The Breakfast Club - Movie Review Example

Name: Tutor: Course: Date: The Breakfast Club Introduction The school in “The Breakfast Club” is a very confining space but that it is not the main issue. The characters’ ideas about people and themselves are more confining than the school. The ideas that the characters possess or embrace make them to be prisoners of their own mind. Their ideas are confining and they need a revolution of the mind before they get over the situation in which they are stuck. They understand the source of their tribulations but they cannot do anything positive to change the situation. They are stuck in the old order by trying to rebel. They find reason to blame others for their trouble particularly their parents and Mr. Vernon. The Breakfast Club comprises of five different personalities, each of them safe in their identity and yet overwhelmed by insecurities (Smith 1999). They spent a lazy Saturday confined to detention at Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois, following various school violations. As the movie progresses other characters are introduced such as the jock, the princess, the rebel, the freak, and the brain. The teacher in charge of the student, Mr. Vernon, unwittingly assigns an essay entitled “Who Am I”. This sets the stage for the rest of actions as the movie unfolds to reveal the different characters present. As the movie goes on; the students start to rebel against Mr. Vernon. On the other hand, each character possesses a troubled life as substantiated by their presence in the detention and they bring out their different personalities. “The Breakfast Club” was a debut directorial role for John Hughes as he hitherto specialized in screenwriting. Teen film represents enduring and powerful ideas concerning the youth and adolescence. It is a representation of the changing American teenager and it points out the nuclear family and institution of higher learning, and experiments in identity formation and sexual development. However, not every film with the mentioned features is teen film and not all teen films are American (Driscoll 23). “The Breakfast Club” is one of greatest high school films of the time and the most recognized and memorable works of John Hughes. “The Breakfast Club” was one of the hit movies that took America by storm in the mid 1980s. The teenagers in “The Breakfast Club” are Brian Johnson, Andrew Clarke, John Bender, Allison Reynolds, and Claire Standish. The characters go through the same school but they seem not to have anything in common with the exception of Claire and Andrew; they both reign in popular crowds. As the characters of the actors are revealed, a connection is formed among them. Claire Standish seems to belong to all right clubs and her nature of being outgoing has endeared her to the rest of the student. Claire got into detention since she opted to skip class and instead go to the shopping mall. From her speech, it can be deduced that she views herself to be more important than anyone else. She has a big ego. Bad company corrupts good morals. Through interaction with the rest of the group, Claire Standish becomes ashamed of her virginity. He does not see virginity as a noble idea when she realizes that her colleagues have engaged in sex. The strained relationship with their parents is the common characteristic that binds the students together (Kaveney 125-8). They all have a problem from their background. Claire eventually admits that he hate yielding to pressure of his friends. Every student behaves in manner to suggest that he has not learnt from his or her mistakes and he or she still thinks in the old order. Brian is a student who is honored and a member of the physics club. He is physically and verbally abused by his parents and he is disappointed that they cannot get him out of confinement. Despite the ability of every student, they cannot act as independent thinkers to come to terms with their tribulations and work out a solution. The characters do not trust their capacity to be part of the solution instead of the problem. Bender has loving and caring parents who expect him to do well in school and will not accept anything rather than an A. Bender pulls a fire alarm that is false just to cause a scare (Doolittle 34-7). He causes many more troubles. The characters cry, laugh, and share their individual trepidations and discover that in one way or another that they are similar. They decide not to feel sorry for being teenagers but pour out their feeling in one essay titled as ‘Dear Mr.’ to a large extent the characters in “The Breakfast Club” are responsible for their own tribulations. Bender is troublesome and disregards all the rules set by Mr. Vernon. He riles the other students and mocks Andrew and Brian while harassing Claire. Allison is seen to remain quiet save for occasional outburst. These events show that the students have not learnt from their mistakes and they are not remorseful for the situation they are facing. Sharing the inner secrets binds them together and they do not acknowledge that they have a problem but blame their troubles on something else. This shows that the confinement in a detention has not made the students to realize their mistake and work out a solution. They engage in mischief without a slightest sign of being remorseful (Dunkleberger 118-9). This shows their ideas and thoughts are more confining than the school itself. They do not realize that by complying with what they are being told can earn them leniency and eventually freedom. They have to change their thoughts before they are liberated. Mr. Vernon is very confused by the actions of the students he is charge of on this particular Saturday. Andrew Clarke is referred to as ‘the brain’ owing to his impeccable study skills and good grades. However, he is not readily acceptable by his colleagues. As described in many previews, Andrew Clarke is likened to the male version of Claire. He regales the group by stories of an abusive father and goes ahead to show a cigarette burn inflicted on his arm by his father. His parents are finalizing a divorce and he has no idea how to handle it