'Don't You Forget About Me': Rewatching 'The Breakfast Club'
Posted by anastasia on 07-28-2008
On Saturday night, I joined hundreds of mostly Gen Xers to rewatch "The Breakfast Club" in Dolores Park here in San Francisco. It was sort of a "generational moment" if you will, everyone pumping their fists in the air and chanting, "hey, hey, hey, hey!" to Simple Mind's classic soundtrack "Don't You Forget About Me" — we 80s kids didn't really have our Woodstock (maybe Live Aid?), but we did have our John Hughes movies. And with "The Breakfast Club" showing up in advertising for "American Teen" and J.C. Penny, I guess it, like many 80s artifacts, is being embraced by some of today's teens (or at least by Gen X marketers) after watching shows like "I Love the 80s" on vh1.
Watching the film again with my thirtysomething goggles on, I noticed how utterly alienated "The Breakfast Club" teens were from their families, and while there are certainly teens that feel that way today, we know that this generation on the whole is much closer to mom and dad, tethered by technology and unified by their shared interests in today's pop culture. What would be the unifying angst across social groups in today's detention? I wonder if "The Breakfast Club" would even form in detention today with teens texting on their cell phones or playing mobile games to pass the time. The cliques still exist though arguably nerds have gotten somewhat cooler (look at how big Comc-Con is now!?). Oh and does anyone else think Judd Nelson looked about 27 in that movie? And Molly's wardrobe (really in all of the Hughes films — would still hold up as fashionable today. Impressive).
What Hughes captured in "Sixteen Candles," "Pretty in Pink" and "The Breakfast Club" so perfectly is the whole issue of identity, how rigid it can be within the rigid social strata of high school, and how some people manage to crossover or break through. Some richies have depth, some jocks have compassion, some burners aren't as tough as they seem. All of these kids are either ignored by their parents or are in some sort of caretaking role around a divorced parent. One aspect that hasn't changed is the feeling of pressure — for the jock to win the scholarship or the brain to maintain a 4.0.
I'm still waiting for a new batch of teen movies that will draw hundreds of thirtysomethings to parks in the future. "Mean Girls"? "Superbad"? "Juno"? I think this generation needs its own John Hughes (is it Judd Apatow?). What films do you think will become iconic for the current generation or are they yet to be written/produced?
July 28th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I haven't seen the "High School Musical" movies, but they're apparently important to today's youth.
The first two are TV movies and the third will be in theaters.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Well sad but true I think High School Musical may be one…
I force my daughter to watch old films (which she tolerates - see there's a generational difference right there) and when 'splaining Grease to her I said "it's my generations high school musical"
Ooooooohhhhh she says. And yes I taught her to hand jive and she has now taught two friends (and so on) :)
July 28th, 2008 at 11:17 am
I still consider Can't Hardly Wait the movie that best encapsulates the 90s… though I'm on the cusp of millennial since I was born in 82.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Interesting article. We just ran a story on Starpulse of similar nature titled "Writer's Viewpoint: Certain Films Lose Their Allure As We Age" that leads with "Sixteen Candles"
Check it out if you're interested:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/07/28/writer_s_viewpoint_certain_films_lose_th
July 28th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Mean Girls is the favorite movie of 8 out of 10 teen girls. The Notebook too but it isn't a teen flick.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Mean Girls, I'd expect. I can watch this many times and it doesn't get old.
Napoleon Dynamite — My brother really related to the awkwardness of Napoleon.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I'd definitely say Will Ferrell movies. They may not have depth, but god are they funny. Also, I'd put 10 Things I Hate About you way up at the top too. Classic. And this is coming from a girl born in 1987, by the way.