and cruelty the FBI tells us that 50% of those arrested for serious crimes are under 21 that wasn't the only source of moral Panic a year before Rebel there was a bombshell book called seduction of the innocent which claimed that comic books were turning kids into violent monsters Jim even makes a sarcastic reference to Comics at one point when the gang confronts him you know something no what you read too many comic books there were articles about how teens all had switch blades with headlines like the toy that kills and sure enough switch blades are a major plot point in rebel I thought only punks fought with knives and of course there was a fear that teenagers were being seduced into homosexuality today's youth can be stimulated to enter the world of homosexuals they tell youngsters that it's smart it's thrilling it provides kicks to be a homosexual now a lot of that moral Panic was simply made up seduction of the innocent for example was full of faulty statistics and madeup stories the book claimed that Comics condone homosexuality and their only evidence was pointing to the relationship between Batman and Robin but the facts didn't matter to the moral panic in general mainstream culture saw teenagers as the enemy a problem that needed to be fixed Judy's dad even says as much much I don't know what to do all of a sudden she's she's a problem of course the adults never stop to consider whether the problem might be them am I so out of touch no it's the children who are wrong in that climate you can see Rebel as a response to the moral panic in the film teen delinquency is shown to be a misunderstanding at least for our main characters Jim Judy and Plato don't get into trouble because they want to it's because the world has changed and they don't know what their place in it is and when they beg the adults for help Mom I just once I want to do something right this is all going too fast for me you better give me something you better give me something fast they get nothing from their parents who have no idea what kind of world their kids are living in and either dismiss them when you're older you'll look back at this and you'll well you'll you'll laugh at yourself for for thinking that this is so important or just assume they're up to no good and I ran out of the PED house is that why you were wandering around at 1:00 in the morning you weren't looking for company were you after Jim's parents tell him to deal with a car crash by basically pretending it didn't happen it's clear to him he can't expect any help from his folks he feels a lot more confident though about Judy and Plato even though he's only known them for a few hours at least they understand what he's going through but now that they've got each other now what well in the next few scenes we see them figure out what they want their lives together to be as far as their home life is concerned they never want to go back Plato knows a place they can go an old abandoned mansion up in the hills and by the way this was an actual abandoned mansion in Los Angeles it's the same creepy house that they used to shoot Sunset Boulevard at one point it had empty for so long locals started calling it The Phantom house so it's a perfect place for these characters to go they feel abandoned by the world so they find a house that feels that way too listen how they talk to each other once they're there what do you think of my castle I think we'll take it for the summer would you like to rent it or are you more in the mood to buy dear you decide darling they're pretending to be a family making fun of the families that failed them what about children see we really don't encourage them they're so noisy and Troublesome and also making fun of how their parents treated them if you have children you'll find that this is a wonderful Arrangement if you lock them in you'll never have to see them again much less talk to them talk to them Heavens nobody talks to children and check out this incredible line that was improvised by James Dean I don't know what to do when they cry do you do round them like puppies it's such a weird voice what is he doing it's an impression of the cartoon character Mr meoo cheap pen I liked it much better when we wrote with Brothers once more please and Mr Meo was voiced by Jim bakas the actor who plays Jim's dad in the film it's a bizarre meta moment that emphasizes how their parents are literally cartoonishly out of touch but the important thing to watch here is just how comfortable they can be around each other they're pretending to be a family and without realizing it they're not just pretending they're giving each other everything they want from a family love support respect optimism about the future but I'm happy now here oh I wish we could stay here this is the first time we've seen any of them especially Plato feeling so happy and safe he's so content he falls asleep and while Plato snoozes listen to how Jim and Judy open up to each other all the time I've been I've been looking for someone to love me and and now I love somebody they both felt so unlovable before and now and it's so easy why is it easy now I think that's kind of a heartbreaking line Judy had gotten so used to feeling unwanted she thought that loving somebody was hard to do and now she's discovered it's not it's just a matter of finding the right person and once you find them there's nothing to it there's another big moment in this scene when Judy asks Jim if he knows what women like a man yes but a man who can be gentle and and sweet like you are that's huge remember at the time people thought that men should be dominant aggressive unemotional the kind of person her dad is the kind of guys she followed around in the gang now she's discovered something that she thinks is better a kind of masculinity that treats her with respect and not just her there's a really interesting moment in the scene where the actors change something in the original script Judy's telling Jim why she likes him and originally she was supposed to say that it was nice of Jim to let Plato have a candle so he could see just a small gesture not a huge deal but when it came time to shoot here's what Judy says instead like being Plato's friend when nobody else liked him that's being strong with this new line Judy's acknowledging Plato has issues people don't like him of the three of them he's probably the most troubled the hardest to love and he's experienced the most rejection but not only does Jim show understanding he gives Plato affection and Judy calls that strong remember she used to look up to strength that meant keeping people at a distance swaggering acting tough but now she's seen Jim stand up for someone that he likes even though it meant going against the rest of the crowd and she realizes that takes bravery more bravery than just acting tough Jim's kindness to her is strength that's what she wants that's what they all want someone to be kind to them this empty abandoned house is sort of like a laboratory for them to figure out what kind of Life they truly want they've taken themselves out of the world they used to be stuck in the one that no longer worked for them and they're figuring out what they really need instead essentially that's a family a family that's better than the ones that they came from and if they could just shut out the people who don't accept them they might be okay but the world isn't ready to leave them alone Buzz's friends are scared that Jim will tell the police what happened and they're out looking for Jim and Judy and pl and by the way if one of these kids look looks familiar perhaps you're familiar with his later work you must be the great Koopa anyway the