The Breakfast Club

A review for John Hughes' 1985 cult classic 'The Breakfast Club'

The Breakfast Club

Plot

Throw in every high school student stereotype you can think of, lock them in a library for Saturday detention, have them fight, cry and confide in another until they utter dialogue of how they are nothing more than the stereotype we are introduced as them to be, and you'll have John Hughes' 1985 classic 'The Breakfast Club'.

Review

Despite an ending -and an opening- to Simple Mind's frontman Jim Kerr, begging us to not forget about him, we finish John Hughes' coming of age tale with one of the most forgettable viewings of 'cult cinema'.

Well, that's not entirely true as Judd Nelson's obnoxious high school burnout John Bender leaves us fairly mortified. His frequent misogyny throughout the films ninety-seven-minute runtime leaves one especially uncomfortable with the seemingly delightful outcome (in the closing five minutes Bender succeeds in a shared kiss with fellow detention victim Claire (Molly Ringwald) that occurs as a result from his hurls of abuse and objectification towards her. The sympathy of Claire's victimisation also lies with Molly Ringwald as it is said that Nelson stayed in character during production of the film and bullied her on set, serving as suggestion that Hughes shares the same amount of awareness in his consideration for women in real life as he does in his writing (little).

The film's opening may seem promising, as we are presented with an on-screen quote from non-other than David Bowie. Yet this later proves as nothing but an insult for such a respected figure's name to be associated with the most unremarkable and overrated piece of 'cult cinema'. However, in the aspect of The Breakfast Club's high status, one does have to give credit to Hughes for being such a large influencer in the production of 'coming of age'. Nearly forty years on and 'coming of age' films are still a prominent part of cinema, advancing from their eighties birth to suit each new generation of frustrated adolescence. It is especially pleasing to see these films move forward from such themes as Hughes misogyny and mistreatment of female characters, towards stories of women by women. Such features as last year's Golden Globe nominated "The Edge of Seventeen" and this year's highly anticipated directorial debut of Greta Gerwig's 'Lady Bird' present stories of female coming of age from the female filmmakers themselves.

In terms of the message Hughes wished to achieve, he only achieves hypocrisy in his rather unsubtle plea that one should not be judged to share the same personality as the stereotype in which they fit. However, Hughes' writing of his characters proves this point to be entirely false. The film relies heavily on dialogue as of having a limited soundtrack and some fairly unextraordinary cinematography from Del Ruth(who went on to be DP of another eighties 'coming of age' cult 'Stand By Me'). It is in this dialogue that Hughes ends up making the characters exactly their stereotype. We have the prestigious Prom Queen that states she won't talk to the lower social status characters when Monday comes and the 'weird' girl that admits she is indeed a compulsive liar and thief. The transformation that comes about Allison(Ally Sheedy) is that of a stereotype itself; the unappealing girl gets a makeover and suddenly she is appealing and gets the guy(Emilio Estevez)! We are also witness to the abrupt romantic development of Judson and Ringwald which we can only hope to be the result of Hughes possibly not having reread his screenplay after the quick two days in which he wrote it. For it is only another sexist trope in which the guy sexually harasses the girl until he gets her! The number of stereotypes continue as we discover Judson is only the obnoxious bully he is because…he has a troubled personal life! In the hands of Hughes this means he is excused of all his past inappropriate behaviour and displays a fantastic view to all the impressionable young men of this coming of age piece; that sexually harassing women until they like you works out.

Only ten minutes into The Breakfast Club and Hughes writes Nelson a light-hearted joke of rape suggesting "why don't you go close that door, we'll get the prom queen impregnated". For the remaining ninety-so minutes of the film we are confronted with Benders ever-persistent harassment of Claire's sex life as well as an actual scene where he decides to commit some utterly inappropriate groping, whilst hiding between Claire's legs beneath a table. Yet Hughes takes no criticism of Benders rampant sexual harassment; instead it is shrugged off in the fashion of a boyish douchebag we've had to see so commonly before. Such example is given to another 'cult' film as Randal Kleiser's 1978 musical "Grease", where we are witness to another high school male taking entitlement in the violation of looking up female class student's skirts. Again, the act of sexual harassment is thrown in for comic effect. Despite excuses that may be offered from the films near forty-year ageing and the 'times were different back then' justification, there should be no defence that the films should face such criticism in their present cult status.

Despite the predictability of every line exchanged between the characters, as they only further conform to the stereotypes they're supposedly rejecting, we get to see a redeeming element of the film. There is a struggle to actually relate to the characters, as they are so caught up in their stereotypes but we can find a relatability for the desire of how they listen to another reveal their predictable yet sincere truths. Although again some parts feel they are handled insensitively by Hughes, as Brian (Anthony Hall) reveals his thoughts of suicide to which the others laugh at him,providing no supportive attitude towards him. Here Hughes is aware of the adolescent teen's want to have someone listen, but mishandles it or maybe does reveal an honest perception of it that will only fail to reassure an audience confused enough with task of growing up. Hughes rests too much of the films interest on to these uninteresting kids, who are only offered a stereotyped personality to replace their social stated stereotype. Without us rooting for any of these kids or maybe just one (Anthony Hall's Brian), it's a tedious watch of cliché after cliché.

Editing of the film is smooth and flows together through transitioning scenes where we can catch establishing shots, providing us the same awareness as the students. Along with the cutting of scenes Hughes becomes very involved with what he wants us to know without need for question and guides us to the next scenes. The manipulation of a viewer with technical aspects by Hughes is also evident in the limited soundtrack. Only in scenes where Hughes will feel it of a significance will we hear a piece of music supporting the unveiling action. It works well in gaining focus upon a scene but means that dialogue of other scenes must remain interesting, which can be maintained with some good performances. Technical aspects fail to prove to the films high status of anything remarkable, so that all remains of the relatively simple telling is an average, run of the mill story of the frustration of adolescence and its relationships.

Verdict

Hughes had good intentions but his executing messages fell weak and left a bitter taste of insensitivity as well as his character arcs technically non-existent beyond sexist tropes, leaving the film with the most weakest of impacts and undeserving of cult recognition. One would recommend that you skip to 1986 and watch Hughes' most enjoyable adventure 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'.

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Author

Ellie Cassidy

Ellie Cassidy

Carol 2015 Dir. Todd Haynes deserved Best Picture

1 Comments

  • Luke Taylor

    On 21 November 2017, 10:46 Luke Taylor Contributor commented:

    Wow, this is a strong review. However, I have to disagree - I think the problem is that it was filmed in the 1980s, and so it does seem a bit outdated with its stereotypes. However, there is a reason it's a cult film - the characters are relatable, and John Hughes breaks down the stereotypes to reveal the fact that teenagers of all walks of life go through the same teenage angst. You may not like it, but to me it is a classic.

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