A Rebel Without A Cause - Judy
Grace Kleven
Judy's Traits
One of Judy's traits is that she is weak. She gives in to conformity and does what her groups does. When she is with her group of friends she lets them speak for her and she does not make any of the decisions for herself.
Another of her traits is that she has issues with her father. She feels that she does not get enough attention anymore from her father and she is angry because her mother just sits around an watches as her father disrespects her.
Judy's Cause
Judy's problem is that she feels she does not get enough attention from her father. She tries to fill the holes in her life by being around people who do give her attention even if it is not good. An example of this is when her boyfriend, Buzz, dies and she immediately fills the gap by clinging to Jim. She thinks that because Jim is caring and sincere he will give her the attention that she lacks in her life.
Judy's Change
Judy does not change much as the movie progresses. The main thing that she learned is that she can get the attention and love from her friends and that she does not have to rely on her family completely to get the attention she craves.
Symbol
I think the chickie run is an important symbol in the movie. I think it is important because it shows how Jim does not want to be called a chicken because it makes him feel like he is like his father. He thinks that his father is weak and not a real man and Jim does not want to end up like him. It also sets up the story to show how Judy will change and learn to be her own person.
Theme
I believe the main theme of the movie is that you have to face your problems head on and not act out because is won't help you get what you want. I also think the movie is trying to teach people that they have to stand up from themselves and not conform to other people ideas. In the movie, Judy has the most trouble with this because she just does what her group does and she also does not tell her family what she wants and how she is feeling. I think that the movie is trying to tell us to speak out or it can cause a lot of problems in our lives.
Ranking of the rebels
I believe that Plato is the most disturbed because his family problems are the worst and he acts out by being violent. His family acts like he does not exist and the only person who cared about him was the house keeper.
Next would be Judy because her family also seems like they do not care enough because they let her hang out with the wrong crowd and when she leaves they do not care where she is going.
Third would be Jim because he just does not want to be like his father. His family still cares about him and they try to stop him from making the wrong decisions and try to protect him.