So, my favorite book of all time is "To Kill a Mockingbird". Following close behind is "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. I have read this book more times than I can remember. I cry when I read it. I have the VHS, the DVD and the Extended, Super-Obsessed Fan, Full-Length DVD. I have watched the movie with the commentary, seen all the extra features. I proceeded to read all of S.E. Hinton's other books after reading this one (although none matched up). I marveled that she was 16 when she wrote this. I wrote my own story, giving the characters a sister. My love for this book knows no bounds.
I love how it begins: When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.
I also just love how tight this group of greasers is. They care so much for each other, despite having their little tiffs and fights. They all stand up next to each other and will fight for each other. Fighting the rumble for Johnny. Running out after Dally when he shoplifted at the end. Comforting Johnny when he was beaten by the Socs. They're all so tough and at the same time, it's painful to remember that Ponyboy is fourteen. Johnny is sixteen. Darry's only twenty and he's the oldest. These are young boys from the rough side of town- any town- doing what they can to survive. And it's not fair.
It's not just about two sides of town fighting. There are so many more layers to it. "Te Outsiders" teaches you that the grass is not always greener on the other side. It reveals the importance in hot conforming to stereotypes and to not believe in stereotypes to begin with. Even the hardest criminals have someone that they love. Without Johnny, Dally had nothing left. As Ponyboy says: How can I take it? Dally is tougher than I am. Why can I take it when Dally can't? And then I knew. Johnny was the only thing Dally loved. And now Johnny was gone.
Without each other, Ponyboy, Sodapop and Darry didn't want anything. This is one of my favorite sections: "I let go of Soda and stood there for a minute. Darry didn't like me. He had driven me away that night... he had hit me... Darry hollered at me all the time... he didn't give a hang about me... Suddenly, I realized, horrified, that Darry was crying. He didn't make a sound, but tears were running down his cheeks. I hadn't seen him cry in years, not even when Mom and Dad had been killed. (I remembered the funeral. I had sobbed i spite of myself; Soda had broken down and bawled like a baby; but Darry had only stood there, his fists in his pockets and that look on his face, the same helpless, pleading look that he was wearing now.) In that second what Soda and Dally and Two-Bit had been trying to tell me came through. Darry did care about me, maybe as much as he cared about Soda, and because he cared he was trying too hard to make something of me. When he yelled "Pony, where have you been all this time?" he meant "Pony, you've scared me to death. Please be careful, because I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you.""
There's another one that I also love: "Golly, you two, it's bad enough having to listen to it, but when you start trying to get me to take sides... We're all we've got left. We ought to be able to stick together against everything. If we don't have each other, we don't have anything. If you don't have anything, you end up like Dallas... and I don't mean dead, either. I mean like he was before. And that's worse than dead. Please-- don't fight anymore."
Ugh, I just can't....
So we're going to read another funny clip, one that sums up a greaser in perfection.
"I'm a greaser," Sodapop chanted. "I'm a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I'm a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!"
"Greaser... greaser....greaser..." Steve singsonged. "O victim of environment, underprivileged, rotten, no-count hood!"
"Juvenile delinquent, you're no good!" Darry shouted.
"Get thee hence, white trash," Two-bit said in a snobbish voice. "I am a Soc. I am the privileged and the well-dressed. I throw beer blasts, drive fancy cars and break windows at fancy parties."
"And what do you do for fun?" I inquired in a serious, awed voice.
"I jump greasers!" Two-Bit screamed.
None of these boy are truly bad to the core. They all have redeemable qualities but because society tell them to, they conform to the role of "greaser". Such a profound statement from a sixteen-year-old Susie Hinton.
The movie is also great- Francis Ford Coppola, and even though there are some poorly acted parts, I love it. I will watch it over and over again. I may watch it again tonight!
This clip includes most of my favorite parts of the movie. Johnny and Ponyboy rescuing the kids from the church. The touching reunion between the three Curtis brothers. The family dynamic that you see in the gang when they all gather at the Curtis house the next morning. Soda's towel nearly coming off (thank you....!), Ponyboy's courage in going to talk to Randy, the Soc.
I found this too, which is a fun video to show how they've all grown up since the movie came out. Sorry about the weird little descriptions the movie maker gives each character...
I also don't remember how I discovered this but it's hysterical. Oh how I love Rob Lowe.
If you are one of those people who have never read "The Outsiders", go read it now. It's incredible, it will touch you in ways you never thought possible, it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you appreciate what you have and it will make you think.
"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower,
but only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
so Eden sank to grief,
so dawn goes down to day,
nothing gold can stay...."
