East of Eden-How do you Interpret it?

Floyd McCarthy-photo courtesy of mptvimages.com -Cal punching Aron.

The movie East of Eden starring James Dean is a movie which many people I have showed it to, or watched it with cannot understand. I love this movie because it shows a side of James Dean in a film that I have never noticed before, a sense of vulnerability. They don't understand what the point of the movie is. All admit it is an interesting story to say the least, but at the same time fail to see the relevance of the movie to the world today.

I see it as a simple thing, it is a movie full of lessons, but one central one, the difference in the human character of being "good" and "bad." Throughout the film Cal (James Dean's character) struggles with the inner battle of being good and bad.

Set in 1917 Northern California, particularly the towns of Monterrey and Salinas, the landscape and imagery in the movie is beautiful. The characters are very pure and good people in Salinas, and the opposite in Monterrey. Cal's father in the film Adam (played by Raymond Massey) is the epitome of good, a Bible-reading entrepreneur and single father. And the plot twist in the movie is Cal has found his mother (played by Jo Van Fleet), who runs three brothels in Monterrey, an entrepreneur in her own way. Cal finds out and realizes why he is different from his father and his brother Aron, who is just like their father. He is his mothers son her is "bad."

The entirety of the movie is about Cal's struggle to be "good" while he is "bad." He even steals his brothers girl, inadvertently, but he slowly steals her away. He drives Aron to lunacy and to join the war by telling him who their mother is. He does many bad things, but justifiably so in his own mind.

So is Cal "bad" to the bone. I don't think he is, I believe he is misunderstood so he does "bad" things. I view him as a person like all of us who doesn't get a fair chance in life. Because even when he tries to do good it is taken as a horrible thing to do. In the end he does good, he stays by his father's side. He stays with the girl he loves. He learns how to do and be "good."

Is life this black and white? Are we simply "good" or "bad?" I personally don't believe it to be true. I think we're all a little like Cal, we're all good and do some bad things, or bad and do good things. We can't all be so cut and dry. I love this movie because I know everyone feels misunderstood at times, even amazing people can be viewed as bad. I feel like we all have a little Cal in us. Do you?