40 Years Ago, This Masterpiece With 92% on RT Changed the Entire Teen Genre
This is a touching story that will resonate with every viewer.
40 years ago, The Breakfast Club was released under the radar and went on to become one of the most iconic films of the 80's, revitalizing the teen movie genre.
Even if you haven't seen the movie, have never heard of the town of Shermer, and don't shiver at the thought of Bender's triumphant fist pump at the end, the characters in The Breakfast Club will still seem familiar.
The images of the rebel, the nerd, the hottie, the star of the school team, and the outcast, first introduced in the movie, are still used in almost every project about teenagers.
What Is The Breakfast Club About?
Five teenagers are punished by coming to school on their day off to write an essay. Completely different representatives of the school community find themselves in the same room.
Forced to communicate with each other, they gradually begin to open up from new sides. While trying to write an essay, they have to face their problems and finally find out who they really are.
The Breakfast Club Revolutionized the Teen Genre
The idea behind the script is as elementary as grade school. Put five very different teenagers in a room for an entire day and see what happens.
By focusing not on the story and the external circumstances, but on the characters and the dynamics of their relationships, director John Hughes quietly revolutionized the genre.
In the 70s and 80s, teenagers were usually portrayed as sexually obsessed individuals who got into the most ridiculous adventures because of that obsession. At the turn of the decade, entire genres – horror and slasher – successfully exploited teenage sexuality. Hughes gave them back their subjectivity.
John Hughes Created the Teen Archetypes That Are Still Used Today
It is almost impossible to find a movie or series about growing up that does not include a star of the school sports team, a confident queen of the class, a nerd, a gloomy outcast, and a charming bully.
Hughes built the entire dynamic of the movie around how the characters, one by one, shed these social masks and learn that they have much more in common than they might think. Each of them has their own special, yet familiar, pain that serves as a common denominator.
The confined space of the school creates the feeling of watching a theatrical performance. The viewer observes the development of a friendship between teenagers who, in the allotted hours, manage to face their fears and see each other as kindred spirits.