How does the 1955 film rebel without a cause establish many of the generic conventions of teen movies?

The issue or masculinity is debated in its three character forms: Jim's dad shows us how he is emasculated and his role of man has been reversed with Mrs Stark. This is seen as he cleans up the meal he has made for his wife in a piny. Jim himself is portrayed as the picture of perfect masculinity as although he is rebellious he is charming and treats Plato as his surrogate son and Judy as his loving partner. Because of Jim's heroism in the film, Jim's dad's masculinity is restored and he realises that they need to resolve the conflict in the family unit. Plato offers the third view of masculinity as he is portrayed as coward and seems to need someone to replace his Parents who have abandoned him. His love for Jim could be viewed as homosexual, only at the time the film was released this love would be seen as admiration and plutonic father love. This is because not only was homosexuality illegal and considered a sin, the innocent audience wouldn't be able to differentiate between plutonic admiration and homosexual admiration. There is another theme which can be seen in almost every film in the Teen Movie genre. This is the theme of conflict between parent and child. In rebel without a cause the theme can be seen as Jim rebels against his father's lack of role model material. He sees his father as weak and unable to sustain the discipline needed to keep the family together. It can also be seen in the way Judy hates her father and wants to move away from the family. Other characters such as Plato resents his parental figures as he has been abandoned and it has had an obvious psychological effect on him. In other films such as save the last dance the teenage protagonist is resentful to her father for not being supportive enough. Some films in the teen movie genre have very few parental figures in them at all. In these cases the parent character is replaced by other authority figures that are often state provided. An example of this is the film 'American Graffiti' where the police and teachers offer cause for rebellion as the parents aren't even shown in the film.

Main characters are repeated throughout the teen movie genre and are nearly always portrayed on mise-en-scene in the same way.

The Geek - The character who is communicated as the unpopular and usually un-sexually experienced male. This can be seen in rebel without a cause in the form of Plato. He is unpopular and it seems as though nobody wants to be his friend until Jim provides him with social reassurance and tries to help him. In American pie the geek characters are played in varying degrees. Jim is shown as the jester character who can never seem to do much right resulting in comic relief. But in many films the geeky character manages to overcome social adversity and finally be accepted resulting in the relations with the opposite sex. She's all that shows how the geek can make the transition between ugly duckling into swan overnight. Another geek role is played by the character Toad in American Graffiti. He also starts off unpopular and without love, but ends up being true to himself and finding that the girl likes him for who he is.

The outside is another example of character that is often repeated in teen movies. This can be seen in Jim Stark in rebel without a cause, Sandy in grease and Sarah in save the last dance. These characters are all searching for social acceptance and at first come up against obstacles but in the end are absorbed by the community in different ways.

Rebel without a cause offers many ideal types for the protagonist characters. Jim and Judy are viewed as fashionable, beautiful and aspirational. This is so that they are accepted by the audience who have pre-existing concepts about how different people should be viewed. In The teen movie genre fat and/or ugly characters are never popular. They are hardly ever the hero as they are not aspirational characters for the audience to desire. The film rebel without a cause looks up to James Dean and Natalie Wood because they are both very beautiful actors and the teenage audience would definitely find aspiration in their image and personality. This is important for the film industry to communicate as for the film to be popular it must contain certain role models for the audience to relate to. This creates reason for the film to be watched and therefore receives funding from the teenager's pockets. After this film James dean's fashionable white tee-shirt and red jacket was copied throughout American teenage society and throughout the world. A similar fashion can be seen in American graffiti where John Milner wears his tight fitted short sleeved tee-shirt.

The film Rebel without a cause follows the perspective of Jim and Judy - the teenage protagonist characters. This is the main ideology of the teen movie genre, that it always sympathises with the youthful. This can be seen in such films as American Pie where the adults are seen as boring and only viewed as obstacles for the teenager's hedonism. American Pie challenges this convention as it uses an adult, Mrs Stiffler - a young mother trying to cling on to her youth - who seduces the intellectual 'Geek' character, Paul Finch.

Rebel without a cause paved the way for hundreds of films targeted at the teenage audience. It was created because there had never been a genre which offered teenagers a way to communally express their emotion before. The film gave iconic status to the name James Dean, and gave thousands of teenagers a role model to follow. The film can be seen in many other films which are constantly being added to the genre. Hundreds of other teen films have elements of Rebel without a cause and follow the generic conventions which it established in 1955.

Tom Lambert Media 09/05/2007