gang find Plato's address book that leads the gang to the mansion they arrive they Corner Plato and he escapes still carrying his mother's gun he fires a few times in self-defense and that gets the attention of some nearby cops throughout the film we've seen adults constantly assume kids are a threat especially the police now that Plato's fired a gun that's all the justification they need to go after him the cops Chase PL up the hill they even try to shoot him in the back while he's running away which is nuts they're about as competent with guns as the cops in plan n from outer space get back up the car and get out a radio d a corner he's got to make another trip out here Plato makes it up the hill to the Planetarium and hides inside more cops arrive which doesn't bode well while they Mill around outside trying to figure out what to do Jim and Judy go after their friend and try to help you in there you're my friend that means a lot to me they actually do a great job of handling things Jim finds Plato and he knows just what to say Jim reminds Plato how much they care for him Judy's here she's waiting come on he gets PL calmed down not ready to come out yet no no okay promise you nothing will happen if you do he even gives Plato his jacket a call back to the first scene at the police station when Plato refused Jim's hand but this time he takes it War can I keep it well what do you [Music] think and crucially while they're talking Jim manages to slip the bullets out of Plato's gun so far so good Jim steps out to show the cops that he emptied the magazine you don't have to worry about anything here right keep the guys back then he guides PL to the door it's an amazing deescalation Jim's showing the adults a better way to deal with problems not with violence but by talking and listening but do the cops care as soon as Plato arrives at the door all they see is a threat they blind him with lights he runs into a panic and [Music] then it's devastating and the worst part it's so unnecessary I got the bullets of all of them Plato probably yearned for connection the most and he' finally found it with people who understood him and then they lost him so horribly this poor baby got nobody just nobody salino later said that when they shot that scene and when he saw the grief that James Dean mustered to mourn Plato I understood what being loved meant he's always cold for all the talk about how violent and dangerous the youth are in the end it's the adults who commit homicide as endings go it's horrible horrible tragic and when the reviewers at the production code Administration saw it they called the ending more or less happy why on Earth would they call cops killing a kid a more or less happy ending well because according to the PCA he more or less deserved it in those days any movie character who committed a crime had to be punished in the end and when you look at the pca's notes they only felt that there was one crime committed in the entire film juvenile delinquency and the notes go on that for the crime Plato is punished by law that's Justice by the pca's logic Plato's dead moral orders restored and that makes it to the PCA a happy ending the film even shows Jim's parents exchange a smile with each other after it's all done now I certainly don't agree that this is a more or less happy ending that is insane but I also don't think Rebel is entirely sad it has more going on than just a teenage tragedy and I think that's why the film spoke to so many people first when it came out and and then in the years and decades that followed from the moment of its release audiences saw something special in this film The New York Times called it a picture to make the hair stand on end teenagers flocked to see it in droves in part because it was one of the first movies to show the world from a teenage perspective to take them seriously teenagers started dressing like Jim quoting the film using it to explain their own lives unfortunately James Dean never got to see the impact that Rebel had just a few weeks before it opened he was driving down to California Highway crashed his car and he died instantly just like that James Dean was gone but his importance to audiences lived on there were tributes memorials fan clubs devoted to continuing his memory they called themselves deers for many it was as much a part of their identity as being teens even a year after he died Warner Brothers was still getting 8,000 letters a month from teenagers writing to say how much he meant to them one fan letter explained it to us teenagers Dean was a symbol of of the fight to make a place for ourselves in the world of adults so what was it about this movie what was it about this actor that made them such an important symbol screenwriter steuart Stern suggested it's because the film is a plea for compassion that's why kids love it he said it's a film that says someone has value though he may not think he has and I think he's absolutely right because when I watch Rebel the moments that stick out to me are the moments when someone is kind or makes a connection when Jim Comforts Plato in the planetarium when Judy sees someone who might understand and respect her and Jim pulls her back from the edge when all three of them are happy together imagining how much better their lives could be realizing that they're not alone they're not unlovable that they found each other and they can care for each other those moments are especially compelling to me because that story Outsiders finding love in a world that's against them is such a familiar queer narrative people who thought that they were the only one of their kind that nobody would ever accept them finding each other and creating something better it's so easy to relate to characters like that even when they're not explicitly gay even across decades or genres from stories like Rebel Without a Cause to the X-Men the X-Men are my family now and members of a family help each other I think that's a big reason why Rebels struck such a chord when it came out for whatever reason someone felt like an outcast gay or straight the film is a reminder you're not alone and I think Natalie Wood said it best she was asked why the film is so enduring and she credited to James Dean's performance and what he was trying to say through the character of Jim at the time he seemed like a great non conformist and a great Rebel and an eccentric and all of that but really he was just trying to get that connection he was really saying listen to me you know hear me love me now there are lots more great stories about Rebel that I didn't have room for in this video but I'm posting those in bonus videos over on patreon I've got one about the many men and maybe boyfriends in James Dean's life I've got another about his friendship with Vampira the woman who inspired Elvira and about the time that he played Frankenstein in a play called goon With the Wind I've got all that and lots more at patreon.com/crashcourse everybody who helped me with this video especially the folks at the Margaret herck library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences thanks to Christopher bonanos City editor at New York Magazine you can check him out at Old NY mag on Instagram thanks to Jason Kito for all of his expertise on the life of James Dean and huge thanks to everybody who makes these videos possible on patreon now if you'll excuse me there are some troubled youths who need my attention Michelangelo there's a barrel of silicone lubricant over there use it to give him a slip callaba

Channel: Matt Baume

Views: 83,005

Keywords:

Id: 2y3YyNUHLRE

Length: 36min 56sec (2216 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 18 2024