James Dean
I know just what you mean
James Dean
You said it all so clean
And I know my life would look all right
If I could see it on the silver screen
— The Eagles
It’s been nearly seven decades since the day, immortalized in the classic Eagles song, that James Dean was transformed from aspiring star to ever-youthful icon.
“Along came a Spyder and picked up a rider,” Glenn Frey lyrically remembered. “Took him down the road to eternity.”
The truth is, James Dean never left the popular culture. His cool has continued to grow over the decades, outliving fashions from beat to punk to grunge and beyond.
Even when cultural journalists are not writing about James Dean, they often cannot resist a slicked-back James Dean metaphor. For example, a recent review of the popular Netflix series Wednesday featured this detour down Highway 46:
“Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday Addams and Percy Hynes White is Xavier Thorpe. Fans of the streaming epic will tell you it’s not your granddad’s black-and-white Addams family, the kooky sitcom that crackled over Quasars in the 60s. The new storylines explore Wednesday’s evolving relationship with the smoldering Xavier, a Gothic James Dean, a rebel without a crypt.”
To be fair, Gen-Z actor Percy Hynes White does have the look. A marquee attraction from an early age, he rose from school plays in Newfoundland to major roles in Canadian television and independent film productions.
One can easily imagine him rumbling into town on a Triumph Trophy 500, ready to upend the status quo. Or sitting at the back of the class, hurling spitballs at the substitute teacher. Or drawing a flock of bobby-soxers to the soda fountain and sharing a profoundly deep thought: “Only the gentle are ever really strong.”
On screen, James Dean was a cautionary tale, the archetype that parents loved to point to as a phase that any responsible teen would be smart to outgrow. But even adults couldn’t help but admire the films, the leather-jacketed cool and the serene swagger that telegraphed a subtle disdain for squares.
Of course, Percy Hynes White is not the first actor to have been compared to James Dean. Over the years, a whole range of top Hollywood talent has been identified with Dean’s unique style and manner. The list includes: Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Martin Sheen, Paul Newman, Christian Slater, Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dean Martin, Warren Beatty, Mickey Rourke, Tom Cruise, Heath Ledger and even Lana Del Rey.
Sometimes lost in the appreciation for the style is the underlying talent of the star. Although he was featured in only three major films, James Dean was nominated for an Academy Award twice. He was also serious and introspective about his craft. “To grasp the full significance of life is the actor’s duty; to interpret it his problem; and to express it his dedication,” he once said.
An avid reader of contemporary poetry, James Dean also wrote his own poems. One ended with these haunting lines:
You’re not the only one, you’re not alone
This is not the case for me, I cannot atone
I sit here, silence, that’s all I hear
I hope I can stay, but now one must disappear
