Thursday, November 7, 2013

Rebel without a cause or maybe not.

The film some might say that put James Dean on the map is Rebel Without a Cause.  In the scenes we have seen thus far, we see Jim Stark a "troubled youth" who can seem to do no wrong in his parents eyes.  Today's standards or even back then with a not so wealthy family, a parent would be irate if their child was drinking underage.  Jim's parents try to understand what's wrong with him.  He is given everything and yet acts like the world dealt him a bad hand.  Then you have Judy who talks about being treated horribly by her father but when you see them together you see no love and affection for her but definitely for the young son. 

This era has always been depicting daughters giving their fathers a kiss on the cheek and the father asking how their day was.  In the film however the father looks down upon this and even slaps Judy asking her to cut it out.  It is certainly a 50's that I have never seen until now.  Judy also tells Jim "Who really lives?" I think she meant by that, that no one really does anything not normal.  Dad goes to work, mother is a stay at home wife, kids go to school etc. etc. etc.  No one really breaks out of the mold that they live in, this "Ideal" lifestyle. 

The film Pleasantville comes to mind when she makes the comment. The film shows a fictional 50's show called Pleasantville where everything is perfect, from the town to the folks who live there.  In that film two unsuspecting characters from the modern day 90's are thrown in to this fictitious world and slowly start to unravel it out of perfection.     

Where we left off in Rebel Without a Cause was Jim was bullied in to a game of chicken with cars after a jab fight with knives went in his favor.  Unfortunately Jim seems to be the type where you don't go looking for trouble, trouble comes looking for you.  I will continue with my blog once we finish our last scenes. 

Mean Girls, Cliques & Bullies.

Mean girls has never been a good film in my opinion.  I think it exaggerates a semi accurate depiction of high school.  In my high school it was hard to find cliques or the social groups.  It was a high school of 2,200 kids and well to me everyone was insecure and we all just blended together.  My first school consisted of Smart kids, myself, goths (some referred to them as trench coat mafia because Columbine had just happened) and metal heads.  We kind of broke the "mold" but again it was hard to find these groups in such a big area.  My second school consisted of 16-18 year old's with 22-60 year old's and everyone just chatted with everyone or you just talked to the people you knew. 

Mean Girls tells the story of a fresh faced girl coming to high school for the first time.  It highlights the fact that she is definitely a newbie to public schools but makes so decent friends.  Along the way she befriends the plastics who are the top of the social food chain.  My professor mentioned bullying during his lecture and to me the film shows that all to well.  The nice simple girl becomes a bully herself and takes "the godfather's" place.  The film also highlights girls who hate certain aspects of their body however they seemingly have perfect bodies or "ideal figures". 

If we were going to talk about a film that highlights more of the clique, social standing, or your typical stereotype it would be the Breakfast Club.  In mean girls Lacey Chabert's character Gretchen more or less tells Cady that she could be wrong about the guys she likes.  That your friends will let you know if he's right for you or not.  In the Breakfast Club Molly Ringwald as Claire says there is a lot of pressure from her friends and she hates going a long with everything they say. Mean Girls and Breakfast Club both highlight this but one is shown to us while the other is talked about.

The stereotypes from breakfast club are a geek, brain, basket case, princess, jock, and a rebel.  Those stereotypes have and will stand the test of time.  The names may change or be updated but they still remain strong 28 years later.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Rock & Roll

We started watching films with musical influences.  One was Hard Day's Night featuring the British Invasion sensation, The Beatles.  The other was a biopic of the band The Doors.  Hard day's night was more for the fans with a funny storyline and a exaggerated behind the scenes look of the John, Paul George and Ringo.  The Doors was a 1991 biopic starring Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison front man of the popular 60's group by the same name.  Both groups paved the way for many artists today who were or still are influenced by their music and also the popularity and the changes their music made. 

My professor brought up a good point that in a Hard Day's Night, the times seemed simpler.  Girls in dresses or skirts running chasing the guys.  With the doors dropping on the scene in 1965 a year later from the release of a hard day's night, the people seem more free love and less simple.  War, love, peace free speech and fear seemed to be fueling a nation.  The Beatles still had their fans but times changed and leaned more towards the Doors and the Who. You can also tell this through the lyrics and melody.  Beatles had more poppy, catchy tunes.  The Doors had more intense and even darker sound along with the lyrics.

I think other influential artists who changed music and paved the way for performers of today are Selena and 1Direction.  Selena changed music by being one of the first artists to have her song be in both Spanish/English topping the charts.  Aside from the popularity of her music, Selena sadly is also known for her abrupt untimely death.  Her successful career though paved the way for several artists to crossover and have a fan base in both languages. 


















1Direction is one of those rare right moment stories where five strangers audition for X Factor in Great Britain and get voted off but is later grouped together by Simon Cowell.  They are to me The Beatles craze all over again.  Reason being is not for the music which can be catchy on occasion but because their handsome young men with British accents just like the Beatles.  In my humble opinion I believe the Beatles lyrics have a little more something to them.  None the less, the music is definitely different but the crazed female fans and the millions of dollars in merchandise, film and ticket sales is on the same plateau as them.