in my 9th grade english class reading assignment bag, i guess

It is genuinely insane that a teenager wrote this book. Like, HOW.

The fact that a sixteen-year-old teenage girl wrote this is poof we have always been writing sad boys and making it literature!

I read this book in one night when I was 15 and cried for 2 hours after I finished it. It's kind of tragic being a girl and growing up and seeing the impact that the expectation of masculinity has on the boys you know, watching them go from being sweet and silly children to stoic or even a little mean "young men". I had never read anything that tapped into that feeling before and it impacted me greatly

Dallas is way more emotional than any of the other members; he just doesn’t know how cope with that.

One of the things that I found interesting too is how Darry and Sodapop (particularly Darry) are this kind of perfect, almost idealized masculinity. That's partly why Pony feels detatched from them I think. Despite their fights, I think Pony know his brothers are (forcibly) older than their years because they've had to take care of each other from such young age. Contrast that family situation which is hugely imperfect with the one Johnny and Dally have. It's also his brothers' sacrifices and contradictions which allow Pony to stay soft in a way Dally and Johnny were never allowed. It's a miracle Johnny manages to be so pure of heart for so long, and I think Dally knows better than anyone else. Very interesting analysis and great video!

I think this book and movie is relatable to both men and women because I don’t see the root of it being an exploration of “toxic masculinity” - To me, it’s about what happens when you are raised in an abusive and neglectful home environment and community…and how it causes you to lose your innocence prematurely and have zero trust in the world. You’ve already felt so much pain in your life that your brain begins to try and disconnect from your emotions completely, as a self-protective mechanism for survival. It simply hurts too much to feel. It’s safer to not care. It’s safer to be detached. It’s safer to not be vulnerable. Many kids in the foster care system (both boys and girls) experience this same thing with their emotions and fall into a similar path as the boys in this film. It’s not toxic masculinity - it’s the results of trauma and neglect. It’s the natural, yet misguided response, to a perpetual state of fear, anxiety, and pain. When you’ve lost all faith in life…when you’ve lost all faith in humanity…you shut down emotionally. It’s not worth it to feel anything other than your base survival emotions of anger, defensiveness, and complete apathy. I, a female, went through this experience. I know it all too well.

I was in 8th grade when my class was reading The Outsiders, and it changed everything on how perceived things in understanding class divisions and the complexity of a tough exterior. Everyone in my class were excited to come back to class and continue reading the book. It took a lot of convincing to watch the film but we managed. I’ll never forget that. I’ve admired the sensitivity of Ponyboy and often see myself in him, understanding how the world treats will treat and the way it affects us. Love your essay, keep up the great work!!!

so excited for this video... reading the outsiders in 7th grade was a defining moment in my young psyche

"We gotta do it for Johnny, man! We gotta do it for Johnny!" Matt Dillon was awesome in this.

Reading the outsiders is a canon event. It's the only book you will ever read and remember so ever so clearly.

"He shrouds himself with the weapon of silence" - beautifully said! As someone who related all too well to the struggles of the kids in the Outsides, I too developed behaviors of remaining silent but always, always observant. I've never heard it articulated in such a way, but I actually agree more with this sentiment than that of "just a coping mechanism" - the two are definitely not mutually exclusive.

I love the focus on Pony, Johnny and Dally they are obviously the focal point of the story and it’s emotional journey. I do think the other characters help flesh out the world as we see that most of Pony’s older friends don’t go to or finish school and Darry has to be wholely responsible for his family- it gives the vibe that the weight of having a “good, pure” life is on Pony’s (and Johnny’s) shoulders as the youngest. If that makes sense.

I fell asleep to this every class in 6th grade. A favorite memory is being woken up to a voice actor going “nEeD a HaiRcUt, GrEasEr?”

The Outsiders was the first book assigned to me in my first year of public school (homeschooled before) and it absolutely rocked my world. I read it at least 4 times that first semester, and this essay made me want to reread it immediately.

Yes, one of my favourite books and films of all time, and I didn't have to study it for school. I love how close the greasers were with each other, not being afraid to show vulnerability. Also, I didn't realise that SE Hinton was only 16 when she wrote the book.

