Sparking a new film topic, Rebel Without a Cause is the first in a long string of teenage rebellion movies told from the perspective of teenagers that portrays their views on relationships with parents, friends, and significant others (Levy). This film is so significant to film culture that it was accepted into the National Film Registry and was nominated for three Oscars. Rebel, released in 1955, was directed by Nicholas Ray and starred James Dean as Jim Stark, Natalie Wood as Judy, and Sal Mineo as Plato. This film follows the lives of the three stars presenting their interactions, or lack thereof, with their parents as well as their peers. Jim’s family has moved towns countless times, and he struggles with finding a place in the world due to his aggressive and rebellious attitude that stems from his opinion that his father is too submissive and never stands up for himself. Judy craves the attention of men as a result of her father denying her any kind of affection. Plato is a product of a broken family in which both parents are typically absent causing him to constantly be searching for parental figures, which makes him extremely insecure and unable to fit in with other children his age. Finding three actors qualified to play such broken and emotional characters proved to be difficult for Ray, but eventually Dean, Wood, and Mineo were cast due to their own personal experiences with parental mistreatment as well as juvenile rebellion which allowed them to flawlessly connect with their characters. The recurring theme in Jim, Judy, and Plato’s lives is that their teenage rebellion and mental anguish is a direct result of their dissatisfaction with the ways in which they are treated by their parents. Due to Jim’s mother’s domineering role in her marriage, Jim views his father, Frank, as being cowardly and unable to be a father figure because he is too afraid to stand up for himself. One example of Frank being domineered is when his wife constantly argues with him; because of his parents’ perpetual bickering, Jim states, “I mean if [Dad] had the guts to knock Mom cold once I bet she’d be happy and I bet she’d stop picking. They make mush out of him. Just mush,” Jim is referring to his mother and grandmother making, “mush,” out of his father, which offends Jim because he believes that this is unnatural and that his father should not only defend himself but be dominant in the family as a male. Another example of Frank’s timid and submissive behavior is when Jim finds his father wearing his mother’s apron while cleaning up a dinner tray that he spilled while on his way to serve his wife. Frank states, “I better clean this up before she sees it,” to which Jim responds, “Let her see. What could happen?” Seeing his father dressing and acting as a housewife deeply disturbs Jim because he yearns for a father figure to model himself after only to find a shell of a man being overpowered by his wife. In a final and desperate attempt to provoke his father into taking a stand and being a masculine head of the family, Jim begs his father to stand up for him when he feels his mother is leading him astray. Jim says, “Dad-answer her-aren’t you going to stand up for me?” but his father idly sits by as Jim loses all hope that he can ever turn to his father support or advice. “Frank Stark is too ineffectual a man to be of use to his son,” which has many negative effects on Jim as he resents his father to the point where he is petrified of being anything like him. (Dramatica). As a result of having an emasculated father, Jim develops a prideful spirit which proves to be his bane as he refuses to submit to anyone like his spineless father so often does. “Depressed by his