I don't think it is easy for most people to relate to the character of Luke because they simply cannot fathom the feelings which motivate him. If one tries to use reason to live ones life, and really thinks about ones actions and what said actions will bring to you, then of course what he is and what he does seems completely and utterly ridiculous. As some people have said he either seems like a suicidal maniac or an arrogant 'douche', while the reality of it is that while both these things may be true to a point, that they are merely manifest because of something deeper in his core. These aren't the cause of his plight, but are rather just results or the outward and incomplete appearance of what he (in my projections) feels inside.
Lesser rebels in movies and literature are due mostly to immaturity or out of some crippling insecurity or inherent loneliness. They are young and impassioned and do not know where to direct their angers and frustrations, these are not wholly rebels but are just confused and more stubborn than the average person. However Luke is not trying to rebel, he does not want to be loved or recognized, nor does he want to die a martyr, he does not even care about impressing the other men gang-mates. Being an outsider and a loner has become far too romanticized and fashionable nowadays, and it is only shown now in such a light where it is cool, and where people emulate it in order to try to ironically fit in with the 'I dont fit in anywhere' crowd. I am also aware of the irony that this movie contributed alot to these conceptions, but I don't think the character of Luke himself falls victim to these trappings.
He has seen the good side of life, had a love that could have been a lasting one, and it simply did not bring him happiness. He was born through and through simply unable to fit into society the way that it wanted and demanded of him, there was just no place for someone like him right from the get go. It was not that he was only happy if he was rebelling, he simply was not happy with anything anyone had to offer for him. He could not just do the things that he was supposed to, could not get his 'mind right'. From the sounds of it, he had tried very hard for a very long time to just fit in, but ultimately he just right off didn't know where to put his hands on anything.
I could go on alot more getting into what I think about his character and why, but I will try to keep it brief. For what I have said and for reasons more, I find him to be one of the most admirable and at the same time pitiable embodiments of the so called rebel that I have ever come across. I admire him for his spirit and refusal to just give in to the things which threaten to take away that which is most precious to him, but at the same time I pity him because the way he was, he never had a chance to make it in this world. I have loved this movie for years for giving me one of the most intimate and personal portrayals of what it really means to not fit in, and I suspect and hope that it will be a favorite of mine for as many years as I have left.
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jogocar
11 years ago
Great points for sure! Donn Pearce is the author of the book and a prisoner himself in the Florida system for a time. Could it be that the author was trying to convey the idea that the system is the problem. After all, why was Luke sent to prison? Vandalism of public property. A drunken Luke sawed-off parking meters from their posts. Does that warrant a prison sentence? No one was hurt. How about a night in the local county lock-up and a small fine? The parking meters could have easily been welded back on to their posts. No real damage was done. A PRISON sentence. For vandalism. It's my opinion Pearce was showing that America, with all it's authoritarian organizations, was becoming a country of conformists and a hater of freedom. Not a good thing. As a kid in high school , when I first saw CHL, I remember looking up to Dennis Hopper's and George Kennedy's characters. Easy going, going along to get along types. But now 30+ years later, I think, while fun to watch, they were pathetic, if not, mentally unstable characters. Film has a subtle way, a power to form behavior and ideas in people. I hope the producers of this film had the intention of showing the authoritarian system is what was at fault and I hope it was not the intent of the producers to use the Luke character as a lesson that ultimately ends with conformity to an authoritarian society as the goal.
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beaumontdave23
10 years ago
Even later to the question, but Luke's rebellion and refusal to go along, may have formed in Korea. As a war hero, he was likely traumatized, so now he asks the question "what's the point?". He talks to God asking what He wants Luke to do. PSTD or other of war's mind *beep* may make him who he is. It seems a very real character type to me, lost in the futility of it all, but too stubborn to change.
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