Forever Young: James Dean

Forever Young: James Dean

                            This story is about a boy, a shy farm boy born and raised in Marion, Indiana. His legend would be destined to transcend his brief yet wild and adventurous life, always living life on the edge of danger... a hopeless American rebel! He would forever be regarded as the epitome of cool, an image shrouded by the endless doses of glamour and fame that life should shower upon him... the icon of America's idealistic "cool".

His image became one that all the girls would swoon over and that every boys should strive to imitate. He would be later labelled as as the cultural icon of teenager disillusionment... a relic of one of his most iconic roles, "Rebel Without a Cause".



He would remain steadily held in Hollywood as the idealistic lost boy, a depiction that all teen boys could relate to and that all teen girls dreamed of rescuing! He, he was soft spoken, drooping brows, sparkling blue eyes with a stare, a stare etched heavily with the desolate glare of a lost boy. The stereotypical American boy that had been faced in the midst of his rough teen years. That's exactly what he symbolized to all who sat in their suave cherry red or minty blue convertibles with white-walled tires, rows of which parked in front of a giant sheet with the actor's painted over it... "You're tearing me apart!" the emotion tied up into that famous line, a great majority of the audience far from able to avoid a sense of relativity to this.

We've all felt that way at least once, faced with the toughness of our teenage years, that is! And it was as if he'd been saying exactly what we've all at one time felt, a look of hopelessness lining his face. Perhaps that's what tattooed his memory into the hearts of all who've ever beheld him, his desperate face swathed over the silver screen... perhaps, the sole derivative of his charm residing merely in the depths of his understandable sense of vulnerability. 

Whatever the cause for his stamina, his endless charisma as well as his surplus of "cool"... there's no denying the many shattered hearts that his tragic death left behind this very day exactly back in 1955. 

And although his life may have been cut seemingly far too short, his legend shall remain forever, a mirror of that timid and scared teenage boy, embedded deeply into the hearts of many! So, as we bid farewell to James Dean... we shall forever cherish his legend, the memory he left behind in his few yet sensational films. We shall also repeat his notable quote "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die tomorrow" and hold it dear in our hearts forever! R.I.P. James Dean! You'll remain forever stored in the hearts of all who've ever seen your pictures!

~ Erin <3