In Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Director Nicholas Ray and Screenwriter Stewart Stern cast James Dean in a performance of a lifetime. Although Dean died in a car accident at the age of twenty-four, his three performance’s left him a lasting legacy that is still referenced today. It is not hard to see how Dean’s method acting propelled him to stardom with only three pictures because when Jim Stark (James Dean) screams: “You’re not listening to me!” in Rebel Without a Cause, the desperation in his voice reverberates off the screen. When Jim Stark and Buzz Gunderson fight outside the observatory, Stark’s psyche is complex. Dean’s calm and collected demeanor turns into a rage-filled knife fight after being called chicken. These moments stop us cold, and Nicholas aligns us with Dean through various techniques such as the recurrent use of the eye-line match. Jim Stark, a teen who tries to understand what manhood means and his place in society, is thrust into a new environment after his parents move to a new neighborhood. A misunderstood teen who doesn’t have strong parental figures to guide him through adolescence, we see Dean’s character navigate his problems alone. Through the film’s characters, Jim Stark (James Dean), John ‘Plato’ Crawford (Sal Mineo), and Judy (Natalie Wood), Ray and Stern seem to be using them symbolically as products of the ineffectual parenting styles during the postwar era. Furthermore, parts of Ray’s mise-en-scene can be taken symbolically, outwardly representing dysfunctional parental styles and the struggling youth characters searching for a cause.
Nicholas Ray chooses to open the film in a police station with all three of our main characters in the same space, although unknown to each other. On this night, officers detain Jim Stark for public drunkenness, Plato for murdering puppies, and Judy, who skipped curfew. Ray and Stern use this chance encounter to give us a glimpse into all of these youth’s lives. With “Plato,” we learn that his parents ignore him, so he acts out in destructive ways. His housekeeper is the only parental figure that cares for him deeply. For Stark, when his parents arrive, a lengthy argument breaks out. Almost immediately, the lack of active communication causes Stark to burst into an emotional state: “You are not listening to me!” and he is taken into the back office with officer Ray Fremick. The officer seems to understand Stark’s plight, and he is released. The Stark family always has the father, Frank Stark (Jim Backus) give in to his wife Carol Stark’s (Ann Doran) demands. For Jim, he wants his father to be stronger. There is obviously more to Jim Stark’s public drunkenness than a simple night out; it is a cry for help. Judy is confused about her relationship with her father. She seems to be acting out because she is blossoming into a woman. She is no longer “daddy’s little girl,” so she chooses to hang around a rough crowd. This opening sequence is an incredibly effective start. It introduces the characters, skillfully brings the audience into the direct conflict through Dean’s method acting, and illustrates these character’s complex problems as a problem affecting many parts of the youth. The opening scene also acts as a catalyst to their relationships later in the film. The parents, or lack thereof, are directly involved in each of these characters’ struggles and how Ray goes back and forth to each character telling their stories sets the tone for the film.
Each time Jim comes home to talk to his parents, there is a distance between them. One of these crucial encounters has a direct mise-en-scene that openly shows the distance and ineffectual parenting in the Stark family. Frank Stark is costumed in an apron and takes care of his ill wife. He drops the dish of food, and his son sees him bent over, tending to the mess. This apron is frilly, yellow with pink flowers. It is layered over the father’s business suit, a symbol of authority and traditional masculinity. Perhaps it can be seen as a depiction of the consumerist neutered society. This symbol engulfing the suit, a traditionally masculine dress, is telling of what Ray and Stern are attempting to say about society. Additionally, the television set that Frank Stark sleeps in front of while his son is off doing whatever he wants tells of consumerist and passive society. Often referred to as “the idiot box,” the television constitutes Frank as an inept and passive father figure. With the combination of these two symbols, Frank’s character is put in a position that is counter to what Jim Stark needs. Jim seeks a father figure who will give him guidance in his life and one who he can model himself after under challenging situations. The apron is a symbol of servitude or housework that is not conducive to standing up to the delinquents at school and finding love. Father Stark’s parenting style might be referred to as permissive. He is distant, while the mother is more authoritarian. In a moment of familial dispute, Ray’s framing of the mother closer to the top of the stairs while the father is on his knees at the lower right of the frame illustrates the dynamic perfectly. In the center is Jim Stark with his iconic red jacket, while the ineffectual father is on his knees and the authoritarian mother is at the highest vantage point. This frame and character blocking are a visual representation of the dynamic between the Stark family and a glimpse of the problem of conflicting parenting styles. In the scene where Jim comes home to confide in his parents about Buzz’s plunge during the “chickie run,” he fights his father and yells at his mother about her character (she demands they move again). This is a moment where a shift towards a new Stark family emerges.
