The Breakfast Club
By: Cameron Smith
Directed By: John Hughes
Starring: Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Paul Gleason.
What a perfect film to succeed Rebel Without a Cause... It is a great example of how the teen genre evolved, and the ultimate crowd-pleaser. It is not only a classic to the generation of this film, but is likewise timeless, giving great enjoyment to the kids after them and of today. In this review, that is one of the things I will harp on later. First, I will run down the list of things I love about this film: great period soundtrack, timeless referential humor, strong tendency to connect with teenagers through the protagonists, ability to mix emotionally tense scenes with humorous counterparts, and altogether, just plain fun! Now, on to the more nitty-gritty of this timeless film (yes, I tend to use that term a lot).
The most apparent piece of symbolism in this film are the five stereotypes, of which these five characters each conform to. The stereotypes are already apparent to us, the audience, and to those who are fans of the film, so I won't go in depth on what the stereotypes are and what they mean. One interesting thing this film does is use each student as a representative for each "clique" -- group of high school kids who conform to a social norm, hobby, or philosophy. During this Saturday detention, they separate themselves from each other, but eventually come to communicate, learn each other's background, and realize that they are one group and one group only: teenagers. The categories which they live and are judged by have been placed on them by their society and parents to make sure they don't walk among certain crowds, a product of our own evolution. Each strove for perfection in the eyes of both their peers and their parents, and hence, "were brainwashed."
In the end, (coming from a teenager) this film portrays adolescents very well. Instead of dwelling on the common trope of us being simple, spoiled, lazy brats, this film explains that all teens go through the same issues in one way another and don't get around them because of what clique they're in. Luckily, we have made progress since 1985, but we still have a ways to go in tearing down teenage barriers and coming together to solve the problems we face. For the progress we have made, however, this film certainly played a part in that. This film will soon go down as more than just a crowd-pleaser; it will be remembered -- much like Rebel Without a Cause -- as a historical artifact.
In the end, (coming from a teenager) this film portrays adolescents very well. Instead of dwelling on the common trope of us being simple, spoiled, lazy brats, this film explains that all teens go through the same issues in one way another and don't get around them because of what clique they're in. Luckily, we have made progress since 1985, but we still have a ways to go in tearing down teenage barriers and coming together to solve the problems we face. For the progress we have made, however, this film certainly played a part in that. This film will soon go down as more than just a crowd-pleaser; it will be remembered -- much like Rebel Without a Cause -- as a historical artifact.
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