John Hughes: Style and Substance
John Hughes and the New Teen Films
The late John Hughes is one of the most famous screenwriters, directors, and producers of the last fifty years. Many of John Hughes's most well-known films are his teen films, such as The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. In the 1980s, John Hughes was setting a new trend for the way teenagers are depicted onscreen. He managed to subvert the sensationalized portrayals of teenagers and teenage life that dominated the screen in the 1980s. Movies about teenagers coming to terms with their lives were a welcome change from the excesses of the slasher genre. John Hughes's timing was right, since audiences seemed to be growing weary of these portrayals around the same time that he emerged on the scene.
People like John Hughes made some lasting changes in the way that teenagers are depicted onscreen. Seeing the real, down-to-earth concerns of teenagers being dramatized is much more common today than it was in the 1980s. Teenagers in films today will frequently discuss their issues like the protagonists in the Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club was one of the first films to deconstruct the high school archetypal characters, but these character types are frequently subverted today. John Hughes managed to stand apart from many other writers and directors in his day by taking a whole genre of films in a new direction.
Generations of kids have now grown up with John Hughes's teen movies, and they continue to speak to teenagers. John Hughes was able to create realistic teen dialogue in his movies, but more importantly, he was able to capture real teen dilemmas. It's no wonder that his films could transcend individual generational experiences.
John Hughes and Chicag...
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...nformity likely resonated with him very strongly.
Most fans that read a biography of John Hughes will find that he was a self-described quiet kid, a quality that many of his protagonists share. At the same time, he also has many extroverted and outgoing characters. The mix of personality types may have contributed to the broad appeal of John Hughes films, and they both may have represented dual sides of John Hughes's personality.
His slapstick films seem to be wackier than some of his early teen films, but Sixteen Candles and the Breakfast Club had their fair share of wacky moments. Many of John Hughes's later comedic films have their fair share of heartfelt moments, as well. Blending farcical elements with more dramatic elements seems to be another consistent feature of most John Hughes films, whether he was the writer, director, producer, or all three at once.
Breakfast Club film contained a wide variety of behavior and stereotypes. Each person had their on personality and taste at the beginning of the film. I believe that communication played the biggest part in the movie. It shows the way that people from totally different backgrounds can communicate and even agree on issues. The various types of communication and behaviors within the film will be discussed.
This film contains some classic examples of the kinds of real life issues adolescents deal with. Issues such as popularity, peer relationships, family/sibling relationships, sex, and struggles with identity are all addressed in this ninety-minute film.
...that allowed the anxiety and fears of a nation to be relieved as well as a significant degree of sexual tension. He opened the door to other authors, directors and film makers to attempt to relieve tension in their films rather than create it and in doing so he helped popularize a genre of film: Parody.
...s at that time who have come of age. Perhaps no film in recent history has captured more attention and generated more controversial debate. This film resonates the feeling and question that common people had about the JFK assassination in the 60s. As a result, the debate about the validity of JFK extended much further into the war-torn cultural landscape of America in the 1990s than most observers noted. The JFK was a telling incident demonstrating the larger cultural conflict over values and meaning in America and the competition to define national identity. The whole affair demonstrated how effective a motion picture can be as a transmitter of knowledge, history, and culture. As a result, the debate about the validity of JFK extended much further into the war-torn cultural landscape of America in the 1990s than most observers have noted.
The Breakfast Club is a movie made in nineteen eighty-five, directed by John Hughes. The plot follows five students at Shermer High School, as they attend for Saturday detention on March 24 on nineteen eighty-four. The students are not complete strangers to each other, but the five of them are from completely different cliques or social groups. John Bender “The Criminal” is one of the worst behaved kids in school, does drugs and is always involved in some kind of trouble, Claire Standish “The Princess” is one of the most popular girls in school, all the guys want to date her. Brian Johnson “The Brain” is the typical nerd, he is really smart in school, but has no idea about relationships, parties or drugs. Andy Clark “The Athlete” is a really popular kid in Shermer High, he is the varsity letterman, captain of wrestling team and a ladies man. Finally the last student in the detention is Allison Reynolds “The basket Case” she barely talks to anyone in the school and act really weird when approached.
