I figure I’d start here for some help on the matter. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois. edit - just heard the podcast. I've always been a fan of film and from when I was young(ish) I started following those "100 films you must see before you die" lists and that kind of thing. r/cereal: Come, ye consumers of cereal. Watch it in five years time and if you don't like it, no big deal. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it or that it's a bad movie. Joe Rogan is independent and he's massive on his own achievement. If you were the cool kid or high school jock, you had all the friends in the world and the admiration of your parents and teachers, but if you were a nerd or a weirdo, you were constantly picked on or just ostracised by the popular kids. I'd like to thank Reddit for downvoting my opinion. Unfortunately, this could either work in your favor or against you. I tried again a few years later and I still felt like I was missing something. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I'm not saying you have to like it, but you might want to watch it with that in mind. With Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy. I think /u/hipechik pretty much hit the nail on this one with her explanation about the caste system. I just watched this for the first time, shocking because I try to watch as many great 80’s and 90’s movies as I can (if you got any hidden gems to recommend, please let me know) ... help Reddit App Reddit coins Reddit premium Reddit … But hey, if it's not for you then it's not for you. Depending on where you fit in, you could either have the time of your life in high school (being loved by everyone and asked out on dates and invited to parties) or be a miserable outcast who never got invited anywhere and who everyone shunned. There again, schools in Ireland really don't have this "weirdo" "jock" "need" labelling rubbish. Also, I'm not American so there could be a cultural thing I'm missing out on. But we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. Trust me when I tell you that the person you are now will have undergone so much change in say five years that your outlook may change completely. Even though I grew up in a small town in the mountains and not rich suburb big-city school like the one in the movie. I watched it when I was a young teenager and I just didn't "get" it. Partly due to the peer pressure and partly because they are such different people, they get into a huge fight after a few weeks and the relationship ends in disaster. It didn't matter who you were inside as a real person. Carl is first seen in the opening sequence. It's like the musicians and filmmakers just assume that everything was going to like the 80s forever, so they never even thought about how badly they were dating their material. It's about discovering who you are and realizing that inside each of us is a nerd, jock, princess, weirdo and criminal. I’m in love with a cereal nerd. The Breakfast Club. Carl Reed is a minor character in the film. Its a rite of passage and revelation that beyond the exterior images they portray, they all face issues that everyone can relate to. The Breakfast Club. I think you're focusing too much on the specifics of the time period. I saw it later in life and hung my head. i still think breakfast club is bigger since they're not considering the actual radio side of it. The Breakfast Club is not far off when it comes to its depiction of high school wrestling or the toxic masculinity that is so often inherent in it. "The Breakfast Club" is always thrown in there somewhere. Now most movies are aimed at one demographic of kids or another and appropriating their culture solely to get their "market share". I'd like to thank Reddit for downvoting my opinion. I saw it when I was the same age as the main characters and I felt like I was watching a movie that finally 'got' me and my friends. The Breakfast Club written and directed by John Hughes BLANK SCREEN: Against Black, TITLE CARD: "...and these children that you spit on, as they try to … **I do not make any money from this video. Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong. Cookies help us deliver our Services. I've seen this "classic" twice now and I can't stand it. I just don't understand the "hype". Titanic is about a ship that sinks, Pulp Fiction is about a bunch of people running around, etc. You had all these kids being thrown into detention from all these different castes who up until that day didn't know each other from Adam because they all had this prejudicial hatred against nerds, jocks, rebels, etc. Watch THE BREAKFAST CLUB with Anthony Michael Hall and the … If you were a popular kid, you couldn't socialize with the nerd. Be it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we welcome you to our table. They try to date a while, but back in the real world their friends give them so much shit for their choice of girlfriend/boyfriend that it starts wearing on them. In fact, Heathers almost seems in retrospect like an angry answer to The Breakfast Club, like it looked at its upbeat ending (where everyone became friends) and went, "Yeah, right. The Breakfast Club is a seminal '80s cult comedy from writer/director John Hughes. But then gradually they learned that there was more to each other than being a jock, a nerd, a princess, or whatever and that they could actually be friends and not have to keep shunning each other just because they