The "Beat Generation" is actually a contrast to the "Lost Generation". This generation established the general characteristics of subsequent American youths, created later hippies, and led the birth of postmodernism. But the "Beat Generation" is the opposite of the "Lost Generation". They are precisely pursuing spiritual value and existential value in a prosperous life.
In fact, the characterization of the times not mentioned in the background of the film is precisely the inducement of the story of the whole film. Americans can obtain more products with less labor, and the resulting youth population has increased sharply, and the coverage of higher education is approaching the civilian population. This kind of universal education has made a large number of young people aged 7-21 years old. Separated from the social group, isolated from the family's influence on it, so that the university became a new class. This is why the protagonist in the film can frequently change schools, parents can continue to meet the needs of their children's desires, and the background of the times when many punks come and go.
As a result, the contrast between traditional culture and modern social structure has caused overall tension and confusion among people and even society, making cultural subversion inevitable. Traditional Christian ethics advocacy work, soberness, abstinence, and serious life attitudes have declined. Hedonism began to prevail.
This ultimately caused a huge contradiction between the generation that grew up after the war and its parents in terms of cultural identity. Because the freedom, justice, and equality on campus conflict with the rules of society, young people feel that they cannot integrate into society, so group rebellion begins to sprout and grow. This is also the family's evasion of responsibility, and Jim asked to surrender to the police station to confess, thus giving birth to such a classic and contradictory family perspective.
The budding of this rebellion seemed to have developed into a hot social issue in 1950. The director captured the value with his keen sense of smell. Nicholas Ray spent 8 months investigating and interviewing hundreds of police officers. , Judges, juvenile management offices, and youth gangs, and for truthful statistics and analysis of survey content, the interviewees are strictly limited to the middle class. At the end of March 1955, the film was filmed in California. The producer was overjoyed when he saw the black and white samples, and immediately asked for a color remake! This is what the director mentioned: "When you see Jim wearing a crimson jacket leaning against his black car, it is not a pretentious display. It is a linguistic symbol and a rebellious metaphor!"
The director uses colors, props, clues, and metaphors to link the character stories closely and coincidentally.
Red represents rebellion:
Jim took the red monkey toy when he came out. The care for it and the alert response of the police officer when seized it symbolized responsibility and control, which is exactly what Jim's father did not have. This also leads to the patriarchal charm established by Jim to make up for his father's image. The shot of John's coat from the beginning to the end is self-evident, and returning the mirror to Judy is undoubtedly an affirmation of Judy's image. I saw in the mirror again that I regained my self-confidence, and gained a new patriarchal attachment after the gangster fell to his death.
When Judy appeared on the stage, he was holding a mirror in his hand. This was due to the inherent inferiority caused by his father’s denial of his own image, coupled with his father’s rejection of the father-daughter relationship and fatherhood, which increasingly caused the desire for the glory of patriarchy. It turns into a kind of Electra complex, so this prop is extremely crucial to lead the direction between the characters.
Although John Plato was not red when he appeared on the scene, the shooting of the puppy he mentioned was undoubtedly bloody, and the role of his pistol was a symbol of security for John. Combined with his cowardly performance, he established his inner image as a child. According to Karen Horney’s statement, the killing of small animals is a response to pressure and aggrieved. He affirmed his performance by retaliating against weaker subjects, combined with John being abandoned by his father and pressure from his classmates. , Created his ambivalence to reject external forces and strongly hope to be protected by patriarchy. The outcome of its props, pistols, is self-evident.
The deficiencies caused by these times have subtly affected the inheritance of the traditional American middle class's family philosophy, caused a complete breakdown of family relations, affected class stability, and created unknown new combinations.
Due to various conflicts and frictions, three people with different personalities escaped the family and came together. The moment they entered the villa, they formed a brand-new and stable family image, namely Jim's patriarchal charm and Judy's attachment to patriarchy. , And John's image of a weak child seeks the asylum of patriarchy.
The absurd and free play of the director's design and the role-playing in the adult world all herald the possibility of the perfect integration of the relationship between the characters in the new era.
The director actually gave an overview of the current rebellious behavior in the celestial class in the film: "The formation of the universe is the establishment of order, and the rudeness and ignorance of human beings are just small individuals in the universe." In the end, he arranged for John to fall and end, Jim Hugging his father's thigh (surrendering to patriarchy), and the last lens squarely aimed at the symmetrical and solemn planetarium, and arranged for people to walk in, all foreshadowing this uncaused rebellion will be attributed to the aforementioned cosmic order.
Returning to the "Beat Generation", the names of the three are Jim, Judy, and John (Plato). The director's ulterior motive design has unintentionally created a portrayal of an era. Let’s use an example of different approaches and equal work, just as our parents of Qiong Yao generation after 00 give their children various names like purple, han, cloud, rain, and moon.
LUCK
The rebellion portrayed in this era finally changed the torrent of history and rebelliously created a new order in the future.
What the director can do is to capture the trends of the times, a metaphor for the long-established future.
PS: Thanks to Mr. Li Juice for editing and editing to make the article smooth. Thanks to Mr. Agatha for encouraging me to make progress.
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