Rock and Roll’s Foundation
The musical genre of Rock N’ Roll celebrates sex, drugs, and rebellion. However,
its façade is unrepresentative of its roots. For adolescents, the chaotic decade of the
1950’s presented a frustrating struggle to hold onto innocence amid the cycles of neglect
and confusion of authority. Though one may believe that the genre’s roots derive strictly
from the physically-pleasing aspects of life, the fictional characters of Jim Stark and Plato
Crawford (Rebel Without a Cause), and Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye),
represented an innocent generation of frustrated youth looking for answers.
This frustration and search for relief is the main focus of Nicholas Ray’s film
Rebel Without a Cause. The main character Jim Stark represents a solution to the chaos
that enveloped teens during the time period. He is a rebel, and others marvel at his
contrasting actions to society’s norms. One character in particular takes refuge in Jim’s
peculiar ways: Plato Crawford. While Jim represents the solution to the pressure that is
put on by society, Plato represents the struggle. He is the epitome of the adolescent’s
struggle against change and neglect. In the scene where he is mugged in front of his
home, Plato runs upstairs, rummages through his mail and pulls out a child support check
from his absent mother. He proceeds to rip the paper to shreds, and in this instance, Ray
has successfully captured the frustration of the youth of the time period. Later in the film,
Plato explains that his dad “might as well be dead” and that his mother cancelled his
expensive trips to see a psychologist to fund her getaway to Hawaii. Teens were put on
the back-burner, ignored, and had their would-be tender upbringings traded for the “good
life” that was so prevalent in 1950’s American society.
Continuously throughout the film, Ray attempts to portray the negative impact
adults have on youth. As Jim, Judy, and Plato walk around the secluded mansion, Plato
acts as a real estate agent looking to sell the property to a married couple: Jim and Judy.
After a long, playful dialogue between the three, the scene becomes depressing as they
begin to imitate the carelessness and neglect of adults:
Plato: “We don’t encourage children. They’re so noisy.”
Jim: “Nobody talks to children.”
Judy: “No, they just tell them.”
Ray pinpoints the problem American youth had in the 1950’s in this dialogue. On
a larger scale, teenagers during the era the film debuted felt neglected by their parents,
whose lifestyles revolved around worldly possessions and commercial goods. During the
opening scene of the film, Judy replays a scene to a counselor about her father abusing
her for wearing her new blouse and lipstick, then calling her obscene names. Rock and
Roll’s roots originate here because “Rock ‘n’ roll moved audiences as much with the
body language of performers and the beat of the music as with its lyrics, perhaps more”
(Altschuler 8). Physically-appealing dance moves and the growth of unrestricted
sexuality were glorified by teens because their parents despised these new ideas. Teens’
struggle for attention behind the glow of commercialism began, and as their parents
moved to neglecting them as children and criticizing their culture, teenagers moved away
from society’s norms and towards the appeal of Rock N’ Roll.
In addition, J.D. Salinger’s character of Holden Caulfield methodically pinpoints
this frustration in Catcher in the Rye.
Through his non-conforming attitude, Jim represents a new kind of rebelliousness
towards authority’s oppression of youth. One character in particular takes refuge in Jim’s
peculiar ways: Plato Crawford. While Jim represents the solution to the pressure that is
put on by society, Plato represents the struggle. He is the epitome of the adolescent’s
struggle against change and neglect. In the scene where he is mugged in front of his
home, Plato runs upstairs, rummages through his mail and pulls out a child support check
from his absent mother. He proceeds to rip the paper to shreds, and in this instance, Ray
has successfully captured the frustration of youth of the time period. Later in the film,
Plato explains that his dad “might as well be dead” and that his mother cancelled his
expensive psychologist visits to fund her getaway to Hawaii. Later, Plato explains that he
wants Jim to take him fishing and hunting, because Jim would not get mad at Plato if
Plato messes up. This statement