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James Dean, the Role Model Teen
by Wyatt Newman
Movie critics loved him. He was a, if not THE Hollywood hottie of
the Fifties. He was so popular and loved that a James Dean cult
followed his death.
Balderdash! James Dean appeared in only three films, and while it's
unfortunate his career had to end with his premature death, two of
the three films he was in that I viewed--"Rebel Without a
Cause" and "Giant"--were enough that I didn't like
the guy.
I consider James Dean a graduate of the Marlon Brando School of
Methodological Performing Pomposity. Dean and Brando were mumblers,
to start. They overdid their characters. Their "method"
acting, which made them famous to their fans, seemed too unreal and
persons that I would avoid if they should ever enter my life.
I don't like the title given to Dean in "Rebel" as
symbolic of rebellious youth of post-war America. Yes, the very term
"teenagers" came about after the war, they having more
independence and pampered benefits from parents who wanted a
different society after living through the Depression and war. There
was a social change, and social changes cause confusion. But were
teens really that confused, prone to violence and death-flirting,
hateful of incompetent parents, or what were popularly known as
"crazy, mixed-up kids?"
I do recall some of our schoolmates being on the rebellious side:
accosting teachers, flagrantly violating school rules among others.
But adolescents and kids have always challenged authority and social
norms, not all of them but some. I remember such kids were called
"rods." But even if the 1950s are considered to be the
years of social conformity, the rods or James Dean Rebels Without a
Cause were not the majority, certainly not the symbol of our
generation at that stage of our lives. As early as I can remember,
there were always guys who were aggressive or just plain mean and
rebellious, guys who wanted to pick fights for the sake of it.
In "Giant," Dean played the same type of
character--rebellious, confused, bordering on being a social
outcast--still doing the Brando mumble and as far as I'm concerned,
downright despicable.
While actors come and go, are likable or not, that's understandable
and I have no argument with such. But don't, please don't claim that
James Dean was the model for our generation. My cause is to rebel
against the characterization of being a "rebel without a
cause."
- Wyatt |
