DAVE. Sure.
ROY. So the only thing you got to show for my twenty years of work is the holes we left behind.
DAVE. I don’t mind.
ROY. I do. Cyril’s dad says he took that college exam.
DAVE. We both took it.
ROY. How did both of us do?
DAVE. Well, I don’t know. One of us did okay. But neither of us...Hell, I...don’t want to go to college. To hell with them! I’m proud of being a cutter.
ROY. You’re not a cutter. I’m a cutter. What, are you afraid?
DAVE. Yeah. A little bit. And then there’s the rest of the guys.
ROY. Well, you took the exam, all right, didn’t you?
DAVE. Yes.
ROY. Well, that’s good...
Breaking Away is primarily a movie about identity: having it, the loss of it, the search for it, the conditions of it. We see this in the main characters. Mike, our one-time QB, laments that he'll never be the star again and can't be a cutter either. Cyril early in the movie says, "You get to vote and drink when you're 18, what do you get when you're 19?" Dave's father was once a cutter and was proud of it, but something changed, and now he is living bitterly with that loss or lack of direction. And there's Dave who has found cycling and with it a pretend identity as an Italian exchange student.
And not to be ignored is the fact that our characters are townies, working class guys who live alongside the more wealthy college kids in their Mercedes convertibles, blow dry haircuts, and trips to Italy. At a low point Mike says, "They might really be better than us."
There's a lot going on here in the search for identity; many factors are involved in it: leaving childhood, friendship, work, economics, class, ambition, family.
Write about 300 words on the following:
1. How do you see Dave's struggle for identity? What role does the fake-Italian phase play in his struggle? How is he different than his friends (if he indeed is)? And what strikes you about his relationship with his father in this struggle for identity?
2. Who do you identify with in the film—the cutters or the college kids? And how so?
3. In your search for identity (assuming it is part of being a 16 and 17 year old), what are the the main factors that play into your identity at this point in your life?
Here's a clip from the television series that was made from the film in 1980. It was actually pretty good. It only lasted a season unfortunately. Local note: it was filmed in Athens.
See you all tomorrow.
1) Dave's struggle for identity is really quite strange. We all want to be something we're not, be it more muscular, smarter, more attractive, but rarely do we want to be another nationality. Dave wanting to be an Italian is his way of distancing himself completely from reality, he doesn't have to face the reality of being a cutter. Instead, he is exotic, unique, and perhaps sexier to Catherine. The feminine Italian character he adopts contrasts greatly with his father's American Manliness. Dave loves music, vegetables/Italian food, biking, and shaving his legs. On the other hand, Dave's dad is more in line with the American stereotype, he likes fattening foods, hard work, and money. On the topic of his friends, Dave is, in some ways, very different. Dave's friends seem to have accepted their fate to be stuck in the lower class and always looked down upon by the college kids. By acting Italian, Dave frees himself from this pain, but as we see it doesnt last too long.
ReplyDelete2) Although I should completely identify with the college kids, Im upper class, will almost definitely receive a college education, and am very privileged, I identify more with the cutters. Except in the rarest occasions, we as Americans will have someone who is more privileged than us. For example, any A-List celebrity is more wealthy and successful, and we are their cutters. In many cases, its an honor to serve someone famous at a restaurant or store. The parallel to Dave's Father's pride in his work is not extremely accurate, but nonetheless it is the (relatively) lower class individual getting satisfaction from working for the upper class. Back on topic, I always like to see myself as the hero in my own story(whether I am or not), so I would never identify with the villainous college kids.
3) The main factors that affect my identity used to be how they affected my social standing, what was cool. As I got older and more confident in myself, I started doing what makes me happy. If Im cool, thats great, if not, sucks to suck. Of course Im still affected by social pressures and what is cool and what is not, but it's mainly subconscious at this point. The greater identity struggle in my life is whether to identify as a Northerner or a Southerner. Although I live in the south, and have started to say "y'all" instead of you guys, I still say i'm from Boston. Incorporating my new home with my old culture has been a struggle that I continue to deal with.
