History YMMV / TheOutsiders

* RetroactiveRecognition: The film is noted for how many of the actors went onto become noted stars - Matt Dillon, Creator/PatrickSwayze, Creator/RobLowe, Creator/DianeLane, Emilio Estevez, hell it can be jarring to see Creator/TomCruise in a small role.

* HilariousInHindsight: Our protagonist's name is Ponyboy. Around fifty years later in 2010, we see ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and its well-known fanbase with adult men and teenage boys.

** Johnny and Ponyboy have a very close friendship, with several tearful heart-to-hearts during the story. It wouldn't be hard to interpret it as a love story between the two.
** Johnny comes across as slashy with Dallas too. Notably [[spoiler: when Johnny dies, that causes Dally's DespairEventHorizon]].
** Plus Johnny and Sodapop. Johnny and everybody-- the whole gang looks out for him and looks after him.

** The Curtis family has its moments. Ponyboy thinks Soda looks like a movie star and at one point Soda goes to sleep with his head in Darry's lap.
* JerkassWoobie: Darry can be quite cold and harsh to his brothers sometimes, and he does occasionally overstep his boundaries. But it's hard not to feel sorry for a twenty-year-old guy who was college bound when he lost his parents - and is trying to make sure his younger brothers have a better future than him.

** The rumble, while InUniverse treated as a climactic battle of good and evil, is in reality dozens of young men slugging each other to a pulp. The score of the scene in the film really gets across the fact that, even on this scale, WarIsHell.

* RetroactiveRecognition: The film is noted for how many of the actors went onto become noted stars - Matt Dillon, Creator/PatrickSwayze, Creator/RobLowe, Creator/DianeLane, Emilio Estevez. Hell it can be jarring to see Creator/TomCruise in a small role.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: In 1983 the film was notable for its unique look at teenagers - particularly those who came from troubled home lives. Note that this is one year before Creator/JohnHughes started making his teen-oriented comedies. Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson have stated that ''The Outsiders'' "created a new type of filmmaking".

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The book is one for 1960s America. The depiction of 1960s teen gangs based on subcultures is very clearly a reflection of the times. Note that the presence of greasers (and arguably the lack of hippies, who ARE present in some of Hinton's slightly later novels), very specifically sets it in the early to mid 1960s, rather than the later part of the decade. (The movie, on the other hand, is an intentional period piece, as it wasn't made until the 1980s but was still set in 1965.)
* TheWoobie: Johnny - a child of abuse who becomes a murderer just to save his best friend. In spite of Bob's general nastiness, Johnny is guilty about it the whole time. [[spoiler: He ultimately dies of burns]].

* AngstWhatAngst: Justified and explained.
* CounterpartComparison: The story appears to have taken some inspiration from ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', with many characters playing broadly similar roles in the story. There's the young, starry-eyed protagonist who gets swept up in a deadly feud (Romeo/Ponyboy), the girl from a rival faction who he [[StarCrossedLovers falls in love with]] (Juliet/Cherry Valance), the protagonist's no-nonsense father figure (Lord Montague/Darry), his charming and laid-back kinsman (Benvolio/Soda-Pop), the loyal best friend who gets into a personal clash with a member of the rival faction and [[spoiler: dies a sudden and tragic death]] (Mercutio/Johnny), and the cruel and hot-headed member of the enemy faction who [[spoiler:dies violently]] after getting into a scrape with the protagonist's best friend (Tybalt/Bob).

Soda and Steve.
The whole gang, really.
The Curtis family has its moments. Ponyboy thinks Soda looks like a movie star and at one point Soda goes to sleep with his head in Darry's lap.

Plus Johnny and Sodapop. Johnny and everybody-- the whole gang looks out for him and looks after him.

Plus Johnny and Sodapop. Really, Johnny flirts with everybody.
The whole gang, really.
* And there's Pony and his brothers being one big ol' incest fest: Pony saying Soda looks like a Greek god or a movie star, or Sodapop giving Darry a backrub, anyone?
*** Let's not forget that Ponyboy and Sodapop sleep in the same bed, too.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: In 1983 the film was notable for its unique look at teenagers - particularly those who came from troubled home lives. Note that this is one year before John Hughes started making his teen-oriented comedies. Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson have stated that ''The Outsiders'' "created a new type of filmmaking".

* RetroactiveRecognition: The film is noted for how many of the actors went onto become noted stars - Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, Emilio Estevez. Hell it can be jarring to see Creator/TomCruise in a small role.

* HilariousInHindsight: Our protagonist's name is Ponyboy. Around fifty years later in 2010, we see '''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and its well-known fanbase with adult men and teenage boys.

* HoYay: Johnny and Ponyboy.
** Johnny and Dallas, as well.
*** Plus Johnny and Sodapop. Really, Johnny flirts with everybody.
*** Bro Yay?
*** [[IncrediblyLamePun Nay.]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Bob crosses the line when he tries to drown Ponyboy. This is where the Socs graduate from mere bullying to attempted murder.
** They're waterboarding him (very, ''very'' crudely) in the film. It still ''looks'' like they're drowning him, and could very easily have resulted in drowning him, so still a MEH in-universe.