The book that brought my entire 8th grade English class together for 1 unit 😂

I reread and rewatched the movie over the pandemic because I remember liking this book as a kid (it was an 8th grade assigned reading for us, rather than 9th). It's fascinating to see what you don't pick up when you're younger. I would have thought Johnny was the most sensitive one since he's regarded as the fragile, or as the book states " little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times". But as you said, that applies to Pony more than anyone else. There's so much other details that I didnt notice back then. This made a good read and not as boring as I thought it would be since looking at old nostalgic media does tend to fair worse for me. This will be a new comfort video for me. Anyways, Ponyboy , Johnny and Dally are still some of my favorite characters til this day and I will also be ignoring the weird homophobic comments from the author xoxo.

I got "reintroduced" to this book as a reading assignment I had to direct for the student teaching I did last semester. I remember DEVOURING this book when it got assigned to me and now I can see why, this book is good, like generationally defining good and it's written in such a way where even 6th and 7th graders can see the things the book is stabbing at and it gets them thinking in the kind of way that makes a teacher's heart flutter.

Don't make me cry :') I love the outsiders so much! I know a lot of people read it in school or saw the movie as a kid, but I feel like it's underrated among adults. Like, I'm almost 21 and it's still one of my top favorite books, that I reread every once in a while. It will always have a special place in my heart.

You can live your life always brandishing a sword, but eventually, the strength will slowly ebb from your arm. Another wonderful video from yhara zayd, as usual.

Jesus I haven't thought about this since I was 14. My heart breaks for Dallas, soda, dally, twobit, and the other guys who couldn't afford to feel. Stay gold literally everyone.

The Outsiders was the only book I genuinely enjoyed studying at school. Thank you for making this video 💕💕💕

Excellent video! Outsiders is truly timeless. It's part of the reason I went to school to be a therapist 😭😭 I help people heal and learn to express their feelings and their traumas. *still in school, not a therapist yet! 🙂

Oh I didn’t realize I needed this. Not only a cool analytical video on The Outsiders, but also a new video on anything from Yhara Zayd.

johnny and dally’s deaths always deaths always kill me :( such a good video and breakdown!

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!! This book is so important to me, there's so much left to examine that a single reading in 8th grade doesn't touch on.

The cast includes C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Tom Waits, Rob Lowe and Diane Lane + cameos from Nicolas Cage, Sofia Coppola (of course, because they're related to the director), Flea and Melanie Griffith. That's just...wow.

Growing up dirt poor in oklahoma is a specific kind of experience. And while I'll never personally understand what its like to be a teenage boy, theres a lot of complexity and emotion in this story directly tied to overt themes of poverty and social tension, and that is something that, unfortunately, i think a LOT of people can heavily empathize with. It really is hard out here for a lot of us, especially in the fly-over states that everyone tends to forget. Its part of what makes the story so beloved and timeless.

15:07 as an abused child, I related to Johnny on another worldly level. This book, along with the Bible, were my crutches as I tried to navigate through this awful time. Wonderful video 💛

I loved this book when we had it for English in 7th grade. So much that I actually went and got my own copy of it from a book store and would read ahead of the class. There's just something about it that absolutely grabs you from the first line and sticks with you for years to come. I watched the movie obsessively after I finished the book and even read the "sequel" of sorts, That Was Then This Is Now. Also I'll never forget my English teacher informing us very firmly that "soc" is pronounced "so-sh" and not "sock." (Same teacher in a 12th grade sci-fi/fantasy class telling us that Alice's cat from Alice in Wonderland is pronounced "dye-nuh", not "dinnuh".)

I was sadly never required to read this book but I still read it for fun my junior year, I still clearly remember being in creative writing class when Johnny broke his back and in Chinese when he was in the hospital, I looked so distraught my teacher actually asked if I was okay

The Outsiders really is as good, and heartbreaking, as one remembers. Thank you for that reminder.