Dave is the most interesting character in the movie. He struggles to be his true self and masks it with a whole new identity. When Dave is pretending to be the Italian he is doing it because he really likes the Italian cycling team and more importantly to not be seen as a towns person (cutter). He does this because he is embarrassed and he wants to fit in with the college kids escaping the life he lives. I feel like Dave also doses this in order to not fall in the steps of his father, because the identity he takes on is completely different then his fathers. When Dave's father says that Dave is not cutter he does this because he does this because he also doesn't want his son becoming a man like him selling used cars without a college education.
ReplyDeleteI identify as both the college kids and the cutters because I share traits form both groups. I'm well privileged and educated like the cutters but follow my own path and stand up for myself like the cutters.
Social standards, athleticism, education are all factors that play into my identity. Social pressure is played in with what kind of people I hangout with. Athleticism is a huge part in how people identify other males, and education, especially at a school like Paideia is ways that people look at others.
Dave does not have a problem with identity, I think instead he has other people that influence who he is. His whole Italian stage was created from the Italian bikers and the culture and language came with it. He looked up to these people and wanted to be them physically, mentally and emotionally. He wasn't uncomfortable with who he was, but wanted to maybe try something new and change his life to fit those that he thought highly of. This struggle of his isn't exactly a struggle as I truly think he knows who he is as he is able to show it to Katherine. His Italian phase was just the first part of his identity he lived as an "Italian", but only because he looked up to other Italian people and bikers. When he saw how these bikers acted truly, he changed his identity back to who he truly was. I do think Dave is extremely different, not just for his personality but for his future. Many of Dave's friends all model what their fathers were and they all take the same jobs and follow the same path. Dave is also somewhat flamboyant and respectful while the other boys are rowdy and tough. This relationship with his friends creates awkwardness at times when Dave thinks separately from the guys with jobs and futures. With Dave's father there is real truth and peace between them. Using the scene posted the father accepts that his son won't be who he is. The father wants Dave to go to college and do whatever he wants in life.
ReplyDeleteI would identify with the cutters. Even though I have many privileges in my life and I have many opportunities, I do not show or brag in any way. There is clear conflict between the cutters and the college kids based on their differences in class. I also like the whole lifestyle of the cutters as they are all very relaxed, true as friends and confident with who they are and what they do.
I think I am confident and aware of who I am today. The things that shape who I am depend on my friends, family and also who I choose to be. My identity is sort of shaped from what my parents have taught me and what I have learned from personal experiences. I don't think I have changed much personality wise with my identity over the past few years. I learn new things and change my point of view frequently when I think about things with my own opinion, but I also believe that my ideas and the way I act and live my life hasn't changed.
1. Dave's struggle for identity is as Will said, quite strange. It's uncommon for a small town kid in Indiana to idolize the Italians. Dave is often seen reading books in Italian, about Italian lifestyle, etc. I think that he stumbled on the Italian way of life; maybe in a movie, maybe in a high school class, maybe in a book, and fell in love. He is ashamed of what he is, a relatively poor cutter who, while he is quite intelligent, doesn't see himself that way. He latched on to the first new lifestyle he saw, which was of the intelligent, artistic, and athletic Italians. Dave is, as stated, more intelligent than his friends, and could most likely attend college if he wanted to. This is why he chooses the elegant Italian lifestyle, whereas his friends might choose something more crude if they too attempted to sell a fake identity. His father is a typical small town man who resembles Dave's friends more than Dave. At first, he doesn't understand Dave at all. However, he's realized that the fact that Dave isn't a stereotypical cutter isn't a bad thing, and may even be a good thing. He's now attempting to be more supportive of Dave, and he realizes that he is talented, both in school and bike-riding.