* TheWoobie: Johnny.
** In the book, Darry could count as something of a JerkassWoobie, since although Ponyboy is pretty well convinced his brother doesn't care about him (as he can be pretty cold and harsh at times), he's still trying quite hard to keep his family together and gave up a lot so that they'd get to stay together. Despite the way he acts sometimes, it's hard not to feel sorry for a twenty year old guy who's lost his parents and suddenly has to head his family.
*** It's also important to remember Darry was college bound before his parents died. While he couldn't fully afford it, he was smart (and poor) enough to get scholarships. Instead, he didn't go to college and is struggling to keep his brothers from being trapped like he is.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: [[spoiler:Johnny dying]] to save children in a burning building. Not symbolic? [[spoiler:Look again at his initials.]]
** In a church no less.

** And there's Pony and his brothers being one big ol' incest fest: Pony saying Soda looks like a Greek god or a movie star, or Sodapop giving Darry a backrub, anyone?
*** Let's not forget that Ponyboy and Sodapop sleep in the same bed, too.

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: Bob was killed by Johnny, the same kid he and other Socs badly beat to a pulp]]

* HilariousInHindsight: Our protagonists name is Ponyboy. Around fifty years later in 2010, we see '''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and its well-known fanbase with adult men and teenage boys.

** In a church no less.

** They're waterboarding him (very, ''very'' crudely) in the film. It still ''looks'' like they're drowning him, so still a MEH in-universe.

* CanonSue: Johnny. He has no known flaws unlike the rest of the gang and isn't given any depth other than the fact that he's a NiceGuy who's abused by his parents, is Dally's MoralityPet, and is Ponyboy's best friend. The rest of the gang adores him and never gets angry at him, and Two-Bit even says that the gang can go without anyone but Johnny.
** [[JustifiedTrope Potentially justified.]] [[FridgeBrilliance The book is written from Ponyboy's perspective when he is still a young man.]] [[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead He probably doesn't want to say anything bad about his fallen friend.]]

** [[JustifiedTrope Potentially justified.]][[FridgeBrilliance The book is written from Ponyboy's perspective when he is still a young man.]][[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead He probably doesn't want to say anything bad about his fallen friend.]]

* TearJerker: Johnny's [[spoiler:death.]] And later, Dallas's [[spoiler:death]] because Johnny was the only thing he really cared about. The movie portrays this excellently.

** [[JustifiedTrope Potentially justified.]][[spoiler:FridgeBrilliance: The book is written from Ponyboy's perspective when he is still a young man. ]][[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead He probably doesn't want to say anything bad about his fallen friend.]]

** [[JustifiedTrope Potentially justified.]][[FridgeBrilliance: The book is written from Ponyboy's perspective when he is still a young man. ]][[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead He probably doesn't want to say anything bad about his fallen friend.]]

* IdiotPlot: After killing Bob, instead of going on the run and hiding from the police (as if THEY did anything bad), Johnny and Ponyboy could have just gone to the police, turned themselves in, explained that Johnny killed Bob to protect Ponyboy, and counter sued the socs. By going into hiding, Johnny and Ponyboy got themselves into a lot of trouble that could have easily been avoided if they had just explained that it was a killing done in defense of another person.
** Except, of course, that it's their word against the social elites of the towns who probably have parents with greater influence and funds than they do. At best, the police would have a hard time believing them and, at worst, they would put them in prison.
** Their guilt would have to have been proven beyond any doubt. Money would not matter. At the end, there is a trial, and Ponyboy is found not guilty (and presumably the socs were imprisoned).
** Innocent until proven guilty. Thing is, the set up can easily be spun into a bad scenario in a courtroom. Johnny's knocked around by his parents and hangs with violent hoodlums, one in particular, Dallas Winston. One night he takes his anger out on two "well-mannered, well-behaved rich kids who were in the wrong place at the wrong time." The quotation isn't true from the reader's perspectives, but it would look terrible in court. Because of the social divide between the two, the Greaser kids thought they wouldn't get a fair trial and debatedly, they wouldn't. It's hard to argue between kids who look and act like thugs and kids who hide their delinquency behind their money.
** Also, keep in mind that Johnny and Ponyboy are still relatively young, pretty much kids, almost. Of course they're not going to think that maybe they can explain things to the police. Also, remember Dally was the one who told them to run away. ''Dally'', the first person they went to, and the last person, Greaser or no, who would ever suggest that they go to the police.
** Additionally, innocent until proven guilty doesn't apply here. Fact: Johnny did kill someone. His claim of self-defense is an affirmative defense, meaning that ''he'' has to prove that he was defending himself and his friend or else he goes to prison.