Jimmy's Breakdown - Who's Responsible?

["Schrade, Scott" <sschrade@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was thinking the other day (but not for too long - it starts to hurt),
what was it that let Jimmy down in QUAD.  Was it his Mod friends, or was
it the Mod movement as a whole.

I mean, what was Jimmy trying to escape from?  (I'm not really taking 
into account one ending over the other - the album ending or the film
ending).

In the end, was Jimmy disgusted with his friends who didn't seem to hold
Mod values in the high regard that he did ("Brighton was a laugh, a giggle,
that's all.")

Or did the entire *movement* let him down? Is he rejecting Mod altogether?

I lean towards the theory that Jimmy's *friends* are the ones who are let-
ting him down; not the Mod movement itself, or the Mod philosophy.

I say this because Jimmy doesn't seem to reject the Mod movement at any
point.  He's curious about some of its characteristics ("Ain't it funny 
how we all seem to look the same.")  But he never outright rejects it.

Jimmy seems to view the Mod movement as empowerment, right up until the 
end.  What causes his "breakdown," if you will, is the realization that 
his friends & even his Mod idols (the Ace Face) don't seem to hold the Mod 
movement in as high a regard as he does.

I guess the album ending lends itself more to my theory than the film end-
ing.  People seem to feel that the film ending (the scooter going over the
cliff) seems to represent Jimmy discarding his Mod values & moving on, as
it were.

But I'm not so sure.  Modism never caused Jimmy any harm.  Even getting
arrested was a thrill for him.  It meant something.  Being Mod gave Jimmy
something to live for (like the way current street gang members seem to
get positive feedback from their gang "family").

It's the people in Jimmy's life who let him down & drive him to despair.
He expects that from his bosses & parents.  But when it finally hits him 
that even his Mod *friends* don't see things the way he does, that becomes
the straw that breaks the camel's back.

The Mod movement itself hasn't let Jimmy down; but, sadly, his friends have.


- SCHRADE in Akron