Two locations can be said to harbor symbolism, and significant insight into the world Ray builds. The observatory is a location that Jim goes to for a class. The choice of having a presenter show constellations in low-key lighting is strategic placement. For this section, existential angst is shown through the observatory presentation. The presenter highlights our insignificance in relation to the cosmos and our search for meaning. He points out constellations that could represent the way each youth attaches themselves to another. Thematically, Jim Stark is a character lost in his own cosmos. He is searching for meaning with the world around him, although his parents do not give him the necessary help to develop. Stark does not return to this location until he chases down Plato, who is a fragmented character and starts an old west style gun fight. The second location that brings about meaning is the abandoned mansion. The dimly lit areas and the large open spaces of the abandoned mansion could be taken as a representation of either Plato, as a character, or all three characters. Jim and Judy performing as husband and wife in this home is telling of their psychological states. Both wander the home while Plato falls asleep. This makeshift representation of parenthood, or the way they wander the halls exploring, is a very confused portrayal of adolescence. The unknown cosmos of each new corridor is like the discoveries in the observatory. The deep swimming pool is also a memorable image that reminds us of Buzz Gunderson’s earlier plunge.
From the beginning of the film, these three adolescent characters can be seen to represent an aspect of growing up in the post-war generation. With his red jacket, Jim Stark is a symbol of rebellion and existential angst of that generation. His character captures this element through James Dean’s use of method acting, really bringing confused emotions into the forefront. Plato is a character that shows the fragmented child brought up with no parental support. He sees Stark as a father figure and represents a youth that has a skewed sense of morality. He is willing to kill and loses control of his reality. A particularly telling image is when Stark gives Plato his jacket after which Sal Mineo’s character is shot. Before Plato is taken away, Jim zips the jacket up. This moment represents a close to Plato’s life, his sacrifice, and a chapter of Stark’s adolescence closed. Judy’s father is against her and, in one tense scene, even slaps her. This difficult familial tension gives a representation of physical development. She is blossoming into a woman, so she rebels from parents who do not give her the affection they used to. They are all symbols of the youth that lack the parental support they need. Parents who do not understand the issues they are dealing with and do not know how to address them. Even though Jim and Judy come together at the end, they only do so through the sacrifice of Plato. Without this character, the bond might not have been solidified. Symbolism bleeds into the film in many ways. Nicholas Ray uses a precise mise-en-scene to manifest dysfunctional parenting styles and the youth caught in the middle. The television and apron are just some of the symbols that suggest a problem in post-war society that Ray felt compelled to address.
— Christian Mietus, Blog Editor.
Christian’s Bio:
Christian is a Senior at Lewis University who is an English major and a minor in Film Studies and Russian Language and Culture. In 2019, he received the “Dr. Stephany Schlachter Excellence in Undergraduate Scholarship Award” for his collaborative piece “Assimilation through Sound.” In his free time, he appreciates and dissects cinema as well as consistently rating and reviewing it. Some of his favorite directors are Andrei Tarkovsky, John Cassavetes, Ingmar Bergman, and Kenji Mizoguchi. He also appreciates different art forms, such as music and literature. Christian hopes to continue expanding his skills as a writer and to encourage others to do so as well. He writes about film for the JFR blog, so check out Christian’s Cinematic Syntax.