ReplyDelete2. In this film, I identify with the cutters and the college kids. The cutters walking around town "shooting the shit", one might say, reminds me of what my friends and I used to do and still do to this day. However, this movie also reminds me of me and my friends at public school, with myself being the college kids and them being the cutters. I've been made fun of for going to private school, but have always felt like I am better off at private school than going to public school with them. At the same time, this same dynamic can happen in the private school community. While most students at private schools are very privileged, some can flaunt their money and privilege more than others and still make other kids feel ungrateful for what they have. I would say the lifestyle that I've been blessed with resembles the college kids more, but my personality really resembles the cutters.
3. In a 16-17 year old's search for identity, there are a lot of factors. People are judged on every aspect of their appearance. Unfortunately, a lot of high school kids judge people by their appearance and don't even give them a chance to reveal their personality. For this reason, a lot of kids will wear the same thing, trying to be cool, sometimes instead of what they really want to wear. Clothes are only one example, as kids may act differently than they really feel in order for people that they want to like them to hang out with them. In a high schooler's search for identity, I think it's important to try new things regardless of what people thing, and find what you like. Unfortunately, social pressures can make that hard.
I see Dave as a guy who’s comfortable in who he is. He knows his place and doesn’t have an issue with it, “To hell with them! I’m proud of being a cutter.” He does the italian schtick just because it’s different, he’s a huge fan of the Italian bikers so he’s just imitating his idols. I think he’s different than his friends because he has a passion. Mike and Cyril don’t seem to have anything going on in their lives other than their friends but Dave has biking and he’s smart. He could go to college but he’s choosing to stay away. He could go and even be the best biker on the team but he chooses to stay with his friends and bike for himself. I think he doesn’t really want to compare himself with his father. He doesn’t really listen to his dad when his dad says stuff about “Well I never went to college” because he knows he is his own man.
ReplyDeleteI identify with the college kids. I’m privileged, go to a good school, and will (probably) go on to go to college. I of course don’t identify with the bullying lower class kids but at the same time, I probably will associate myself with people in similar situations to mine meaning I wouldn’t go out of my way to interact with them.
The main things shaping my identity are others around me but equally what I like and enjoy. I do the things I do because I enjoy them but often times I initially get into these things because they are “cool” to my friends. I like playing ultimate but had my friends not been players I never would have played because I would have been stuck in my “that’s a dumb sport” mindset.
I think Dave's struggle for identity is based on not living up to his standards nor his father's standards. I think the Italian exchange student/ bike racer identity is a way for him to see himself achieving the milestones of his life. I feel that it was possible that secretly both Dave and his father wanted Dave to achieve higher things in life, such as going to college. He is different than his friends in the sense that he has untapped potential. His friends can't keep a job and seem to waste life away passionless. Dave has skill as a bike rider and is a smart kid who can go to college. I think His father acts so negatively at the beginning because he, in part, blames himself for Dave's situation. He wants Dave to succeed but doesn't know how to urge him on.
ReplyDeleteI identify with the college kids. Most of us are more preppy and more well-off than the cutters so we don't know the struggle of living in a working class home and struggling to find and identity or struggling to find options that don't really exist for you. I don't identify with the college kids in the sense of their portrayal as privileged jerks. I know I am privileged but I don't think I would look down and scowl at kids like the cutters.
The main factors that play into my search for identity are my friends, interests and dreams. I think that a person's friends really reflect who they are. To become friends with someone you must identify with him or her in some way. My interests also define me. For example, I identify as both a participant and fan of theatre and sports. Lastly, my dreams and what I want to achieve in life also define who I am.
In a need to try to find his identity on his own he turns to the only thing that brings him joy and let's him express himself which is cycling. In his love for cycling he looks for someone to look up to and those individuals happened to be the Italian cycling team. In psychology the child always wants to resemble a parental figure but in this scenario the father pushes away the child leaving him struggling to find something to resemble. Dave no matter how old he may look still knows nothing of what it takes to be a man this is why the lack of connection between father and soon leaves Dave desperate for a role model. They seem so disconnected and don't seem to really connect. They want different things from life. I identify with the cutters because while I'm proud of my education and it's put me in a real advantageous position I refuse to believe education makes anyone any better. The college kids seem to feel superior and growing up when my education was in a "rough" place I always hated kids who used money or an easy life to put me down. I remember having a squad like theirs all of us going down different paths desperate to stay connected. I feel like I was once them and the memories of those days are ones that I still carry with me. For a younger person you typically look at people who you think are doing it the right way, whether that means a parent or a friend we want guarantees from our lives. At that age you look for things your passionate about to fill a need to be a part of something greater than yourself. As young adults you need to find a support system that will accept who ever the real you is.
