Why John Hughes’ ‘The Breakfast Club’ is still relevant in 2015 | The Wichita Eagle

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By Jason Dilts Eagle correspondent

It’s been 30 years since “an athlete,” “a brain,” “a criminal,” “a princess” and “a basket case” were sentenced to the world’s most famous Saturday detention. In the simplest terms, “The Breakfast Club” continues to school us on “who we think” teenagers are.

Since its opening on Feb. 15, 1985, John Hughes’ classic take on teenage life has been a critical and cultural favorite. To people of a certain age, the film is a generational touchstone. It was ranked at No. 1 on Entertainment Weekly’s list of 50 Best High School Movies. And each year, it seems younger generations discover it.

Wichita artist Taylor Levi Miller, 20, is one of those fans. Though the film was 10 years old when he was born, Taylor said everyone can see themselves in at least one of the characters.

“One of the main things I picked up from the movie was that in the end, no matter how different we are, we all can relate to each other on many things,” he said. “My favorite scene is when they’re all sitting in sort of a circle when they start really talking to each other and learning things about each other and seeing who they really are, instead of what they present themselves to be.”

The film stars Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy – branded in the media as part of the Brat Pack – as high school students sentenced to a day of detention. Each belongs to a different clique, and they seemingly have nothing in common. Through nine hours of emotional confrontations, confessions, boredom and unexpected laughs, the teens get to know one another without the labels.

Kirk Honeycutt, a Hollywood movie reviewer whose book “John Hughes: A Life in Film” comes out March 3, said “The Breakfast Club” stands out because there aren’t a lot of movies about adolescence that are truly made for a teenage audience.

“It was one of the first films that talked to teenagers and didn’t talk down to them,” he said.

Part of why he thinks the film connected with audiences is that Hughes allowed the young cast to imbue their own experiences as adolescents and young adults into the characters. They were able to improvise a bit, he said, and adjust personalities to make them more raw and honest. While other teenage movies were largely focused on cheap laughs and off-humor, this was a serious work. Though there are elements of comedy, Honeycutt sees it standing out because of its darker edges, something kids then and now find relatable.

Jedd Beaudoin, host of KMUW Wichita Public Radio’s Strange Currency, was in junior high when the film came out. 1/3 “There really weren’t any movies that treated young people with the same kind of dignity that Hughes did,” he said. “I think, to some degree, that’s still true. There are some filmmakers who have come close, but Hughes really understood what made young people tick. It was a smart movie with smart characters, and I think it may have shaken some parents into thinking about their children and how they were treated.”

Jan Fox Petersen, a school psychologist in Wichita, said the movie is one of her favorites because of the issues is raises.

“Although the movie transcends eras, the story and cast of characters did succinctly reflect the angst of white middle-class teenagers of the ’80s, socially apathetic with minimal if any ideology,” she said. “In addition, though, the movie adeptly depicts the struggle of the teenage experience in any era. Parents, teachers and other adults often have expectations of young people that may have little to do with who they are as people. Teens are labeled according to their behaviors, behaviors that do not tell the story of their lives and provide the depth of understanding needed.”

The film’s ability to reflect teenage angst and generation gaps is part of what make it timeless, Petersen said. Though it misses key issues pertinent to youth development today such as race and sexual orientation, dealing with stereotypes and navigating coming-of-age turbulence keep it current for today’s teenagers. Bullying, too, is especially relevant. It’s a central struggle the characters grapple with in the film, though it plays out differently today with social media.

There’s a lesson to be gleaned there by parents – any generation of parents watching – Petersen said.

“No one knows the times they are living in as young people better than they do,” she said. “Times change and the voices and stories of young people need to be paid attention to as we move forward as a society.”

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Robert J. Thompson, a pop cultural historian at Syracuse University, noted that the film captures the feel of the 1980s but not in a manner that time capsules the core of its message. With ’80s nostalgia being all the rage, he said the film has a sort of “hip veneer” about it today.

“Even though the haircuts are different, I think there is a sense that especially at a certain age, that message still resonates,” Thompson said. “There are still cliques, still people defined by who they hang out with. A story that explores that and gives you an ending that is an illusion, but at least satisfying and believable at the time, is compelling for people, even today.”

2/3 Former Theatre on Consignment director Cherice Henderson, 43, saw the film right after it came out on video and was intrigued by how the divergent personalities in the film could find a way to authentically connect. She identified most with Sheedy’s portrayal of the reclusive Allison.

“I was the poor outsider in school,” she said. “I wasn’t as dark, but I didn’t care about makeup, or being popular, or any of the rest of the things that a lot of high school kids cared about. I was hyper emotional, so I could relate to her ‘basket case’ feeling, and I loved theater and acting because it was safer to be someone else.”

Beaudoin said he felt a lot like Nelson’s troubled character John Bender, but that socially he was more in alignment with the brainy and socially inept Brian Johnson (played by Hall). He finds the scene where Bender dramatically reveals his father’s physical abuse to be especially impactful.

“It was and remains the most powerful element of the film for me,” he said. “I knew guys like John Bender, and I think the realities they faced each night were just as horrific if not worse than what he was going through. Hughes gave us a window into the soul of a troubled kid with that character, and I think a lot of other filmmakers – and young people – were too willing to make kids like that easy targets.”

Rian Schock, 28, first saw “The Breakfast Club” in the early ’90s with his sister. He watches it at least once a year.

“It deals with human issues, not just teen issues,” said Schock, of Wichita. “It deals with issues of acceptance, personality and identity: things every human being struggles with, no matter what age.”

While the film itself is often considered a standout work because of the cast and script, Petersen the psychologist, sees its real legacy being in what the story and characters represent.

“We judge people by society’s stereotypes and are easily influenced by the mob mentality,” she said. “It was a great pleasure to watch this story unfold and the young characters thinking critically and making cogent decisions for themselves.”

Where are they now?

Find out what the stars of “The Breakfast Club” are up to at kansas.com/entertainment.

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