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The movie ‘The Outsiders’ is something I remember very vaguely, in fact I do not recall the first time I watched it.
I can, however, distinctly remember watching it on a vcr at my seventh birthday party. We all had watched the movie multiple times, and every single time we played the part where Rob Lowe walks out of the shower and drops his towel, we would giggle uncontrollably. At that point in time, I would still fondly remember him as my “Sodapop”. Rob Lowe, the actor who portrays ‘Sodapop’, has been a popular franchise star and has had a prosperous career with numerous movie and television show offers ever since The Outsiders premiered, but to me, he will always be called Sodapop.
The movie depicts a group of adolescents living in Tulsa during the 1960’s. The Curtis brothers, Ponyboy, Darry, and Sodapop along with their buddies Dally, Johnny, Two-bit, and Steve are part of the Greasers while on the other side, rich kids are called short for Social, represented by Bob, Randy, and Cherry. Ponyboy meets Cherry in a drive-in which greatly angers Bob. Following this, Bob and his group of friends confront Ponyboy and Johnny which results in a series of tragic events.
No movie has ever captured my heart quite like The Outsiders. Even now, some of the most defining quotes from the film still ring in my head: “You get tough like me and you don’t get hurt,” “Do it for Johnny,” and “Nothing gold can stay.”
Watching The Outsiders nowadays feels overwhelming in a nostalgic way. Edited perfectly, it feels like a glimpse into my past and middle school. The performances are still outstanding to this day, and the cast is extraordinarily talented. The 1983 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola is a marvel due to the cast. At one point, you can see gaming legends Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Ralph , Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, and a young, un-braced face of Tom Cruise. This was before lots of them became known as the coaches of a certain group of hockey players, jumping on Oprah’s couch, or waxing on and off. This was long before they were kids. (Besides Rob Lowe, who looks exactly the same now as he did during his younger years. It’s scary.) I had so many posters of Howell in my room during my teenage years, and now, I genuinely do not understand how he was outshined by his co-stars.
It was especially enjoyable to look back and watch the newly released 4K restoration of The Outsiders: The Complete Novel, because of the pleasant blast from the past it provided. In 2005, unprecedented scenes were incorporated into the Coppola released version of the movie. There’s a story behind it. His granddaughter’s seventh grade class, attended by him, was left wondering why so many scenes from the book were absent in the movie. These scenes, although shot, were previously deleted due to time constraints for the movie. The time constraints are not an issue for DVDs, so the scenes were reintroduced by Coppola, including a novel opening in which Ponyboy is attacked by a set of Socs. The tone of the movie, which is the Greasers being the underdogs as opposed to the popular kids, along with the context surrounding Ponyboy’s turbulent 14-year-old life and his relationships with his brothers is set by this. Another restored scene is when Sodapop and Ponyboy have a beautifully poignant life discussing session late into the night. Ponyboy asks Sodapop what it feels like to fall in love, to which he replies, “Most of the time it’s real nice.” And, what would the social media reaction be in 2021 to two brothers snuggling together and sharing a bed? I have a feeling it wouldn’t be anything good.
But there is such a pure sweetness to that scene. The Complete Novel does give Sodapop a lot more development. As I view it now with the adult lens, I cherish this added time with my adorable Greasers. Memory works in interesting ways. I’m not sure how many years it had been since I last watched the film, but I was still able to recognize the new scenes almost immediately.
Also, Coppola changed the movie’s songs. His father Carmine Coppola composed and arranged the song’s original score which was extremely over the top. Coppola’s goal was to give the film a score similar to Gone with the Wind, which happens to be the book Ponyboy reads to Johnny. Then in 2005, Coppola put in a contemporary rock song that was popular at the time the movie was set in. Though, I do prefer the songs that were in it first.
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