were in high school. If you want a timeless coming-of-age film from the 80s, then I'd recommend Stand By Me over any of John Hughes' films any day of the week. I also think that at the time, a lot of old men were trying to capture the teenage market but failing to do it authentically. ** Follow me on social media! But, Hughes, who sadly and suddenly died of a heart attack in 2009, was not a delusional auteur. Apologies if this is the wrong place to post. "the fact that there was (and still is) this terrible rigid caste system every kid had to fit into, a system very similar to the caste system in India.". You're now free to keep claiming The Breakfast Club as "your" film instead of what it was, a movie that depicted teenage life in every high school, regardless of race or background. But as The Breakfast Club has only become more beloved over the years, it has also created a bit of an urban myth around itself. I'd just like to understand what it is that I'm missing about this film and what makes it so amazing that it's always on these lists and recommended by people. Breakfast Club is bigger simply due to it being syndicated. He worked on many other beloved movies such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Uncle Buck.The film stars Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, and Ally Sheedy. If you were the "rebel", things were even worse; you were always scapegoated by teachers/faculty and looked down upon by the more respectable students as being "trouble.". FIVE kids spending Saturday doing detention time in the high school library: it's not such a spine-tingling situation. I don't think high school is any more SO divisive (it is still, but not so much) in terms of its cliques and the views of the people in them about each other; so its harder to understand the very short-sighted and closed-off points of view each of the main characters comes into detention with. What we did was wrong. The Breakfast Club is overrated. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. This appearance is not in person, but in a picture, being shown on a "Man of … The Breakfast Club “The Breakfast Club” illustrates something strange about how things sometimes work. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, News & Discussion about Major Motion Pictures, Press J to jump to the feed. Unfortunately, it didn't (it got even worse) which is why Heathers came out just a few years later. Why was this system such a problem? You're now free to keep claiming The Breakfast Club as "your" film instead of what it was, a movie that depicted teenage life in every high school, regardless of race or background. Now here's the reality.". This film was the first film to semi-accurately portray the social groups in a way that wasn't condescending or cartoonish. 60062. LOL, a story about a group of 1950s-era kids discovering a dead body is "timeless.". I think if you were a 'normal' kid or a 'nerd' kid you get the message of the movie better. It’s not a perfect movie. In fact, if you want to get a better perspective on The Breakfast Club, I suggest watching Heathers, because that's the more cynical, darker look at the high school caste system. Let's be real, though: The 80s were fucking awful. I have a theory that the vast majority of "classic" 80s movies are only "classics" because of the nostalgia that the current most prominent generation (35-50 year olds) associate with them. The Breakfast Club: Psycholgical Analysis by savannah payne While John Hughes' "Brat Pack" films did contain some legitimate coming-of-age themes, the tone of the films was just pure cheese. Come, ye consumers of cereal. Universal Pictures. It's a film about finding commonalities between disparate groups of people; about coming together despite superficial differences and bonding in a shared humanity. You see us as you want to see us... in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. I was born way after the film came out and I still love it :) I love the technical aspect of it, like the screenwriting, the soundtrack, and the way the characters were written. I would like to impress them with some rare/Asweome/quirky? What mattered in high school is where you belonged in the system. Before Breakfast Club, teenagers in movies were one dimensional cardboard characters. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. You literally couldn't date or just be best friends with someone out of your caste, even if you really liked them. Tribute to the sandwich scene from The Breakfast Club P.S. I love Stand By Me, I also do love (some) 80's teen movies, my favourite being "Ferris Beuller's Day Off". Also, my apologies for actually having the audacity to suggest that this film also spoke to teenagers from the 1980s who weren't necessarily white, since we also had jocks, nerds, princesses, etc. Another reason why this was a problem is that being in a social caste defined who you could be friends with. