John Hughes’s 1985 film The Breakfast Club has become a cult classic, encouraging us all to look beyond stereotypes
WORDS: CLAIRE MACAULAY IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK
A Whole New Blueprint
The Breakfast Club changed teen films forever. The film was written and directed by the legendary John Hughes, whose coming-of-age films have shaped generations. When we first meet the film’s characters, each represents a different – immediately recognisable – teenage trope.
The jock, the rich girl, the bad boy, the nerd and the weirdo are all perceived as just that, but as the film progresses, these labels are deconstructed.
The film dug deeper into the volatility of the teenage experience than many other early examples of the genre, raising the bar for those that followed.
It’s not difficult to see the influence of The Breakfast Club on many films which followed. Clueless, Dead Poets Society and Mean Girls are just a few other famous examples which explored similar character dynamics, themes of self-discovery, or the breaking down of social barriers.
A Hughes Influence
John Hughes’s sixth film is undoubtedly one of his most popular, but it may come as a surprise how quickly the screenplay was created.
His impressive writing speed was well-known, but the The Breakfast Club was completed swiftly even by his standards, reportedly taking just two days to write.
The original version of the film was slated to be called The Lunch Bunch before Hughes changed the name. The Breakfast Club came about after a friend of Hughes’s revealed that was the name given to his school’s detention group.
Slow Burn Legacy
The Breakfast Club received mixed reviews on its release, though it was successful at the box office. Despite its shoestring $1 million budget, the film took home a remarkable $51.5 million.
Nowadays, audiences and critics have further warmed to the film, which receives 89% in “fresh” ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. References to TheBreakfast Club still crop up in other films and television shows today.
Critics have praised the film for its exploration of relationship dynamics, its realistic portrayal of teenage angst, and cast performances.
As with many films from bygone eras, its outdated elements and overly optimistic ending have been critiqued.
’80s Icons