I will say having experienced abuse as a little kid by an adult and getting PTSD, anxiety and depression from it. It was hard growing up as a young boy always feeling that I couldn't trust anyone. Also being sensitive and looked down on for it. It's sad to think about a kid being told he's less than for just being human. Violence is a looming threat for a young boy when there is bullying. In turn this causes the sensitive boy to become slightly desensitized due to having to defend himself. Compassion, vulnerability, empathy, and channeling anger for self defense (and positive change) is what makes a boy into a man who's self aware. I loved the Outsiders as a teen. Always related to Ponyboy. Though I'm an Aquarius and sensitive. I have always allowed my son to be real with me, to feel okay being vulnerable.

this book being an assigned reading for an at the time 14 year old mexican child be forced to casually hear slurs aimed towards latinos and italians was definitely an experience :/

This was amazing, thank you. The Outsiders was my favourite book in my pre-teens. I remember re-reading it in the back of my parent's car on a trip in the early 90s and crying for the first time because of a book.

Damn sometimes I watch a whole bunch of content and feel nothing, then you post and I feel like I ate a 5 star meal. Love your work.

I still have the copy I accidentally stole from the classroom library. I remember people swooning over the characters in this book and movie in a half joking/half serious way. the teenage version of rob lowe had a fan club.

I have memories of my class's end of year book project being the Outsiders, and most of the kids in class loved anime. Being an artist who was a huge weeb, I sketched anime style character designs of Ponyboy and all the others, and when my classmates spotted my sketchbook they went ballastic, like "THESE ARE NOW THE CHARACTER DESIGNS WE'LL HAVE IN MIND READING THE BOOK FROM NOW ON". Kids were making fanart of MY fanart, the teacher not understanding jackshit about the situation and watching with utter confusion as 24 teenagers were weeping openly over dead Anime Johnny. What a fucking year that was (sorry I know this is unrelated to the point of the video but I really wanted to contribute to the engagement somehow XD)

I was obsessed with this book as a middle schooler and it's still one of my favorites of all time. My first foyae into fanfiction was The Outsiders and this video inspired me to look up my old fanfics from like 2005. I found comments on it from 2015 of some new generation of kids who fell in love with this book, too and I think it really speaks to how timeless this story is. Great video!

i’ve been needing an outsiders video essay forever tysm. i can’t believe a book i had to read for 7th grade english impacted my life so much

One of my favorite reads as a kid, and one of my favorite movies. Thank you for covering it so well.

girls in my 8th grade english class made INSTAGRAM FAN ACCOUNTS for the outsiders...the power of a teenage girl and a homoerotic narrative changed classrooms across america

This is trip that you're covering this. I remember seeing this movie in sixth grade (yes, really- for the kids out there) a monthly "perfect attendance" award for the students. During the 80's. When it first came out on VHS. Read the book later in high school along with "That Was Then, and This Is Now" by S.E. Hinton. Fun Fact: I was living in Tulsa, OK where the book, and the movie, were based on.

This video essay is incredible, it made me tear up. The Outsiders was one of my favorite movies when I was younger and I haven't seen it in a while but this really gave me a whole new layer of appreciation and admiration for this story (and an urge to rewatch it). Beautiful beautiful words 💓

This book changed everything inside me.

Yhara your content is so brilliant, I am in awe of your video essays because they really are so profound and I always learn something new. Thank you so much.

It's maybe a little bit funny that, since youtube auto-caption doesn't recognize "socs" as a word, it says "socialists" instead. So the captions say stuff like, "Ponyboy is jumped by a group of socialists"

this book was not a part of our school curriculum, but i read it anyways. the first time i did was when i was ponyboy's age and _it changed my life._ i felt like i was ponyboy because i could understand the emotions that he felt and where he came from. when i first watched the movie, i was around dallas' age or about a year older, and at that point in time i understood where he was coming from, too. when i read the book again after finishing the movie, i found that i related more to dallas then i did ponyboy. i had changed a lot was the first thing i noticed. the troubles they face are universal, it doesn't matter if you were born rich or poor or middle class, or you had done something like johnny, you just relate to it. you also get to grow with the characters as you revisit it. it truly is a wonderful book and movie. sorry for all the rambling and if it doesn't make sense, i just wanted to get all the things i wanted to say out. ps: the movie is probably the most accurate adaptation of book-to-screen that i've ever watched and also holds the record for most number of crushes in one movie lol (my fave is matt dillon aka dallas, he's really handsome 🥰)

I haven't watched this video yet, but I am so glad that this book is still in rotation. I'm thoroughly impressed that you even know enough ,and like it enough to want to do a video essay on it, because you look incredibly young. This gives me such joy that literature...good literature is still surviving..

