The Breakfast Club: Why Breakfast Was So Important to the ‘80s
Almost everyone in America today has seen one of John Hughes’ iconic 1980’s teen movies. From Pretty in Pink, to Ferris Buellers Day Off, these iconic 80’s hits are still viewed as pop culture even two decades after their release. None of John Hughes movies has had as great an impact on society in America as The Breakfast Club. The 1980’s in America were filled with nuclear threats from the Cold War, President Reagan’s war on drugs and an increasing gap in wealth distribution. Even with America experiencing these heightened tensions, American teenagers were able to be more carefree, in a large part due to the draft being over, and worry about “teenage” problems. The Breakfast Club was able to capture this newfound freedom among teenagers as well as the feelings of anxiety, fear, and drama that came with high school. The film showed that one’s parents don’t determine your life, that breaking out of a label is possible, and that the emotions and issues that take place during this period of life aren’t any less important than the ones you face later on. The Breakfast Club by John Hughes was so impactful on 1980’s American culture because it gave hope for social class mobility, fought against the conservative politics of the era, and was one of the first movies to be shot from an accurate teenage perspective.
The 1970’s in America weren’t a time of peace for youth. The Vietnam War was still in full effect until 1975 leaving teenagers approaching 18 with the constant fear of being drafted. Post-Vietnam War was no better for American youth. Heroism and respect for the troops fell greatly due to the disastrous failing of the Vietnam War. One man spoke of his childhood du...
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...o shape future generations of teens.
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Hughes, John. The Breakfast Club. Film. Directed by John Hughes. 1985. LA: Universal Studios, 2008. DVD.
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The 1960’s was a time society fantasized of a better world. However, the horrors of the Vietnam War soon became evident; the mass amounts of death occurring because of the war became a reality. It created a “movement”, especially in American colleges, in order to stand up for what they believed to be “right”. By 1970, many Americans believed sending troops to Vietnam was a mistake, however there were also various individuals becoming increasingly critical of the student antiwar movement
The 1985 film, The Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes shows how a person’s identity can be influenced by conflict he or she has experienced in life. First, John Bender is in the library telling everyone how he got a cigar burn on his arm from his dad. For example, his mother and father don’t treat with the most respect or any respect at all. They call him names and say he can’t do anything right. One day him and his dad got into a really bad argument and his dad burnt him with is cigar that he had. Because his parents treat him that way, he treats everyone he’s around very badly.
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.
The Yuppie Handbook, produced by Marissa Piesman and Marilee Hartley, is a literal “how to become an ‘80s Yuppie” handbook full of rhetorical devices like phrasing, humor, and imagery to develop a light-hearted taste for an easy read. Phrasing is exercised to pull off a simple voice so anyone can truly comprehend the information contained in the novel. This can be seen throughout the quotation with the utilization of short sentences packed with little snippets of details and facts about Yuppie life. Among the informal structure and phrasing, humorous tones are placed all around to remove the robotically harsh spirit. The authors poke fun at the ego of the ‘80s era when they judge how some cocky Yuppies of the generation believed they had an
It plays into the “you just can’t make this stuff up” way of thinking. Another key part of the success of John Hughes’s films came from his breaking away from stereotypes. Back then, the teen movie culture was riddled with stereotypes, exaggerated left and right. Hughes broke from this pattern, a clear example of this being The Breakfast Club. He portrays the students as different, subtly hinting at their divergent backgrounds through tiny clues, yet they come together over the course of the afternoon, realizing that they are, in fact, very similar. None of the students end up fitting the mold that most viewers quickly established for them, or that they establish for each other, based off of their clothes, their parents, their choice of seat in the library, and other aspects of their character. They all have problems, they all have reasons for behaving the way that they do. The movie famously quotes: “...We think it’s crazy to make us write an essay, telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your
The book, We Were Soldiers Once... And Young, begins at a pivotal point in American history. The year was 1965; the year America began to directly interfere with the Vietnam affairs and send our young men to defend the notion of "freedom." During this year, Vietnam interested and concerned only a few Americans. In fact, the controversy of American involvement in Vietnam had hardly begun. But this all changed in November 1965 at the Ia Drang Valley in distant Vietnam. The Battle at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany was the first major battle of the Vietnam conflict; a conflict that lasted decade and caused American turmoil for many more years.
The Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes. Perf. Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald. A&M Films, Channel Productions, Universal Pictures, 1985. DVD.
We saw that they were all talking bad about their parents and telling each other how they did not get along. In the movie we also saw Clare and Brian admit that they were both virgins. Another example is when John hides Marijuana in his locker. The movie had also showed many other things but these were the main topics that had stuck out to me. I see more and more kids who drink alcohol or do drugs. I also see people including myself getting in fights with my parents about little things, or disrespecting them. In high school it seems like their are more and more people who are identifying their true sexual identity without being scared of others labeling them. The Breakfast Club was really easy to relate to and had showed people many
The Breakfast Club is a movie about five totally different students in high school who are forced to spend a Saturday in detention in their school library. The students come from completely different social classes which make it very difficult for any of them to get along. They learn more about each other and their problems that each of them have at home and at school. This movie plays their different personality types against each other. In this essay I will go into detail about each of the students and the principal individually.
The Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes. Perf. Molly Ringwald,Ally Sheedy, Emilo Estevezand,Anthony Michael Hall and Judd Nelson. Universal Pictures, 1985. Film.
The Breakfast Club (1985) follows a group of five adolescents through an eight-hour long detention at their high school. The film progresses through their day evading their assistant principal and engaging in delinquent activity, all in an attempt to pass the time faster. Though all coming from different cliques and social groups, by the end of the movie, the five students come closer together and find that their differences are not as deep as they seem. Films within the popular media have tried to accurately depict what it’s like to be an adolescent and The Breakfast Club (1985) does just that. By incorporating five different students from five different cliques, Allison the basket case, Claire the prom queen, John the criminal, Brian the
The Breakfast Club is a 1985 film about five teenagers who meet at detention. The Breakfast Club deserves to be examined because this film draws attention to the division of people into classes, such as economic classes and social classes, and also exposes the possibility of mobility within these classes. The three journal articles examine how the film portrays these classes, while commenting on the mobility that can be seen within the film, and education’s importance to allow the mobility.
The film “Breakfast Club” is a clear portrayal of the struggles and celebrations of adolescence. In the movie, five teenagers are put into a saturday detention at their school. All the main characters belong to different social groups. As the movie starts, we gather that they have their own hidden identity issues and are struggling one way or another. Also, when detention starts, it is clear that the students do not know one another very well and are not comfortable in each others presence. This builds up tension between them. The five teenagers include: an athlete, a princess, a bucket case, a brain, and a criminal.
Ranked number one by entertainment weekly for best high school movie was The Breakfast Cub. This films told us a story about five teenagers at very different parts of their live coming together and overcoming social high school stereotypes. Till this day most high school students have to deal with some sort of stereotype whether it be jock, basket case, nerd, or trouble maker but over 90% feel in some way that they have been miss labeled. The controversial film helped break typical high school barriers by teaching kids to move past what they think they know about classmate and encourage them to get to know one
The Vietnam War, fought from 1955 to 1975, was known for taking 17 year olds from their homes and returning them in body bags. The only way these teenagers