Genre adaptation Rebel to THUG Flashcards
Context for Jim’s struggle
In 1950’s, male teenagers were expected to live up to the masculine stereotype of fearlessness and toughness as they approached manhood, and not doing so often meant ostracization from your peers as weak or cowardly, so insecurity about not being masculine enough was common among teenagers at the time.
This social context forms, in essence, what Jim’s struggle with identity is - proving himself a man - And it becomes very evident when he is challenged by Buzz and his gang.
Jim’s struggle evidence - knife fight
After Buzz deflates one of his tyres, Buzz throws him a knife and snidely remarks “this is the test” - a “test” of masculinity, one which Jim quickly gives into when called a “chicken”.
Jim’s unwillingness to back down to this reckless challenge when his masculinity is questioned highlights how insecure pressured he felt to prove his manhood to his peers - an insecurity which, to a 1950’s audience, was actually highly topical among male teenagers as it essentially defined your status in group dynamics.
Jim’s struggle evidence - father talk
Jim even articulates these concerns to his father when returning home from the “chicken run” (another reckless masculinity test that involves jumping out of a car before it plummets off a cliff), lamenting “it was a question of honour! They called me chicken! I had to go or I would never have been able to face those kids again!”.
Jim is so pressured to prove his masculinity that he would risk his life doing so, highlighting to a 1950’s audience the senselessness of hypermasculine expectations circulating among male teenagers at the time.
Context for Starr’s struggle
The rigidity of gender roles was relaxed throughout the 1960’s and 70’s with the rise of second-wave feminism and gay pride movements, making Rebel’s exploration of the quest for manhood less and less societally relevant. A new social context has now evolved amid current racial activist movements like Black Lives Matter, in which racial identity and systemic racism are instead the topical issues which occupy societal attention - evident by the fact that THUG has adapted the convention of protagonist identity struggle to focus on this very issue.
Evidence of Starr’s struggle
In THUG, Starr must codeswitch to fit in at her predominantly white high school - changing aspects of her identity that her peers may perceive as stereotypically ‘Black’. When entering the school for the first time, Starr lists aspects of her identity she must hide as a result, saying she “doesn’t use slang”, is “non-confrontational” and “doesn’t give anyone a reason to call her ghetto”.
Starr has carefully constructed a falsified, whitewashed persona adapted to the white-dominated space- “Starr Version 2” as she calls herself - to circumvent negative stereotypes people might associate with her being black like aggression or delinquency, reflecting the damaging effect these stereotypes have on Black Americans’ sense of belonging and self-pride. As the struggles Black Americans face to be accepted are so highly topical in the current environment of Black American activism, THUG has accordingly adapted the identity struggle of it’s protagonist to centre on the very issue.
Rebel Epiphany
In Rebel, Jim’s epiphany comes when his girlfriend Judy provides a renewed understanding of what true manhood means: “A man who can be gentle and sweet… who can be Plato’s friend when nobody else will”.
Given that teenage boys in the 1950’s often felt pressured to prove their manhood through rash violent acts - as Jim does repeatedly throughout the film to tragic consequences - the film seeks to convey that real maturity doesn’t require you to live up to the ‘tough-guy’ archetype. Instead, Jim experiences the epiphany, or self- realisation, that being vulnerable and sensitive are truer markers of grown manhood. To the 1950’s US teenagers that were giving into dangerous situations to live up to some vain idea of manhood, this was a very pertinent message.
THUG epiphany
THUG, on the other hand, marks a complete shift in the genre with the convention adapted to focus on Starr’s realisation that she must embrace and take pride in her racial identity. In the final scene, she comments “I can’t change who I am or what I’ve been through, so why be ashamed of what makes me, me?”, putting an end to her secondary persona - “no more Starr version 2. Just Starr”.
Rather than continuing to feel excluded for her race, she decides to embrace it and feel empowered by it. Given the film’s context amid movements like BLM which encourage Black American youth to be proud of their racial identity, the text sends a highly culturally relevant message to Black youth clearly grounded in this context: Finding confidence and empowerment through your racial identity should outweigh any pressure to compromise who you are.
Conclusory part
The striking differences between these two coming of age texts serves to highlight how films and genres continually adapt to resonate with their audience. As a 21st century teenager, I am able to fully appreciate how far the genre has come in acknowledging the diverse issues we face as a social group, and am interested to see the new ways in which the genre will continue to adapt in the future.
Introductory part
The coming of age genre traditionally focuses on the growth of their young protagonists from childhood to adulthood. Over time, texts in this genre have changed their representation of what this transition entails in respond to shifting social context, allowing them to be pertinent to their audience.
