Do it for Johnny - 3 Act Structure in The Outsiders

The three act structure of Hollywood, based on the classical dramatic or tragic structure, is a common approach to filmmaking and involves a basic beginning, middle, and end (or an introduction, complication, and resolution). This is the typical model Hollywood films tend to follow and one such film that exemplifies this is Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders.

The Outsiders follows this three act structure almost exactly. The opening 25 minutes or so of the film begins literally with the introductions of each character in the ensemble cast, works to illustrate the setting the story is taking place in, and sets up what will lead to the main conflict, which is the rivalry between the North side "greasers" and the South side "Socs"(more simply put as the poor kids versus the rich kids). At the end of this act, after everything has been well set up, the first major plot point happens, as is usual of the three act structure. At this point, the greaser-Soc rivalry comes to a head, resulting in the death of one particularly brutal Soc at the hands of a greaser and main character, Johnny. This action transitions from "introduction" to "complication" and brings us to the next act. The stakes are raised and this asks the question, what are they going to do now? which the second act is meant to answer.

After this plot point, the story moves on to the second act, which lasts for another 30-40 minutes. It is during this act that the complication continues. Johnny and his friend (and protagonist), Ponyboy, flee their city with the help of another friend and hide out in an abandoned church to avoid the trouble waiting for them back home. However, while they are away for a short time, they return to the church to find it set on fire with a group of schoolchildren trapped inside. At this point, Ponyboy and Johnny rush in to save the kids from a fire they feel responsible for, but Johnny becomes badly burned and breaks his back during the rescue. He ends up in the hospital, and the greasers begin to plan a "rumble" with the Socs to settle their score once and for all. This again raises the stakes and leaves us wondering how everything will turn out, and this question transitions us from second act to the the third act, or the complication to the resolution, as well as the climax.

The final 20 minutes of the film presents the resolution for everything that has happened thus far. The greasers go on to triumphantly win the rumble in honor of Johnny, but immediately after this come to find that he has died. Johnny's death causes another character close to Johnny, Dallas Winston, to commit suicide. These tragic deaths create the climax and are what makes the rest of the third act a falling action, which will answer the question of where we go from here. Here, we are left wondering what will happen to Ponyboy, who is facing criminal charges, and we are also looking for what we can learn from this all. In the end, everything is clearly resolved as this Hollywood three act structures prefers - Ponyboy is acquitted of all charges, and a letter Johnny had written to Ponyboy reminds us that "there's still a lot of good in the world," and of course to "stay gold."

Ultimately, despite the tragedy the climax presents us with, The Outsiders has the happy/hopeful ending a classic three act structure is meant to have, and this film very well fits the mold of the three act structure.