ReplyDeleteDave's struggle for identity, or the ability to establish an identity of his own, is lost in his Italian persona. The reason he's being this Italian person is because of him not being able to identify as something important, something that plays a big role in society. He's lost within a cutters society in which he's trying to become something, he wants bigger and better things, and the Italian thing brings him closer to this goal. The fact that Dave still loves his father so much, and never really seems to be bothered by his father's criticism of his Italian phase. That strikes me the most about the relationship between the two of them.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to identify as the college kids. I've never experienced poverty like the cutters have, I've never been in the same reality as they are. I've always been comfortable financially and socially. The problems that they face every day haven't even entered my life, at any point. I'm not a dick though, like most of the college kids are portrayed as.
I think my parents play one of the biggest roles in my search for an identity, because I'm realizing more and more how human they both are. Seeing them make mistakes is one part of it, but the even bigger and more substantial area of this defining of an identity is how they carry themselves before, during, and after their mistakes. Someone's ability to get back up after falling down, their courage, dedication, and motivation, help stabilize my courage, dedication, and motivation. I believe both my mom and dad are very in control people, in control of their emotions, the actions they take towards certain issues, and in control of themselves, as people. The same thing can be said for the friends I choose to spend my time around. Ultimately, the people who play the biggest role in your search for an identity, are the people you spend the most time with, and the people who you ENJOY spending the most time with.
ReplyDelete2. I identify with the cutters, Dave in particular. The college students are one-dimensional at best and cruel at worst, but the four friends have legitimate fears, angers, and joys. I empathize with their uncertainty about the future and their animosity towards the people who, they've been told, are better than them. I like Dave because he is thoughtful, though he doesn't express himself, and because he is caught between two paths. I think he feels like he has to choose one person as a role model, rather than allowing himself to become whoever he will become. We see that struggle with his Italian persona – he's not comfortable with his own image, he doesn't want to be like his father, and he's hardly considered going to college, so the Italian sham is the only appealing choice he can come up with.
(I wrote in the order I answered the questions.)
1. Dave seems like he almost struggles more with too many possible paths than with having none at all. He isn't attracted to any one plan, but because of his strong test score and bicycle-racing skill, he has options his friends do not. I've already mentioned that he fakes being Italian because it is, temporarily, the most fun and rewarding life he can imagine. He like Italian culture more than his drab surroundings, so he takes that thought and runs with it. Ultimately, however, he realizes that it is impossible for a 19-year-old from Bloomington, Indiana to become Italian (without even leaving the country). That phase – which is not necessarily harmful – must end. I think it is most important as a transition away from his father's way of life – without spending the summer as an Italian, he and his family might have resigned to him following whatever path it is that cutters (and, presumably, the other three friends) follow. His father is his most obvious role model, but not the best, and, eventually both father and son realize that fact.
3. The most significant factor for me is what people around me are doing. I compare myself to other people (my friends and adults I come into contact with), not in a competitive way, but in order to determine what my options are in life. I often wish to practice a specific behavior one of my friends displays. I rarely consider doing things that I haven't seen or heard about someone else doing. Many of my ideas about what a good or successful person – a person I want to be – looks like come from implicit or explicit messages from my parents. Sometimes those messages come when they remind me to be courteous or honest. Other messages are in the form of their example or are implied by their choices of people to admire. But when I disagree with my parents, it is harder to know where to look.
