Rebellion It is through rebellion against the rules that people find a sense of self / that people find their true self / that people are able to discover who they really are.
Idea of sense of self – power – independent – mature in the immaturity
Old Spencer scene – the internal dialogue that happens
Choice of going to New York for a few days
The idea he presents Sally with – although ironically he is actually conforming to traditional values here by wanting marriage etc..
Flirting
Run away to the motel
The debate speech
The hook up at the dance
The boxing match
Challenging conventional values – By challenging values they are able to realise the importance of them – by challenging conventional values one is able to discover what really matters in life / By meeting conventional values head first, characters are asked to question what it means to be an adult /
The women in the bar – pretending to be
The piano bar – the conversation with Carl
The action with Sunny
Straderlater fight.
Flirting
Football scene
Marriage discussion – challenging it
Nicola – the views of people
His parents and the racism – look the initial rejection of Thandiwe
Not playing football – conversation with the father.
When they conform rather than rebel –
It is when they finally understand the need to conform that the characters realise ….
It is through the acceptance of the things they can’t change / can’t save that they are able to understand the actions of others.
Holden – Golden ring quote – suggesting that children have to make their own mistakes in life – that they need to ‘fall off’ every now and again in order to figure out life. Holden has now ‘fallen off’ enough to realise what he wants. He want to go home. He doesn’t break his promise to Phoebe – therefore showing a new sense of maturity. Here he is being to accept the responsibilities that comes with being an adult.
Danny / Thandiwe – the letter at the end – she is different from who she was – because of the life experiences that she has been through. Death of her parents – the need for her to step up and look after her siblings and get them all to safety. Danny takes on a job at his parent’s hotel, seems a little lost without her – suggesting that he had true feelings for her – and is a little lost without her – but finds purpose again when he hears from her and what does he vow to do after reading her letter?
It is a natural part of adolescence to challenge and rebel against the norms of society. In Duigian’s film Flirting, set 1965 in a boarding school in the countryside of NSW, and Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, an iconic bildungsroman, set New York city during the 1950’s explore what happens when teenagers choose to reject the norms of society and find their own way into adulthood.