Social Cliques in The Breakfast Club by Eric Berne

712 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ageism in america

Social Cliques in The Breakfast Club by Eric Berne

“Jock”, “prep”, “gangster”, “loser”, “geek”, “criminal”, “ popular”, are just a few labels of teenagers that are used everyday by outsiders who judge them without looking skin deep. In the matter of stereotyping, some may perceive it as being the base of an identity in the view of society. Eric Berne, an author and psychologist, wrote an article, “Can People Be Judged by Their Appearance?”, where stereotyping is categorized and used as a positive view. As opposed to the film The Breakfast Club, written by John Hughes, that creates a more negative input on stereotyping. Berne’s uses a theory of basic human types as an example of a scientific subject made for nonscientists, where in the article he breaks down categories of people’s appearances to help them reflect on their own personalities. On the other hand, Hughes engages in a different theory of how to let people recognize stereotyping by giving a different perspective of it. In The Breakfast Club Berne’s lets viewers realize that stereotyping between children and parents is a natural difference, while a group of misrepresented teens are put in detention for eight hours on a Saturday, all realize that regardless of what each are looked upon as, all are one of the same. Stereotyping in our society can be viewed in two ways, one being a means by which people judge one another, and the other as a way of unfairly categorizing people in society simply by the way they look ...

Show More
Related

  • Negative Body Image In A Bridge To Wisemans Cove

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    It also explores ideas about prejudice of someone’s appearance and how friendship, peer pressure and family support contribute to complicating or resolving the problem. Through these core themes, Carl has doubt and worry, but also learns confidence and acceptance.

    Read More

  • Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeterum Summary

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tatum examines what “Blackness,” means in a predominately white society and explores reasons why black adolescents begin to believe that they are inferior or in other words “not normal” in society, especially in academics where some black adolescents claim that “doing well in school is often identified as being White” (para. 30) which leads them to not give their education their maximum effort in the fear of being labeled as “too white” or simply just “not black”. She uses her son’s personal experiences as well as typical stories of how blacks are misunderstood in order to educate the reader as to how black people eventually develop a self-identity based on the implications of society and the situations that surround them. This can be seen when she says, “The stereotypes, omissions, and distortions that reinforce notions of White superiority are breathed in by Black children as well as white” (para. 10). In this quote Tatum further examines what “Whiteness” means in the same context and explains that since American society associates White people to be the normality, they are not able to create a well-balanced self-identity without it being based off of racial

    Read More

  • Prejudice In My Cousin Vinny

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    For many year humans have been trying to fight against discrimination in their communities, but it's an uphill battle that doesn’t seem like it’s been fully wiped out yet in our society. Discrimination and Prejudice has been a key issue that has affected many people around the world. In the movie that we saw in class, “My Cousin Vinny” (1992) it focused on these key issues of prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes and even eye witness testimonies. In the movie it focuses on these key issues while bringing a little humor to the viewers. In this paper I will be going into more detail of how this movie really brought to light these key issues.

    Read More

  • Social Identity in the Breakfast Club

    1430 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Isolationism In The Breakfast Club

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Who are you?" This is the question five high school students are asked at the beginning of a Saturday detention session in The Breakfast Club. This question is not just unique to these students in this high school, but this is a question all high school students attempt to figure out by the time they go off to college or join the work force. Unfortunately, a person is often perceived based on stereotypes which does not reveal the true person. In The Breakfast Club, perception of students based on stereotypes leads to biased expectations, isolation, and peer pressure in American high schools.

    Read More

  • The Breakfast Club: Interpersonal Themes, You-It And I-Thou '

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Breakfast Club: Exploring Peer Relationships

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Social Psychology In The Movie The Breakfast Club

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social Psychology is the study of how we think and relate to other people. These psychologists focused on how the social situation influences others behavior. We see social influences everywhere we go, but might not notice it. Like when watching a movie for fun you do not notice it as much as when you are actually looking for the behaviors, like in the film The Breakfast Club. There are several examples of social psychological behaviors in the film.

    Read More

  • "The Breakfast Club" Character Analysis

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the movie The Breakfast Club, five seemingly different adolescents are assigned Saturday detention where they learn that although they each fit a particular stereotype, they all have the same characteristics, but they are expressed differently because they have different experiences, strengths and weaknesses that makes them who they are. In the movie, Bender is the “criminal”, Brian is the “brain” and Allison is the “psychopath.” Each of their situations, strengths and weakness are similar to students that are in our classrooms currently or we may have in our classrooms in the future. For each student it is important to understand their learning differences and as a teacher, how I can use their strengths to help them become successful students.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In The Breakfast Club

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    The film being analysed is the Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes. Trapped in Saturday detention are 5 stereotyped teens. Claire, the princess, Andrew, the jock, John, the criminal, Brian, the brain, and Allison, the basket case. At 7 am, they had nothing to say, but by 4 pm; they had uncovered everything to each other. The students bond together when faced with the their principal, and realise that they have more in common than they think, including a hatred for adult society. They begin to see each other as equal people and even though they were stereotyped they would always be The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club highlights a variety of pressures that are placed upon teenagers through out high school. One of the most challenging aspects of screenwriting is creating characters that an audience can identify with, relate to, and be entertained by.

    Read More

  • The Breakfast Club

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Breakfast Club

    392 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes are Grounded in Truth

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rowley, Stephanie J. "Development of Stereotypes 1 The Development of Race, Gender, and Social Class Stereotypes in Black and White Adolescents Ste." Thesis. N.d. Development of Stereotypes 1 The Development of Race, Gender, and Social Class Stereotypes in Black and White Adolescents Ste. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .

    Read More

  • The Phenomenon of Perception

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    My earliest recollection of self image would take me back to elementary school and the problem of what to wear to class the first day. Would I fit in or be ridiculed for my shirt, pants or shoes? This was an early lesson watching people judged by their clothes and physical appearance. The phenomenon of image changed dramatically when I reached high school. I believe high school is a micro society in itself with personal appearance high on the list of things that are coveted. I wanted to fit in but didn’t want to compromise my individuality regarding dress, hair style and choice of peer group. During my high school years my image was ever-changing. I excelled in sports and was viewed as an athlete. On the other hand, my long hair gave me the image of a free spirit. I enjoyed hanging out with the athletes but also found myself drawn to another element; people who smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol and used drugs. I looked at these individuals as taboo, but glamorous at the same ti...

    Read More

  • Social Groups In The Outsiders

    371 Words  | 1 Pages

    Wherever they are groups, there are outsiders. Written in 1967 “The Outsiders” in Tulsa, Oklahoma by S.E. Hinton. In the novel, which characters are set part from the rest of society? In the novel, two groups are divided known as the greasers and the socs. The social groups both feel as though they are the outsiders however, the true outsider are those who can further see them.

    Read More

More about Social Cliques in The Breakfast Club by Eric Berne

Open Document