Getting punched in the face can be weirdly therapeutic in a twisted way. The Outsidera hold a special place in my heart.

Wow, this makes me want to reread The Outsiders. When I first read it in high school I read it twice in a row despite being someone who has always hated rereading books. My favorite S. E. Hinton book is That Was Then, This is Now which has similar themes to The Outsiders but is super short

One of the best school books ever!

the outsiders has always been one of my favorite books, it's been years since i've read it but after this video i'm re-reading!!

I remember how everyone loved this book in middle school we were so excited to read and talk about the next chapter

This channel and Anti-Heroine are my absolute favorite channels on KZfaq. Your commentary is so inciteful, and I really enjoy your editing style. Makes my day everytime you post.

I remember in the sixth grade, my mother walked into my room because I was crying over a book and she goes. You wanna cry over a book even harder, and she passed me a copy of the book, entitled the outsiders. I didn’t read that book I was in the sixth grade my mom tell me what to read next. She couldn’t do that she doesn’t know what my taste in books are Until I was in the eighth grade when I hear my English teacher go the outsiders, which was a book that my mother had told me to read. I came home that day sitting on her bed, telling her about my day, and I bring up the outsiders she grabbed the copy of the book from the shelf and handed it to methat night I was up till four in the morning I had gotten into about chapter 7, and then I stopped and went to bed waking up at 7 AM the next day the day after that, I didn’t read it because I didn’t have time, but that Saturday I picked up the book and finished it, bawling my eyes out every time something happened. I cried when they went into the church, knowing something bad was gonna happen. I cried when Johnny died I cried when was shot. I cried when I had to finish the book the outsiders is one of my favorite books.

AHHH!!! I'm so stoked the outsiders is one of my favorite movies!!

Had a reading assignment for this book in 7th grade and still remember the emotions I felt after reading all these years later . Definitely a book and film I will always recommend. Great video

Happy to see you upload again. I hope there's more to come. You're one of the best and I love your voice.

I sent this video to my mom, she loves this book and movie.

The outsiders is my favourite book in the whole world. I even got the opening sentence tattooed on me lol! Loved this video

This is SO beautiful, thank you!! I read The Outsiders in middle school and,, kind of forgot about it: it's incredible to look back and re-examine! Also it's wild to find out that yet another of my favorite school-assigned readings was written by a teenage girl (joining Frankenstein by Mary Shelley). I love how self-incapsulated and concise this video is! Larger media analysis that connects multiple works are excellent (my mind automatically went to The Will To Change by bell hooks as a possible complimentary text for this analysis), but it's super refreshing to sit and consider/admire The Outsiders as its own sunset 🌄 Now I'm off to to reread the book and finally watch the movie :-p

This analysis is so eye opening. i’ll admit i was about to shed a tear at the end, because for so long i’ve never 100% understood the deep meaning of this book/movie. you explained it so perfectly, about the importance of staying true to your innocence (Dally and Johnnys message), and the characters’ deeper intentions. Johnny definitely admired Ponyboy’s ability to find beauty in the little things in life, and saw potential in him, because unlike the other greasers, ponyboy still had that innocence to him, and johnny wanted him to stay that way (hence why he wrote the letter to him at the end of the movie.) like you said, the reason the two got along the most was because of the vulnerability they both shared, unlike their other, more hardened friends. growing up in that kind of place, it was definitely uncommon to find vulnerability in another man. i find it so beautiful how ponyboy opens up to johnny when viewing the sunset, and begins to recite Robert Frosts poem-whereas if he would’ve done that with another gang member, (ex: darry or dally), he probably would’ve been ridiculed, or not be taken as seriously-as the other members don’t seem to possess his level of emotional depth/vulnerability, unlike johnny. i love this whole book/movie so much, and it definitely has a deeper meaning than most people think. Stay Gold yall 💛☀️

I screamed when I saw this I love this book so so much. It has to been one of the best books I’ve ever read and one of the only ones to make me cry

I was 12 when I picked the book up, my mom was excited because it was one of her favorites growing up. It was one of the first books I remember crying at the end, under that lamppost, crumbling like an accordion….

Thank you for this beautiful analysis! The Outsiders is one of my most favorite books 💙

This is my favorite book in the whole world.

