Question 3. Describe an important idea in the text.
Explain whether or not you think this idea is relevant to teenagers today.
Today identifies one of teenagers biggest challenges. Steven speilburgs Catch Me If You Can helps back this point up with the intriguing character of Frank Abognale Jnr, he represents the idea of identity and proves how it’s so important for teenagers especially in today’s world to have a sense of identity. Steven Speilburg articulates this idea through the use of key camera angles, quotes and events.
An Important idea that came up religiously throughout the film was identity. A technique used to highlight this idea was a specific quote. It said “An Honest man has nothing to fear, so I’m trying my best not to be afraid.”. This proved that Frank wasn’t an honest person and didn’t have a proper sense of identity in life and was trying to be someone he wasn’t. This idea of Identity came up routinely throughout the film and was important to the text as a whole as it taught the viewer some valuable lessons.
Identity is a relevant idea to teenagers today as it prevents them from feeling lost. A good way this was shown in the film was through quotes. An example of Frank feeling this way is when Carl Hanratty says “You had no one else to call, you’re lonely”. Having no real family on christmas day for Frank who was only seventeen at the time was rough as he had no sense of identity or who he was. Having a sense of identity is incredibly important and that is why the idea of it in Catch Me If You Can is relevant to teenagers today.
It’s also an intensely important idea as without identity you lose purpose which is very relevant to the teenagers of today’s world. Steven Speilburg highlights this in the final airport scene with a pan shot leading down the aisle which represents a path back to Frank’s purposeless life of crime, then to an exit sign behind Carl leading to a life of purpose and justice. The use of the pan shot and props were well executed in this scene as you could see Frank was in need for a purpose in life and that could only be achieved with a sense of Identity. This idea of identity is extremely relevant to teenagers today as without it you have no purpose.
Identity can also be seen as an important idea as without it teenagers tend to make irrational decisions. A technique used to portray this was the event when Frank Jnr tried escaping from french prison then said “Let’s go home Carl”. Although his capture was a year or two before Frank Still tried escaping and going against the law because it’s in his nature and because he has no identity to hold him accountable yet. This idea of identity is relevant to teenagers today as it showed in the film the irresponsible decisions a young person can take without it.
Catch me If you Can directed by Steven Speilburg raises a lot of good ideas but an incredibly relevant one to today, more specifically today’s teenagers was identity. Steven Speilburg used the character of Frank Abognale Jnr to paint this picture and highlighted it further with specific quotes, camera angles, events and props. Without identity there’s no purpose, loneliness and irrational decisions can be made.