1. Dave's struggle for identity seems odd and at the same time normal for me. On one end, it is an attempt to spice up the life he expects to have. A low down, boring, simple life with no real fun or variety. On the other end, it is such a WEIRD way to express the struggle. The pseudo-Italian phase gives him a uniqueness not exactly found in this town, and one possibly not found in the uni, which is why Kathy falls so hard. He is quite different from his friends. Unlike his buddies, Dave is blessed with multiple options, as we find throughout the movie. He can either be a cutter, or he can continue to be a biker, and maybe even be a pro, or even go to college, considering that he got a solid score on the entrance exam. His friends do not have that option. Cyril, Mike, and Moocher will likely live "boring" lives. They likely will not make it out of the town. Moocher is married, and will probably start a family, but Cyril and Mike, what happens to them is pure speculation. He respects his father and loves him, but realizes the path of his father, and does not want to fall in the same path, which is why mostly everything he does in the movie is the opposite of what his father went through as a young man.
ReplyDelete2.I identify with both sides. My personality is that of the cutters, just people of the town, (as Jacob said) "shooting the shit" with my friends. I come from a poor background, a background I realized I was a part of when I lived in India for 2 1/2 years. my family being below middle class only made our bonds to each other stronger, and it is something i will never forget as long as I live. At the same time, I am fortunate to be in America, to be in a private school, to be studying with the suppposed upper echelon of society, to be on track for a solid college education. I may not be as rich or priveleged as some of the other students, but I am well aware of what a Paideia education does for me going forward.
3. In your search for identity (assuming it is part of being a 16 and 17 year old), what are the the main factors that play into your identity at this point in your life?
Identity? Male. Indian. 17. Asian. Athlete. Musician. Student. Paideian. American. I like to be social, but unfortunately high school society does not care for the deeper aspects as much as appearance, the latest trends, and that kind of stuff. It's hard to find your niche in high school, to find your friends. Once again, as Jacob said, social pressure makes finding your identity quite difficult. But it gets found eventually.
I see Daves struggle for identity in a way that he is embarrassed to be a cutter, being a cutter comes with shame, so he looks to be different even tho he is still a cutter. Daves struggle with his father shows you how he really is true to his Italian identity, it's not just a bluff in public but something he does even in the presence of no one, he really believes he's an Italian and looks to the cyclist until they break his heart and he becomes the plane cutter Dave again. Dave is different from the other cutters in the fact that he goes to college in the end.
ReplyDeleteI would identify with the college kids in the fact that that is expected of me to go to college both. My parents and grandparents went to college and I'm in a prestigious private school now and I would be Throughing a lot out the window if I did not attend college, also the prepy college kids look like they are having a lot more fun in every day life than the cutters and they have some pretty hot girls who role with them
I would say that my identity is one of an athlete and a Texan, I think everone at this school knows that I'm from Texas and that I come from an sports driven family, latterly pays our bills, I would like to assume that people see me as an athlete and someone who cares for other people.
Dave feels torn between two worlds. He has no future as a cutter, since the quarries are all being shut down, and feels the pull of the college kids, as we see when he goes there for a girlfriend. At the same time, his roots are in the town, all of his friends are there, and they stick together. As we hear, they all quit at the A & P rather than go on working there with one gone. Dave uses the Italian persona when he sees a group of role models and latches onto them. It also lets him have a different background than just being a cutter. At that point, he is embarrassed, or at least less than thrilled with his family history. By being an Italian, instead of being just another of the local townies, Dave becomes Henrico Gimondi, the romantic Italian exchange student. It gives him a chance to test out being something different
ReplyDeleteIf you look at just the economic side of things, of course I'm with the college kids, there has never been any question of whether or not I will be going to college. However, they don't quite fit. The college kids seem classist and more than a bit jerky, adjectives I wouldn't normally ascribe to myself. At the same time, I don't really identify with the cutters. Mike is kind of a stuck up athlete, With the exception of Dave, none of them seem to care much about school, and their life experience is just really different than mine. So I guess the answer is neither? The issue is that the cutters's struggle is one I've never had to face, but the college kids shown are not ones I feel any connection to either.