EXHIBITS
The Outsiders: The Stories of the Film
The Stories of the Film
Despite the off screen intentions made for the Socs and the Greasers to have a constant feud and a more believable/genuine clash, the times of which their members butt heads isn’t that often in the film. In the original release, there are 4 times in which members from both appear on screen together, three of which are hostile. In the rerelease, another hostile conflict is added at the beginning of the film. A lot of the apparent class differences stand out when these two gangs are on screen together, which is evident in their dialogue. Through the rest of the film, the problems of the Greasers being caused from their lower class status can be seen as an undertone and cause to their problems, but it’s just that: an undertone. Class being a cause is more of an assumption through the film because none of the characters really address it ever.
The Outsiders follows the story of Ponyboy Curtis, played by Thomas Howell, as he and his friend Johnny, played by Ralph Macchio, are on the run from the police, after a fight with a few Socs leads to the death of a Soc. That running away action is supposed to be the sign of childhood in the characters, for many different characters run away from problems at different times in the movie. It’s one of the few motifs this movie has; running away from the problem presented. Ponyboy and Johnny run from the police to avoid facing jail time for murder, along with Ponyboy avoiding being put in a foster home (for he lives with his older brothers following the death of his parents) and Johnny from being left alone to face the crime because of his neglecting and harmful parents. Following the death of Johnny, Dallas (Matt Dillon) runs away from the hospital, unable to face the reality that the younger boy has died despite all that the Greasers and the doctors did for him. Sodapop Curtis, the middle brother of the Curtis family and played by Rob Lowe, runs away from his bothers when the two continue to fight and pressure Sodapop to pick a side in their arguments. But when these boys stop running is their scenes of becoming more mature and facing the problems they had run away from.
Many parents and adults are shown and mentioned throughout the film, and rarely are any of them put in a good light. Dallas and Two-Bit, the latter played by Emilio Estevez, both speak down on their parents, the former with distaste and the latter through jokes. Johnny’s parents always fight and abuse and ignore their son, and Ponyboy and his brothers’ parents have passed away. Any other adult, be it worker, police officer, doctor, and the rest are treated with distrust and hostility. It’s the eldest of the boys in the main cast that act as parents to the younger boys, acting as mentor or father or extended family even. This is to be the boys’ way of growing up, moving on from having to rely on adults to move forward in life and instead having each other to rely on. Biggest showing of dependence on one another is the Curtis family, where Darren is acting as the man of the household following the death of their parents and a constant reminder through the film is that he’ll be put into a foster home if Darren isn’t given the legal right to let the three brothers live together.