The film, Splendor in the Grass directed by Elia Kazan, examines the plights faced by two adolescents, Wilma “Deanie” Dean Loomis played by Natalie Wood and Bud Stamper portrayed by Warren Beatty-living in the 1920s in Kansas. Due to the immutable morals of those days, their carnal yearnings had no means of release or expression. This results in Deanie trying to take her own life.
Although for the most part the movie strikes itself as being a conventional love story, it is crucial to take into account the film’s emphasis on values and a lifestyle that is stagnant. Moreover, Splendor in the Grass studies the attributes of selfdom and disposition of the bogus facade that depicts human beings as virtuous while discrediting sensibility. Both, Mrs. Loomis and Ace Stamper both symbolize the morals that are up for us as the viewers to analyze. They both place confidence in that what they are enforcing will give out an advantageous outcome for their offspring. Even though, it is disproved time and time again.
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Loomis symbolizes the failure to transition or (ironically) mature and to understand human connections’ complexity. It is as though she sees Deanie as more of an asset than a person. She holds Deanie’s virginity at such high “value” that she’s more concerned with her physical state than her mental state. She regularly stifles her daughter’s natural inclinations as to display a forged facade of Deanie as a girl with no libido.
Ace Stamper parallel to Mrs. Loomis is unable to give Bud proper direction. When Bud approaches his father to speak about his yearnings and what he actually wants to do with his life, Ace takes no notice and instead insists that he attend