"We're all bizarre, some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."
John Hughes' 1985 film “The Breakfast Club” is a story about five high school strangers who are nothing a like, but end up becoming the best of friends, forever known as The Breakfast Club. A lot of times we see movies about teenage drama that really don't portray a realistic scene of high school. Most movies are farfetched in there depiction of what going through high school is really like. On the contrary, “The Breakfast Club” depicts the true image very well. As for myself, I just graduated high school this past year, so I have a good picture on what it is actually like.
At the start of the movie, we see five kids; Andrew, John, Brian, Claire and Allison, gather on a Saturday morning at 7 AM to serve an eight hour detention. Each of them portrays a different, but typical high school stereotype. Andrew is the jock, John is the bad boy, Brian is the geek, Claire is the princess and Allison is the quiet kook. Watching over them during there detention is Principal Richard Vernon, a tight, strict disciplinary.
The five of them are told by Principal Vernon that they are not allowed to talk, move, or sleep, and the only activity that they are permitted to do is write a 1000 word essay on “who they think they are.” Of course, what high school student wants to spend their Saturday writing pointless essays. John, being the bad boy of the group, decides to start some trouble with the others. He proceeds through out the movie to call out each person in the group, pin pointing what he sees as a flaw within each of them. His biggest target is Claire, and they quickly build a mutual hate towards one another. The one person in the group that seems to be the most different of all of them is Allison. She is a quiet and extremely odd and quirky person. She doesn't even say an actual word in the movie until about half way through when she and Andrew are alone getting drinks for the group.
The movie continues on this course until a scene where they are sitting amongst each other and an emotional conversation is struck. After a heated argument between Claire and John, each of the members take their turn delving into their deepest secrets and how they have affected them. John starts out by telling the members about his abusive household. Andrew follows by explaining why he was given detention for the day. He says it was a reflection on the stories that his father would tell him from his days in high school. Brian, who is thought to have a “perfect life” by the others, explains how he is failing a class and is feeling the pressure from his parents. He even takes it to the extreme with thoughts of suicide. Allison goes on to say that the only reason she is there is because she has nothing better to do with her life, and so she just decided to show up. Even though it seems like a funny concept and they get a laugh out of it, she also tells them she always thinks about running away because of her parents. Claire explains her shame of being a virgin, and the pressure she feels from others because of it.
After tears are shed between each of them, they all realize that even though their personalities are all extremely different, that they have something in common. All of them are having problems with there parents and family in general. After there conversation, they become a unit. Each of them sees each other in a new light. As the movie comes to a close, you can see that each of them has changed. They all have a new attitude on life.
The reason I really enjoy this movie is how much I can personally relate to it, as so many others can as well. The emotions that these five kids feel are emotions that all of us feel as we venture through high school. Whether its shame, embarrassment, loneliness or even joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment