Rebel Without a Cause

I knew James Dean was young and extremely good looking and that he died on a motorcycle, and I knew that Rebel Without a Cause has the word rebel in it, and so this paean to patriarchy really caught me off guard. The movie is about how America need more dads, and manlier dads at that. It's about how all too often dads fail to assert themselves by abusing their wives and children, how sometimes they even end up in the kitchen.

America's sons are shooting puppies, its daughters are incestuous sluts, its daddies are donning floral aprons. But Jim Stark (James Dean), soldier of patriarchy, is here to save the day. He will not abide being called chicken, he'll offer you his coat at the drop of a hat, "he doesn't say much but when he does you know he's sincere."Jim is the star of a movie in which the acme of honor is going to the police station to hash things out with the local authority figures. We've come a long way to get to La Haine. Jim is here now, and Jim will be your dad. That is, if you aren't a sniveling, faggot, momma's boy deviant, in which case it's probably for the best that you're dead -- you can shore up Jim's sweetheart bona fides as he cries over your body without having to confront the bigotry that made you a murderous outcast.

I loved the super sneaky ending with the guy walking up the stairs to work, that was some SLY conformity there.

I sincerely appreciated james dean's daringly unfinished sentences, the guy is a terrific actor. He really got the laconic, manly, ''sincere'' thing down pat. Also, this movie is super beautiful. The colors are great, I really want that red jacket and some levis now. I have often claimed to have invented the white t shirt, but that is pretty clearly untrue.