Reading and watching The Outsiders was probably the highlight of 7th grade English class. If by some chance your grade or high school did not make you to read this wonderful book, The Outsiders is the coming-of-age story about a group of boys growing up on the rough side of a small Oklahoma town divided between the Greasers and the wealthier Socs. The novel was written by S. E. Hilton and adapted in the film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who previously directed The Godfather. C. Thomas Howell stars as the protagonist, Ponyboy, the youngest of three brothers in a parent-less family. Ponyboy is a bit different from the rest of the Greasers, and his relationship with his oldest brother is strained. One night he runs away with Johnny, from which the rest of the drama unfolds.
The story is fantastic; it features memorable, well-developed characters and poignant themes of class divide, loyalty, violence, and being an outsider. Also, some of its quotes have become extremely well-known phrases in society, such as the famous lines, “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” and “Do it for Johnny!” The novel and film are actually full of great lines, though; one of my favorites is a conversation between Ponyboy and Cherry, a Soc, in which he asks her, “Can you see the sunset real good on the West side? You can see it on the East side too.” This line speaks to one of the most important themes of the story, society and class. Though Ponyboy is a Greaser and Cherry is a Soc, they are not all that different; they see the same sunset.
One exceptional thing about the movie is its star-studded cast, from the main characters to the minor ones. Practically every Greaser is played by an actor who develops into a star. Ponyboy’s oldest brother, Darry, is played by Patrick Swayze, and the middle brother, Soda, is played by a young Rob Lowe. Dallas, the toughest of the group, is played by Matt Dillon, a teen idol at the time who utters the famous and often-imitated line, “Let’s do it for Johnny, man. We’ll do it for Johnny!” Speaking of Johnny, he is played by Ralph Macchio, who rises to greater fame the next year with his starring role as the Karate Kid. Even the Greasers with nominal roles are played by well-known actors. Tom Cruise can be seen doing a flip off a truck as one of the Greasers, and Two-Bit Matthews is played by Emilio Estevez. It’s very cool to see so many household names in one movie.
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