The Age When Nothing Fits

In Rebel Without a Cause, Natalie Wood portrays Judy, a tough-talking teenage girl who exasperates her parents. She doesn’t seem to be able to decide if she wants to be a little girl or a grown-up. Her mother tries to placate Judy’s frustrated father by saying:

“She’ll outgrow it, dear. It’s just the age. It’s just the age when nothing fits.”

I saw this movie for the first time when I was 15 and I was absolutely riveted to the screen. As Jim Stark, James Dean’s charisma was intoxicating. The ending, when Plato (Sal Mineo) is killed, was shocking and unexpected.

I kept waiting for that age when I would outgrow my teenage angst and everything would “fit.”

But that day never came.

Eventually, I realized that I wasn’t ever going to fit, no matter how hard I tried. It would be years later before I realized that not fitting was not only okay, but a good thing.

Career counselor Carol Eikleberry discusses how not fitting in is frequently the bane of many artistic or creative types. She argues that creative people are often “critical, challenging, independent, risk-taking,” adding that:

“If you are an agent of change, if you question and challenge the status quo, if you express your pain and protest, then you are likely to be seen as a troublemaker and to make others feel uncomfortable.” (1)

So, I’m not saying being different is easy. But it’s the only way I know how to be.

Many of the people interviewed in this issue of Popshifter have been known for being critical, independent, risk-taking, and presenting challenges to the status quo. All approach the concept of “not fitting in” in different and fascinating ways.

Ron Graham of Giallos Flame gets his inspiration from Italian film soundtracks, not American Idol. The Raveonettes explore the conventions of 50s and 60s pop music while simultaneously turning them inside out.

Paul Feig took childhood humiliation and turned it into comedy through the critically-acclaimed but ratings-challenged television series Freaks and Geeks and two hilarious non-fiction books. Author Dan Kennedy says he still feels uncool, but his novel Rock On is one of the coolest uncool books I’ve read in a long time.

Dave Markey and Vicki Berndt both come from the DIY, punk rock ethos of the 1970s and 80s, but one is a filmmaker and the other, an artist and photographer. Berndt’s work reveals the kind of sincerity that is frequently missing from popular and not-so-popular culture. Markey’s latest film—The Reinactors—is a film about fringe culture that treats its subjects with heart instead of disdain.

The Meligrove Band (our interview is with bassist Mike Small), despite dipping their Converse-clad toes into the mainstream, are as independent as ever, continuing to play all-ages shows while remaining strong supporters of the local Toronto music scene. JG Thirlwell has spent more than thirty years challenging not only the status quo, but his own art by steadfastly refusing stasis. And for that, his fans are eternally grateful.

Jim Stark may have been called a rebel without a cause, but his reasons for rebellion—the hypocrisy and posturing of his peers and parents—still ring uncomfortably true.

So what are we to do? Keep fighting the good fight. Refuse to be categorized. Question. Challenge. Create.

As Jim says in the film, “This will be one terrific day, so you better live it up. . . because tomorrow you’ll be nothing.”

Less Lee Moore, Managing Editor

1. Carol Eikleberry, The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People Third Edition (Ten Speed Press, 2007), 38