This book was assigned reading for me in 7th or 8th grade and it was SO GENDER but I didn't have any of the words to express why. Somehow gender didn't really come up in the classroom when discussing this book about different types of guy doing guy things together, written by a girl.

I was do excited when i read the title of this video! The Outsiders is my favorite book by far. It’s completely changed my life and will forever hold a special place in my heart. This video essay was absolutely phenomenal. It is very well edited, worded, and analyzed. I’ve never quite known why i liked Dally as a character despite him being such a horrible person. I suppose he had a bit of relatability to me. but after watching this, i realize how broken he really was. the inability to be vulnerable can be more painful than having vulnerability. Great Analysis on The Outsiders, you have a new sub! Stay gold

Yhara you're back im so glad!

I watched the film when i was a child i totally understood the film too well i had a horrible childhood i was abused when I was a child my home life wasn't stable due to my father drug addiction i never read the book

WELP... that was a good cry. So glad to have you back!

I remember reading this book in grade school and watching the movie too and thinking these boys were purely deranged. I was ignorant to the facts of our society and how poorly we truly treat one another while we are alive. I miss those innocent days when I did not understand this book and what it meant for young boys and men in the society. Now, I am all too familiar with how young boys are conditioned and it makes me relate to someone like a Dallas more so than anything. This world won’t let you stay soft for long and I am not even a man talking like this. Just defeated, life defeats you after a while. It’s horrible.

I'm very happy to see you still making videos. Hope you are well.

So happy to see a new video from you! Your videos are always so well done and your voice is so dreamy/smooth 🥰

the queen returns! thanks for reminding me how awesome and emotionally devastating the book/movie is. rewatching it tonight

As a child of the 80's, I loved this movie growning up and I read the book, like 5 times. This essay TOTALLY makes want to relive this story and re-read it.

God i love the outsiders 😔 the only book i would love to discuss and analyze for hours

Oh we are so back. I missed you

I know I’m only a woman. But a woman that was raised by the streets, this book always hit me hard. Even though I was a hard ass, I was still deeply a nerd. What a beautiful interpretation of the book I couldn’t fully comprehend as a teen going through similar things.

Man you just explained things about me I couldn’t even

I THOUGHT DALLAS WAS PLAYED BY JIM CARREY BYE

Loved this analysis a few months ago on the patreon, so glad everyone can experience it now :)

Stay gold Yhara zayd, stay gold.

This video means a lot to me. I cried and got chills. It helped me feel so seen and the way you describe it is so apt.

I read this book over and over as a freshman.

Stay gold Viewers!

I remember becoming obsessed with this book when it was assigned in an English class, to the point where I had already finished the book when I was supposed to be on chapter 2. Dally was, in my opinion, the most heartbreaking character. Him and Johnny both lived very tragic and short lives, but Johnny died knowing there was still good in the world while Dally died because he believed the last bit of good was gone. My teacher didn’t agree and I was shocked. She called him an “arrogant hothead” and she wasn’t wrong, but that comes from a place of hurt more than anything else and Dally never got the chance to heal.

YOOOOOOO She's back!!! Missed ya, Yhara! ❤

This is a beautiful book and movie that I can personally relate to in many ways and this has changed my life and I absolutely love it

A triumph of a video for sure. your voice captured a wistful melancholy in such a calming way. You would be very talented at making audiobooks.

I'm so happy you made this video. Your work is incredible, as per usual.

Great essay, thank you. also I remember being Johnny for our class's mock trial and crying actual tears at the stand and the jury EATING IT UP

Maybe I missed too much school, but I never had this book assigned. I guess I'll add it to my books to read list.

Cherry: Has red hair and green eyes SE Hinton: Has red hair and green eyes Hmm

illustrate the dangerous use of violence to realease emotions, disbelief turns into anger, VEHICLE OF VULNERABILITY, attempt that if u are though the world wont hurt you - jhonny is thaught to suprimir his emotions EVIDENT IWTH SUNSETS (bc he hasn't notices so no sensible feelings.

great video!! glad to see you posting again❤

S.E Hinton admits that she enjoys writing Fanfiction 💖😂

read this book when i was 12 and it was my fav book for yearsss