Rebel without a Cause (1955) Film Analysis

What's interesting for me is that both Judy and Plato are attracted to Jim, and both have difficult relationships with their fathers that are different to Jim's problem with his. Neither Judy nor Plato are getting love or affection from theirs, and they're drawn to Jim because of his sensitivity and kindness. And with James Dean being a twentysomething, while Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo were teenagers - he easily looks older than them too - and he plays both the patriarch role and the love interest. Apparently the director's wife left him for his son, so this quasi-incest may have had a real life inspiration.

It really seemed to me that Plato was confused himself on how he truly felt about/saw Jim, it was for sure a time where homosexuality wasn’t perceived as normal and with the way he looked at Jim, not to mention one scene in particular (being the scene where Jim gives Plato his jacket) it seems much more in a romantically felt light rather than a fatherly sense in certain points of the film. Seeing as the writers intended for Plato to be admiring of Jim in a romantic sense and couldn’t be upfront, little things like the interactions between Plato and Jim hinted as much as they could about the way Plato saw Jim as more than a friend. It seemed as though as soon as he was near Judy and Jim, it was apparent to Plato that Jim was fond of Judy in a romantic sense and assumed his feelings towards Jim were much more like a family given his own abandoned him until of course the scene where he took hide out in the planetarium followed by Jim finding him soon after. The way he held Jim’s jacket close to him and even asked if he could keep (almost like a girlfriend wearing a boy’s varsity jacket in that day) it was no doubt meant to be more than Jim being seen as his father to his missing puzzle piece of a “new family”. After all, it was a coming of age storyline, so I have no doubt the conflicted feelings of understanding how you see a person can clash and go along with a teen trying to find their identity.

I think the name "chicken" had a much worse connotation back in the 50's than it does today, lol. It kind of reminds me of the "jive turkey" scene in Semi Pro.

As so often with young adolescent boys who have crushes on older boys this film depicts it perfectly. As brilliantly as James Dean is in this film he did not look like a teenager. Over all though this film is well done and depicts American teenagers in the 1950s. A great analysis given too.

This is a respectable analysis. Growing up in the United States, I immediately noticed that a key element of racial prejudice was that non-European young men had far fewer Hollywood stories written that portrayed them as complex, sophisticated and sympathetic delinquents. James Dean ironically symbolized a type of privilege I could never access -- the privilege to be presumed noble and complex instead of scary and pathological if I behaved in anti-social ways.

Love this movie got it on blue ray and 4K for my recent 30th birthday. Plato was misunderstood all he wanted was love and a family. Jim Judy and Plato are flawed characters but yet you still sympathize with them. I can watch this movie any day. The mansion scene when Jim Judy and Plato act like a family is one of my favorite film moments in film history.

I don’t think he was a homosexual. I think he was just looking for a male role model in the absence of his father.

...It's ironic that Jim is upset at his father for not presenting acceptable masculinity, and being the caretaker of his home rather than leader, yet Jim eventually finds meaning in caring for the fellow misfits - Judy and Plato.

The "handsome man," as you described it, hanging in Plato's locker is Plato's father.

After seeing this, "The Room" makes so much sense.

"while not perfect..." the big failing of the movie is the ending. I hate it, because it is an obvious Code Era resolution to a narrative that was deeply existentialist and called into question the bourgeois values of the era, while depicting the struggles which perpetuate them in the most violent and needy extremes. To end the film with Jim introducing Judy to his parents, and His mother and father hastily reconciling, was pure hogwash.... I cannot stand the last 2 minutes of this film. But it was the Code. THE CODE....

The importance of a father(figure) - and the consequences of the lack of one - is portrayed very good in this movie and you underlined that with your analysis.

Thomas, thank you for your contribution to the understanding of this great piece of art. If I could add my own perspective, I felt the interactions with Buzz were not acts of boredom or a desire to do something dangerous, but Jim making a choice between taking a stand and integrating his shadow or becoming his weak father. And in the opening scene when Jim is playing with the toy he also covers it and cares for it demonstrating he is a caring person. At the end of the movie, though he failed to save Plato, he did demonstrate how one should live and face challenges. He comforted Plato's caregiver by showing that Plato was seen, he showed Judy that a man can be strong and caring possibly setting up a future reconciliation for her relationship with her father, and he showed his father that a man needs to do the right thing even if it means a fight, which in the very limited scope of few moments devoted to his father at the end of the film his father took to heart. So many great pieces to this film. The understanding cop that set Jim up to have a chance at success. Buzz was wonderful as well. There was a great depth to a fairly minor character there. He could have been portrayed only as a bully, but he recognized Jim's acceptance of his challenge and respected him for it and with his presence kept the wheels somewhat civilized. I never put a great emphasis on the sexuality aspects of the film beyond recognizing they were there but I appreciate the time and thought you put into it and setting up some questions about the film for me to think of myself.

Awesome video on a great movie that had a drastic impact on American (as well as international) culture!

The picture of the "handsome man" hanging in Plato's locker is Alan Ladd the father in law of Cheryl Ladd from Charlie's Angels.

I thought the Plato character was craving for a father figure, partly because he had a totally absent father. The picture of Alan Ladd hanging in his locker was someone he saw as a father figure. He even told James dean that he wished that he had been his father. Later on he said in anger that your not my father after he thought James Dean had abandoned him. Whether this craving became sexualized or not is not clear.

The character of Plato I find very interesting because of the time period the movie is made, there are scene, actions and dialog that could suggest their is a gay teen crush for Jim by Plato but it’s 1955 and gay storylines were not allowed in mainstream movie theaters at that time so it may be a suggestive storyline. There is definitely a man role figure present in Plato for jim. Especially in the scene where he asked him to make breakfast like his dad used to and telling Natalie woods character he wants him to teach him how to fish. If you notice platos attitude, he is his happiest when he is around Jim and Judy. It’s one of those storylines that is up for interpretation and in the eyes of the beholder.

Did anyone else initially think James was holding and about to hit a bong at +3:07? Lol

Plato is apprehended for shooting the litter of puppies in the start of the film, and then is himself the slain juvenile at the end.

Hey, man, I had just made a film analysis on the movie on my channel and saw this one in recommended after, I actually really enjoyed your video and kinda wished I reached out to you just to help me be more informed and prepared when I was writing the script for the video. New Sub here, look forward to future videos!