When I watch movies like The Outsiders, I seem to find myself thinking one thing throughout the entire movie, "I wish i was from that era!" I know it's crazy to process and think about but i have always had an interest toward old movies or the "back in my day" times. I've always been fond of the greaser / higher class lifestyle, i don't know what exactly brings me to having these thoughts, it could be the fashion, the fact that it seemed like a simpler time, the music that was around in that era, the entertainment that happened in the towns, or the fact that it seemed like a era where the "happy days" were shown in general. Knowing myself, if i have the chance to escape this world i live in now for a little while, especially in an era that i could find myself relating to, i would take it in a heartbeat and that is exactly what i did when i saw the list of movies we could choose from for the movie presentations.
It's a little funny considering the story-line of the movie was not anywhere in my memory considering when I watched the movie for the first time I was in about fifth or sixth grade and to be completely honest, that was a time where i was happy to just be doing something other than work in class; hence why i didn't really know the plot of the movie. Being a younger age, I remember reading the book with my class and it was interesting to get a feel of both aspects considering that the book normally always more detailed, the movie itself was a blur but seeing it come into my education again made me want to give it another opportunity to know and understand all it has to offer me rather than me just having a free day by watching a movie.
The Outsiders is a movie that portrays the rivalry between two gangs; The Greasers and The Socs. The two gangs have always had unsettling issues with each other being that they have different social standings and that they would rather have it the way it already is than come to a mutual understanding. The Greasers and the Socs come in real contact with each other when two of the youngest greasers are hanging out at the park late at night and some of the Socs show up drunk looking to start trouble with the two boys; since they were trying to be nice and walk some of the Socs girls home from a drive-in movie. Things begin to take a huge turn when all the boys start fighting and get a hold of Ponyboy and start drowning him in the fountain! That is when Johnny brings out his knife and goes to help Ponyboy but instead ends up killing one of the Soc boys. Unfortunately, before you know it, all members of the gangs are involved and more conflicts rise to the surface. The two greasers have to escape town but go to Dally (greaser friend) to ask for help, which of course he helps them considering that they can go to jail for being young and killing someone. Johnny and Ponyboy leave town without telling anyone which leads to family issues that they have to deal with later.
The two boys go to a safe zone but end up having to go back considering that Johnny gets in trouble when he tries to go safe kids from a church that is burning down, but in reality, he's trying to kill himself, but Dally and Ponyboy help him out. They all get set to the hospital where Johnny is in critical condition and Dally is checked up on as well, having Ponyboy being the only one that came out alright. This brings all the greasers together to do rumble with the Socs, being that Johnny is on the bricks of dying from the condition he put himself in. He later dies but remember to tell Ponyboy to "stay golden", when Dally finds out about the death, he doesn't take it well to the slightest! He actually goes crazy (literally!), he grabs his guns (with no bullets) and decides to go rob a liquor store and points guns to every one's faces but doesn't shoot causing the cops to starting going after him and eventually gets shot by them just when the boys try to rescue him. This of course brings the greasers closer than ever making them realize they need to have each others back and keep each other in check from then on.
The Outsiders will always be one my favorite movies from that era because there are just so many life lessons that can be learned from, for example: violence not being the answer, avoiding your issues isn't going to make them go away; they will only catch up to you and get worse, that communication is really important, dealing and taking care of yourself is more important than anything because you have to live with the person you become for the rest of your life. Although the movie doesn't end the way i want it to, it definitely left a window open to all the different possibilities that can come to life because of what all the boys dealt with personally and as a group of greasers. I personally always take these movies to be something great because it always has different takes or perspectives on them. Being that i am taking HCOM 214 right now, it shows all the mistakes they made and how if they could go back and fix it, i would know how to help them in order to not have what happened in the film to happen because they would have learned different methods and skills to resolve the issues.
This movie was a great selection for me, not just because I'm fond of it but because you never really focus on a old film the first time (especially when your little) so having to watch it a second time really makes you open your eyes and mind to seeing the greatness of it all whether it's the groups, the characters individually, or the movie as a whole. The Outsiders is a movie worth giving the time to because you never know when a group like the greasers and the Socs might teach you a lesson on what not to do if you're ever imagining yourself in an era they lived in. As Johnny Cade likes to say: "Stay golden, readers, Stay Golden"
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