The High School Experience The high school experience is something that will forever dominate the psyche of most American adults. It was an unforgettable time of fun, rebel-rousing, summer loves and parties. It was a time of warm summer days at the pool and chilly autumn nights, watching the football team and wondering were the party was going to be that night. School dances and hotel parties. Seems like all I can remember are the good times. High School is a very emotional time for many teens and everything matters. The insidious problems that I had to face are but a smudge on my memory, things like too much homework, zits, mean people, gossip, and algebra. The social atmosphere that permeated every aspect of high school could make or break your popularity. In the movie, “The Breakfast Club”, five young adults are portrayed to a tee, representing a cross cultural view of the teens attending high school in suburban Chicago in 1985. The year in which the movie is set is immaterial, because the game is the same, whether it is 1955 or 1995. The opening scene of this “classic” movie shows the five students arriving to school at approximately seven thirty in the morning, Saturday, to serve their punishment, the dreaded Saturday detention that many of us had to submit to. This grievous application of student torture was utilized by school administrators to punish, reform and deter schoolboys and schoolgirls from breaking any rules and regulations. The scene is narrated by the brain of the group, the know it all, dorky, goofy, nerd whose idea of fun was to grow fungus and compete in the academic decathlon. In a dry and sardonic voice he leads you into the movie and their day in Saturday d-hall. Stereo-types abound ... ... middle of paper ... ...vie scenes in cinematic history take place in the high school’s library. This movie came out before I attended high school, yet I envisioned my experience to be similar. Now, I watch the movie and I get that nostalgic feeling and realize that high school was exactly that way. In today’s world the names and faces may have changed, but all in all kids stay the same. The rules and parameters of this game called, high school, may have changed in order to stay current with the nineties, teenagers coming of age in society have stayed practically the same. You hear a lot of teachers say that the kids are different and that “things just aren’t the same”, it is the teacher who has failed to adapt and modify themselves. High School is a paradox. A beautiful and painful experience that will stay with someone for the rest of their life, whether enjoyed it or hated it.
“I viewed each of the films at least once…taking notes on the role of the teacher, peer relations, among students, relations between students and adults, student attitudes toward schoolwork, extracurricular activities, the role of the family, the resources of the school, the use of violence and drugs, exploitation of sexuality (4).”
The film, The Breakfast Club, introduces five students, each perceived with a different stereotype which is commonly found in American high schools.
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 Breakfast Club" begins with an old dramatic standby. You isolate a group of people in a room, you have them talk, and eventually they exchange truths about themselves and come to new understandings. William Saroyan and Eugene O'Neill have been here before, but they used saloons and drunks. "The Breakfast Club" uses a high school library and five teenage kids.
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.
In "The Breakfast Club" five disparate personalities, each secure in his identity and yet filled with insecurities, spend a lazy Saturday confined to Detention at Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois, for various and sundry school violations. Yet each character has a troubled life as foreshadowed by his very presence in Detention.
The Breakfast Club is a coming-of-age movie. This movie follows five high school students who all have school detention on a Saturday morning. They all come from various types of group. There is the anxious and bizarre girl, Allison; the sporty guy, Andrew; the hard-acting guy, John; the popular girl, Claire; and the nerd, Brian. They all saw each other that way too because they were “brainwashed” into accepting that. Since they are all from different types of groups, they don’t know each other, nor do they want to. At first they think they don’t have anything in common, but as time passes, that proves to be wrong. Since they were the only people in the library, they can’t help but slowly get to know each other. This movie was written and directed by the brilliant John Hughes, who in my opinion is the “King of 80’s movies.” He has directed great 80’s teen movies like 16 Candles, Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, and Pretty in Pink. This movie has mix of genres any individual could possible enjoy: drama, comedy, and even romance. The actors in the movie performed to be tremendous in their roles. The actors in the movie are known as “the brat pack”. The movie is starring: Emilio Estevez, known for popular movies like The Outsiders; Molly Ringwald, who starred in movies like Pretty in Pink and 16 Candles; Anthony Michael Hall, who was in the movie 16 Candles with Molly Ringwald; and Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson, they both starred in St. Elmo’s Fire. There couldn’t be anyone better to portray the characters in the movie than these actors.
The Breakfast Club demonstrates the interpersonal concepts “I-It” and “I-Thou” as it follows students whose immediate reaction is to treat each other as nothing more than the stereotypical person their titles assume them to be; however, as the film progresses and the characters begin to develop friendships, the characters abandon the stereotypes and begin to look at each other as individuals who have unique personalities and stories.
Making the transition from middle school to high school is a huge stepping stone in a teenager’s life. High school represents both the ending of a childhood and the beginning of adulthood. It’s a rite of passage and often many teens have the wrong impression when beginning this passage. Most began high school with learning the last thing on their mind. They come in looking for a story like adventure and have a false sense of reality created through fabricated movie plots acted out by fictional characters. In all actuality high school is nothing like you see in movies, television shows, or what you read about in magazines.
I’m not going to lie, high school is tough but, in the end you realize that, it leaves you with a great experience and great memories. High School has its perks and disadvantages. In High School you tend to limit yourself. There are strict rules you have to follow and a principle you have to listen to. In High School you have a total of eight classes. It’s a schedule that you follow every day from 8:00am-3:30pm. In High School everybody is separated into their own groups. You try so hard to find the one that fits you the best or, you just create one yourself. It’s a place surrounded by people that care more about what people
Coming-of-age is a process of maturation, realization, and transition. It has been approached in a number of ways throughout film history. At times, such approaches render similar as youth, no matter the decade, face the same developmental dilemmas and look to achieve the same life milestones. Other similar aspects include context like school, for instance, which has long been a favorite as well as important setting in youth-oriented films in which the character(s) come of age. However, contexts and approaches in depicting this theme have also differed over the years, understandably so as films must adapt to the political and social climate in which they are made. Nonetheless, films across time have de...
Directed by John Hughes, The Breakfast Club is a film that portrays the social conflicts students face during high school. Set in Shermer, Illinois five students attend detention on a Saturday and are required to write an essay about themselves and “who they think they are” (The Breakfast Club). Over the length of the day the five students, who are all extremely different, become closer. They become closer by talking, breaking the rules, and standing up for each other. By the end of the movie the students have written one essay breaking the stereotypes they fit in to. These stereotypes they have received are, the “athlete,” “princess,” “criminal,” “brain,” and “basket case.” According to Kathryn Feltey and Jean-Anne Sutherland, “when stereotypes
My Elementary and Middle School years were characterized by a consistent and dedicated work ethic, which was critical in maintaining good grades. While my high school years are highlighted by many accomplishments, which I regard with a higher sense of pride, as they were all accomplished despite any obstacles my disability imposed.
You know, it is really strange how quickly time passes, after spending my whole childhood wishing I was an adult, now here we are and it's a little hard to grasp. It feels like just yesterday I was standing here in the same position at eighth grade graduation. Ahh, middle school, such a joyous time for all of us, free of maturity and not a care in the world. The biggest decisions I ever had to make then was deciding which group to stand with at passing time and choosing which shirt from my extensive collection of Stussy and No Feat apparel to wear. We were all naive to the danger that lurked just around the corner. We were unaware that the carefree world we lived in was about to come crashing to the ground in a blazing inferno of real school work and responsibility ... otherwise known as high school.