Title: The Breakfast Club
Writer: John Hughes
Director: John Hughes
Year: 1985
Actors: Judd Nelson, John Bender, the criminal, Molly Ringwald, Claire Standish, the princess, Emilio Estevez, Andrew “Andy” Clark, the athlete, Anthony Michael Hall, Brian Ralph Johnson, the brain, Ally Sheed, Allison Reynolds, the basket case, Paul Gleason, Richard “Dick” Vernon, the school assistant principal, John Kapelos, Carl Reed, the school janitor
Story: The Breakfast Club is an 80’s movie about five very different teenagers who end up in Saturday detention together after never talking to each other in school. They are being monitored by the principle who isn’t giving any slack and asks them to write an essay about who they think they are. While in detention they get to know each other and find love, friendship and a new perspective on life.
Plot: This movie starts out with five teenagers who landed Saturday detention that knew nothing about each other. They all wore different clothes, had different lunches, parents, and attitudes all together. They had never spoken to each other in school because of the crowds that they were linked up with. You had Claire who was the princess type girl that was popular and had money. Then you had John who came from a poorer environment and parents always fought and even sometime fought him. Allison was the one everybody thought was crazy, however, she was very smart and hid behind baggy clothes. Andy was the school jock and popular as well but he had problems at home well with his parents and their expectations. Then there Brian who was the nerd and had very low self-esteem. The kids are being monitored this day by Principal Dick and he really doesn’t care for the students nor his job so he gives them an essay assignment to occupy their time while their there. He also has a control issue and lets them know not to mess with him.
As the movies goes along these kids do everything they can to put each other down and try and understand each other at the same time. The start to have conversations and realize that they are no different from the other. They had these personal conversation with each other while under the influence and realize that they all are forced to play the everyday role that they play in school.
They learned that John played the tough guy and really was very soft and sensitive. Because he had to fight so many battles at home and was being bullied at home he had to play tough at school. Claire was very pretty and had whatever she wanted but her parents never paid her any attention and she didn’t think for herself just to be cool. Ally just allowed herself to be the crazy girl because she was simply shy. Brian wanted to kill himself because of all the pressure of getting good grades and not having a popular life. Then Andy was just fulfilling his father’s dreams.
While breaking the ice they all decide to break out of the library because they were bored and falling asleep. The sneaked around the entire school trying to get back to the library before the principle catches them all while getting help from the janitor who totally understood the kids. The principle was just there to do a job and cared nothing about the kids except that they listen to him. John got caught to save everyone else and at that moment is when they all bounded again. John was removed from the rest of the students and snuck back into the library. The girls got closer and Claire did a makeover on Ally and made her look beautiful. John and Claire hooked up as well as Ally and Andy.
Brian was in charge of writing an essay for all of them together instead of each one of the separately. He explained how people are different and without communication you can and will never know what people are going through. They promised each other that they would be friends and talk to each other when they got to school on Monday and everyone was happy in the end.
Non-linearly: This movie was in non-linearly order. Throughout the movie we got bits and pieces of the student’s backgrounds and how they became the people we saw on screen. The stories and the way they had to talk about their past made them gradually open up and trust each other.
If this movie would have showed scene from each of the students homes and their situations up front it would have been so much more predictable and maybe even boring. The students being forced to get to know each other in a short time was a life lesson to them all. They would have never been friends if they would have spoken in the school hallway. We would have already known why they acted the way they did and them they story would have been over very soon.
Resources:
Hughes, J., Friesen, G., Meyer, A., Tanen, N., Estevez, E., Gleason, P., Hall, A. M., … Universal Studios Home Entertainment (Firm),. (2008). The breakfast club.
The Breakfast Club Trailer (1985, September 13) Retrieved From: https://youtu.be/ZXzlCpHK3-I
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