A Rebel With and a Rebel Without a Cause

Rebel Without a Cause is a very misleading name for this film for two reasons: the first is that Jim — the protagonist played by James Dean — is arguably not a rebel, and the second reason is that if he is a rebel, he has a very good cause. When considering pop-culture rebels, the first one to come to my mind was Holden Caulfield from the novel The Catcher in the Rye. I spent the first 30 minutes watching Rebel Without a Cause trying to compare Jim to Holden, before realizing that it was totally hopeless. Holden is not only a rebel, he is a jerk. Jim, on the other hand, is a genuinely good person.

The film starts with Jim tucking in a doll he found on the street under a napkin. Granted, he is wasted out of his mind, but, even in his drunken state, he proves that he genuinely cares for things. When we first meet John “Plato,” Jim — still falling over drunk — offers him his jacket. This small act of kindness towards a stranger is something Holden Caulfield would never do. No, Holden would call Plato a ‘phony,’ and then retreat to his high horse. On Jim’s first day at his new school, he accidentally steps on the school insignia, which is a small emblem on the ground outside the school. He apologizes profusely, but more importantly, he seems genuinely sorry. This act of humility — caring for something he knows nothing about — is yet another thing Holden Caufield would not do.

The Catcher in the Rye, while it might have been beloved years ago, now reads primarily as a spoiled kid taking his education for granted. Rebel Without a Cause on the other hand aged rather well. The first thing we learn about the film’s delinquents — Judy, Plato, and Jim — is that they all have difficult home lives. Judy suffers from her father’s emotional absence. Plato suffers from the physical absence of both of his parents. Jim suffers from his mother’s treatment of his father and their constant uprooting. Jim describes his home as “a zoo” and is in a continuous state of feeling ashamed and out of place.

Instead of glorifying and romanticizing the characters’ issues with their families, the film acts as a commentary on how dysfunctional households can shape a child. Not only does the film show the connection between absent parents and rebellious kids, but it also advocates for therapy. While therapy is commonplace now, it was not back in 1955. None of the characters are critical of therapy; in fact, Plato talks about how it helped him with some of his personal issues. I can’t say for certain, but I have a feeling that Holden Caulfield would think that therapy is for phonies.

I truly believe that Rebel Without a Cause was ahead of its time. It was one of only a handful of classics to age well, and it is genuinely entertaining. It shows complex characters, who are also likable. Jim’s goal was to protect his honor, to save his friend, and to save himself. Though it’s debatable whether or not Jim was, in fact, a rebel, if he was, at least he had a cause.