Among these classic 80's movies is Hughes' 1985 film The Breakfast Club. You've probably noticed it playing on ABC Family every other weekend, but for good reason. The Breakfast Club has stayed relevant for the past thirty years simply because both teenagers in the 80's and teenagers now are able to relate to the coming-of-age theme prevalent throughout the movie.
The Breakfast Club focuses on five students that must attend a Saturday detention for various reasons. Although the students do not know each other personally (with one exception), they have for the most part, seen or heard of one another. However, during the course of detention the characters seize (however reluctantly) the opportunity to get to know the others, breaking the labels they feel define them. The film takes place over the course of just several hours, shot mostly in the library where detention is held.
The main take away from the film is that people are more then what they are labeled as. The closing scene captures this idea perfectly with the voice over of the reading of a manuscript left by the students for the principal to read after detention ends. The kids aver that "you see us as you want to see us," but refute with the understanding that people are too complex to be labeled as just one thing.
Our characters come into detention labeled individually as "a brain, an athlete, a basketcase, a princess, and a criminal." If you have not seen the movie, or even if you have, take a second to create a visual of what our characters look like, what they act like, who their friends are, etc. We as humans try to be efficient in our personality classifications of one another, but the point Hughes is trying to make is that these classifications are often left in the primitive stages; we do not bother digging further to find out more about one another, missing out on what people are actually like.
The exploitation of this idea is what makes this movie worth watching over and over. Despite taking place in only a couple of hours, there is still character development, exemplified as we watch the characters take on aspects of each other. Judd Nelson's character (the criminal) shows his soft side. Molly Ringwald's character (the princess) insists that her life is not as picture perfect as she wants everyone to think. Emilio Estevez's character (the athlete) appears on the verge of tears due to the pressure put on him by his father.
I digress.
The benefit of knowing the end result for the characters is watching what steps they must take to get there. As a young adult I am always willing to receive advice on how to do the whole "growing up" thing. In just the course of a day, the characters of The Breakfast Club show us the importance of connecting with people beyond a first impression.
Why is this lesson so important that we should soak it up over and over?
Because people are lazy and making connections with other people takes effort. However, this movie proves to us that the effort may be worth it, as you would be surprised what people are like when you remove their labels.
Not to mention the final frame of Judd Nelson's fist clenched in the air as Don't You Forget About Me plays in the background, which gives me chills every time.
The Breakfast Club focuses on five students that must attend a Saturday detention for various reasons. Although the students do not know each other personally (with one exception), they have for the most part, seen or heard of one another. However, during the course of detention the characters seize (however reluctantly) the opportunity to get to know the others, breaking the labels they feel define them. The film takes place over the course of just several hours, shot mostly in the library where detention is held.
The main take away from the film is that people are more then what they are labeled as. The closing scene captures this idea perfectly with the voice over of the reading of a manuscript left by the students for the principal to read after detention ends. The kids aver that "you see us as you want to see us," but refute with the understanding that people are too complex to be labeled as just one thing.
Our characters come into detention labeled individually as "a brain, an athlete, a basketcase, a princess, and a criminal." If you have not seen the movie, or even if you have, take a second to create a visual of what our characters look like, what they act like, who their friends are, etc. We as humans try to be efficient in our personality classifications of one another, but the point Hughes is trying to make is that these classifications are often left in the primitive stages; we do not bother digging further to find out more about one another, missing out on what people are actually like.
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| Fun Fact: This scene in the library was not scripted, John Hughes simply told the cast to act as their characters would. |
I digress.
Why is this lesson so important that we should soak it up over and over?
Because people are lazy and making connections with other people takes effort. However, this movie proves to us that the effort may be worth it, as you would be surprised what people are like when you remove their labels.
Not to mention the final frame of Judd Nelson's fist clenched in the air as Don't You Forget About Me plays in the background, which gives me chills every time.
I really like the premise of your blog - we definitely pick-up more stuff when we watch a film again!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen The Breakfast Club in full, but your blog makes me want to watch it sometime.
Your "hook" seems to appear in the title ("Not About Pancakes"), which I liked, but I don't know if it should be in the title or in the first sentence. Question for Robin?
Also, I don't know if embedding the end of the movie is a great idea; I can understand it if you're not concerned about spoilers.
Nice job!
While I've never watched The Breakfast Club, you are definitely right about being on constantly. Yesterday, when I was eating dinner in Redifer it was playing on a TV. Your post was well thought out, but I found myself wanting more specific details on the plot so I went to Wikipedia to read its summary. If you avoided details so as to not give spoilers, I would advise you to not worry as much about it. Typically, reviews and analysis require them to make since.
ReplyDeleteAlso, on a bit of a tangent, as I read the movie's summary I noticed something odd: while the character of Claire is given the problem of being pressured to lose her virginity, the 'solution' is for her to make out with a guy. Perhaps there are nuances in the movie not caught by the summary, but this seems to imply that the movie is putting the blame on her for being 'prudish' and that it is wrong for a woman to refuse to be sexually active at some time. This is a roundabout way of suggesting, whether you agree with what I said or not, that for future posts you don't have to laud everything about a movie and can also critique parts you don't like.
I absolutely love movies, so I was immediately drawn to this blog. I too tend to watch movies over and over again, loving to pick out all the pieces. I'm a huge fan of The Breakfast Club, so this blog was very insightful. It was enjoyable to read your analysis of the film, and I also thought your writing style made it a fluent read with nice flow. I like how your analysis of the movie can be of practical use to your audience, as we all face situations like this where we have a choice to accept basic stereotypes or dig deeper into a person. Great blog!
ReplyDelete