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Be it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we welcome you to our table. Archived. I just felt like I was missing something. Thanks in advance. There’s no better way to sum up John Hughes’ seminal teen movie The at our high schools and dealt with the same crap the kids in The Breakfast Club went through. It's about recognizing the value of an individual apart from how society labels them or how they see themselves and learning compassion for people different from you. Subjectivity is one of the things that make us unique. A few girls in my year tried to label themselves but everyone just thought hey were obnoxious and awful. Someone pointed out that this movie is one of the first to explore life on the level of teens using their language and struggles. You're not getting it, because there really isn't anything to get. Claire and Bender have no chance. If you dated or hung out with someone outside of your caste, especially if it was lower than your own, you could lose your popularity. but it's the overall tone and message of the movie that impacts so many and leaves a ladtingw impression. The Breakfast Club was written and directed by the one and only John Hughes. I've noticed that some modern movies reference it (Easy A, Pitch Perfect), I'm guessing the script-writers for these movies were fans of "The Breakfast Club" and wanted to pay homage to it in some way. The reason why so many people hold the Breakfast Club in such regard is that it was the first film to really address the huge problem that every teenager faced when going to high school, the fact that there was (and still is) this terrible rigid caste system every kid had to fit into, a system very similar to the caste system in India. What do you care? Well, for one, it defined your entire social life in high school. Especially the jock boy who bullied someone violently for basically no reason. You can break any film down into its most basic story points and make it sound stupid. This has been rare in movies and John Hughes was one of the directors who did this best. It was this whole thing that The Breakfast Club was trying to address. They were serial killer fodder in horror movies, horny idiots in Porky's, or plot devices. Amazon.com: The Breakfast Club (30th Anniversary Edition) (Blu … For kids back in the 1980s who were dealing with this crap in real life, the Breakfast Club finally expressed their pain and maybe gave them hope that this caste system in high school could maybe change. Close. 75. I also have unpopular opinions about movies considered as "classics". Listen to The Breakfast Club Live M-F 5:30-10am ET, Sat 7-10am ET But aside from all that, like the commentators said before me, when the film first introduced these characters, they fit perfectly into the generic stereotypes of high school students. at the end of the day, they're comparing apples to oranges. You're wondering why you don't "get" a movie that came out before you were born and references stereotypes from a culture and country that you are not native to. I think the short-version of it is that everyone had different backgrounds and it reflected in their social status and social activity within the confines of the school; a mixing pot of behaviors, stature, expectancy from authority figures (parents/teachers) and how it reflects onto ourselves. Some things to note; I was born 2 years after it was released so maybe it's a "generation" thing? Posted by 2 years ago. I think I tried yet again one day when I had a sick-day from work and still felt like I was missing something. It's very much a generation thing IMO. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Mods please let me know and I'll delete. Everything was pure cheese in the 1980s. Before we even address the larger points about the merit of the picture, let's just review. Breakfast Club was the first movie of that generation that treated the issues of teenagers as if they mattered. When you have seen enough movies to be a knowledgeable critic come back to it and watch it again. Like the movie Jaws, I just don't get it lol. The 5 Most Ridiculous Moments From Soulja Boy's 'Breakfast … Directed by John Hughes. If you were a jock, you had to hate on nerds. The high school caste system is horseshit, and is only an issue if you let it be one. I'm sorry if this is a strange question or if it doesn't belong here - I'd just like to find out what it is I'm missing about this film. To me, only Bender really has problems, the rich girl, the jock, and the nerdy boy need to get some perspective on their own issues. That, along with my love of a lot of 60s European / American movies, is what really makes me believe it's not just culture or generation that has me so "lost" with Breakfast Club. I know, but a lot of my friends, who are the same age as me and from the same country, sing the films praises as well and they overall have good taste. Having said that some of the posts on here are informative. Refinery29 revisits The Breakfast Club. So when John mocks Andrew about "missing the big meet," he probably had no idea what kind of pressure cooker Andrew was living in — and how the environment turned Andrew into a bully. I am a fan of the movie, but I also saw it when it first came out, so there is the nostalgia aspect of watching America at a specific point in time and reminiscing. I saw it as an angsty tweener and loved it. Five high school students meet in Saturday detention … The movie is about values and identity; how peers identify one another from their first 'acts' (deviant, nerd, jock, beauty queen, emo/reject) and soon realize that they all face similar issues as a generation and as teenagers. It's also been recommended to me by friends / people online who tend to have good taste in movies. Then as the film progressed, you got to see other sides of these kids, which made them seem a lot more human. 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