Manly-hood vs. Sparkles

          Over the course of time movies have slowly evolved along with the expectations and changes in society. Looking back on one of the earlier movies from the 1950's, "Rebel Without a Cause," one would take note on the peculiar way that the women seemed almost bloodthirsty, like a praying mantis on the verge of attacking. While the women merely sit back and enjoyed the show, the men were the ones who were stirring up trouble and creating all of the drama. Unlike modern movies this one, like most earlier, features the male role as the one with the conflict and the female role as the shadow.  

          Although the character roles have switched over the decades, the predictability of the movies haven't. This movie is one in which, over the course of a few hours after her boyfriend's death, she has moved on to the main character, Jim. Like one of today's top teen movies, 'Twilight,' features a girl who claims to be madly in love with a troublesome vampire after a couple of days,  claiming to not be able to live without him.  The suggestion that one would get from both early and modern movies is that although the conflicts are different and the roles of importance have switched over the decades, the will for acceptance and affection has not changed. This shows that even though there have been strong cultural changes, the same sort of emotions and feelings are still the same when comparing the intentions that the screenwriters and directors had. Also, since movies are meant to attract the audience, they usually relate to the people's moral and emotional values and feelings, showing the similarities in the different decades.

          Though the predictability and female standpoint may not have changed over the course of the years, the focus of the female attention has. Then, although women were focused intently on finding the 'man of their dreams,' they yearned more for their father's approval than on a significant other's. If they were not shown their father's love and affection, then they would turn to boys as their sort of outlet to gain attention for what they were 'rejected.'  Now, modern movies portray loose women who would rather die than be without their 'sole-mate,' and they could care less either way whether or not their father approved.

          Rebel without a cause is one of many great examples of not only the moral changes but the cultural changes and similarities to modern movies. The ethos used in this 50's movie is much like the ethos in modern movies. It is focused on the feelings and true wishes that every person has, the want for love and acceptance. Although the subject for getting this attention may have changed courses over the decades, the will is still there. The revolutionary changes can also be seen in the turn of the twentieth century as well as you would notice the switch from the focus on the male role to the females. After woman began to rise up in society and take control of their lives and become more independent, they became the focus of these productions. With that, you are also able to see the differences in gender. While the male role consisted of trivial things leading to violence and fighting, the woman's role consists of trivial things leading to gossip and depression. We are human and the people in the 50's were just as human , so although there have been many revolutionary acts which have resulted in impactful cultural changes, the base of every modern movie can be related to an earlier movie, showing that we have the same passion for love, for affection, for attention, for acceptance.