because he is torn between the two. Andrew Clarke takes issue with this impending divorce and he attributes many of his woes to the gruesome situation at home (Lipovetsky 2008). Although everyone shares with his sorrows he does not have to allow her character to be carried away but such occurrences. In real life there have been children who had their parents separated when they one young but they managed to hold their heads high and grow into responsible adults. Andrew’s past strongly controls his present actions and he finds reason to indulge in deviant behaviors because of this. He has to get over his parents attitude and find a course to his own success in life. Blaming all his woes on his parents is not helping to solve the problems. The idea of finding a scapegoat is retrogressive. He has to think about what he has to do in order to move forward. Like many other characters in The Breakfast Club, he has confining ideas that makes him revolve around one place. The use of substances in “The Breakfast Club” shows that the characters are not willing to come to terms with the real situation and only look for ways of escapism. They have to confront their problems by discussing possible solutions rather then engaging in deviant behaviors (Loukides & Fuller 197-9). Critics of the movie are of the perception that the application of the drug scene in the movie suggest that use of illegal substances helps in managing difficult situations. Bender is cautioned against his actions and advised to change for the better by Mr. Vernon. Allison is a compulsive liar and this causes her a lot of problems. In one way of another, the characters have a means of contributing to their own problems. They are reluctant to discuss about the solutions. For instance, Brian has attempted suicide. Being suicidal is not a solution to a problem but a means to escapism (Costelloe 123). He should have looked for a confidant like a priest or someone she can trust to talk to and try to find a solution. The students all feel that they are hurting because of other people mistakes but they do not realize that their own character is a hindrance to achievement of peace in their lives (Norris 2002). The commonness they share in their situation make them to even enjoy their lives on detention and dread that once confinement is over they will have to return to their different cliques and not have time to speak to each other. Consequently, they are not doing anything to end their stint in detention and they seem to relish they new found association. They bound together by circumstances and they share troublesome and murky backgrounds. They sit back and refuse to comply with the rules of detention. Every student is asked to write an essay about himself or herself but they all reach an agreement that Brian is the one to write the essay titled ‘Mr. Vernon’. They decide that Mr. Vernon is wrong and has preconceived ideas about them. Brian does not write about the assigned topic but instead writes a letter to Mr. Vernon informing him that he has already prejudged who they are and he will not accept any account from them regarding their character. Brian goes ahead and signs the letter as “The Breakfast Club” and leaves on the table for Mr. Vernon to read after their departure from detention. Bender and Claire kiss in the closet before leaving and the students are then seen walking down the hallway as they depart from the school. Andrew and Allison are also seen kissing when they reach outside (Adler, Rosenfeld & Proctor II 1985). New friendship is found in the different characters as Blender receives an earring from Claire and he puts it on after her departure. Conclusion It has been seen that although the movie the students to not make any effort to change their character. They share their tribulations and accept to ensure the situation without attempting to seek a solution. They still go against the rules and directions set by Mr. Vernon and they plan to hit back at him by not writing the essay he instructed them to write. Brian instead writes a letter lamenting the teacher’s attitude towards them. They assume that they have been prejudged and nothing will change the perception that people have about them. This proves the fact that although the school in “The Breakfast Club” is confining, the characters ideas about themselves and other people are more confining. They resign to their situation because they know each of them has a problem and they share a common background. They dare not miss their own company and wish detention hours will be extended. They realize that they will go back to their very former problems. Work cited Driscoll, Catherine, “Inventing Teen Film: A critical introduction”, Oxford, UK: Berg, 2011. Smith, Sean, M, “Teen Days that shook the world”, Premiere December 1999, Retrieved from http://home.comcast.net/~aimsters4/bclub.html on 6th, Nov 2012. Lipovetsky, Josh, “The Breakfast Club –Analyzing the Characters”, Yahoo! Voices, 2008. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-breakfast-club-analyzing-characters-1834278.html on 6th Nov, 2012. Adler, Ronald, B., Rosenfeld, Lawrence, B. and Proctor II, Russell, F, “Interplay”, High Education Group, Oxford University, 1985. Retrieved from http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195309928/instructorresources/filmstorage/breakfastclub/?view=usa on 6th Nov, 2012. Norris, Matt, “The Breakfast Club” CINEMABLEND.COM, 2002. Retrieved from http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/The-Breakfast-Club-440.html On 6th Nov 2012. Costelloe, Kate “The Breakfast Club 1: The Breakfast Club” Hachette Children's Books, 2011. Loukides, Paul and Fuller, Linda, K “Beyond the Stars 5: Themes and Ideologies in American Popular Film” Popular Press, 1996. Dunkleberger, Amy, “So You Want to Be a Film or TV Screenwriter?” Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2007. Doolittle, John, “Don McNeill and his Breakfast Club, Volume 1” University of Notre Dame Press, University of Michigan, 2007. Kaveney, Roz “Teen Dreams: Reading Teen Film and Television from 'Heathers' to 'Veronica Mars' I.B.Tauris, 2006. Read More