Maria Gudin
Movie Critique
Ms. Pittman

The Outsiders The movie "The Outsiders" is about two groups of teenagers who attend the same high school and live in the same town, but are completely different. One group, known as The South-Side Socials are the more privileged group. The second group, The Greasers, are the less privileged kids, who just so happen to live on the wrong side of town. These two groups have had rivalry against each other for many years. The rivalry got even more intense because Johnny, a Greaser, along with his friend Ponyboy were being harassed by the Socials and Johnny stabbed one of them defending his friend. After the murder; the Socials try to avenge the death of their friend; the Greasers trying to get the town to understand that the Socials are at fault also.

Functionalist Perspective sees deviance as necessary in society for three reasons. It clarifies rules, unites groups, and promotes social change. The Greasers’ deviant behavior helps to unite the Socials together by banding against the greasers. Also the greasers are banded together in their oppositions to the Socials. Social change begins to occur after Bobs death, when people from both sides start to see the error in their past ways. Earlier in the movie Pony makes Cherry see that they are really no different from one another by asking “Can you see the sunset from the south side pretty good?” She says yes and Pony Tells her that he can see it from the north side pretty good too. It is clear that social change is beginning to take place, as a result of the greasers’ deviance.

Conflict theory is especially useful in understanding war, wealth and poverty, the haves and the have nots, revolutions, political strife, exploitation, divorce, rape, child abuse, slavery, and more conflict-related social problems. Conflict Theory claims that society is in a state of perpetual conflict and competition for limited resources. The Socials have everything they could want and need due to the fact that they are rich. The Greasers on the other hand are poor and have to work harder and