The movie The Breakfast Club is a perfect example of peer relationships in the adolescent society. It shows the viewer some of the main stereotypes of students in high school you have a jock, a nerd, the weirdo, a rebel, and a prep. Over the course of a Saturday detention the different types of peers learn a lot about one another by hearing what each one has done to get into Saturday detention as well as why they chose to do it.
The Graduate is a cult classic. Not only was it a movie for the generation of baby-boomers in the Sixties, but it still remains a symbol of the teenagers today that are searching for something and those that are "a little unsure about their future". Benjamin Braddock, a college graduate comes home only to be seduced by his father's business partner's wife. He then falls in love with her daughter, Elaine, which in turn leads to a rollercoaster of events which end up leading to the final scene of Benjamin taking Elaine away after getting married to another man. This film is a classic example of coming of age; Benjamin is boy in the beginning, and a man at the end. Without the direction of Mike Nichols, acting by Dustin Hoffman and great cinematography this film would have been forgotten and ill represented.
Despite an inappropriate music-video sequence and a phony up-tempo finale, The Breakfast Club offers a breakthrough portrait of the pain and misunderstanding which result from the social hierarchy created by youth themselves. The lookers and the jocks are popular and can do whatever they want — except relate to those outside their social circle of winners.
The breakfast club is an American comedy and drama film which was written and produced by John Hughes. It talks of an experience gone through by five students in a library at New Trier High School; the school went to by the child of one of John Hughes' companions (Kaye, 2001). In this way, the individuals who were sent to detainment before school beginning time were assigned individuals from "The Breakfast Club".
You can see that he's strong but he's also frightened. As you move your eyes towards what's behind him you notice that his hand is crippled and was probably burned. Your eyes meet his and they're a piercing blue. You are so struck by his looks you can't wait to go talk to him and find out about his personality traits. Johnny Tremain's personality was very fascinating, and it was most intriguing to read about how he changed from a bossy, impatient boy, into a thoughtful, patient gentleman.
J.D. Salinger and John Knowles both accomplished their description of their protagonists reaching their level of maturity through literary elements. They provided excellent examples of a teen growing up; and A Separate Peace and The Catcher in the Rye have at least one moral that one can rely on. In conclusion, the conflicts in the stories were things that I could actually relate to and I can expect to experience the same things that the characters experienced.
The film, The Breakfast Club, introduces five students, each perceived with a different stereotype which is commonly found in American high schools.
John Hughes’ 1985 film, The Breakfast Club, gives countless examples of the principles of interpersonal communication. Five high school students: Allison, a weirdo, Brian, a nerd, John, a criminal, Claire, a prom queen, and Andrew, a jock, are forced to spend the day in Saturday detention. By the end of the day, they find that they have more in common than they ever realized.
This movie is a wonderful production starting from 1960 and ending in 1969 covering all the different things that occurred during this unbelievable decade. The movie takes place in many different areas starring two main families; a very suburban, white family who were excepting of blacks, and a very positive black family trying to push black rights in Mississippi. The movie portrayed many historical events while also including the families and how the two were intertwined. These families were very different, yet so much alike, they both portrayed what to me the whole ‘message’ of the movie was. Although everyone was so different they all faced such drastic decisions and issues that affected everyone in so many different ways. It wasn’t like one person’s pain was easier to handle than another is that’s like saying Vietnam was harder on those men than on the men that stood for black rights or vice versa, everyone faced these equally hard issues. So it seemed everyone was very emotionally involved. In fact our whole country was very involved in president elections and campaigns against the war, it seemed everyone really cared.
The Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes. A&M Films Channel Production, 1985. Perf. Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Esteves. Film.