A gripe about the Breakfast Club

CatharsisChild · Aug 12, 2011

I don't want to start any flamewars. This is just my humble opinion. If you don't like it, don't bother posting.

Am I the only one who notices that The Breakfast Club is set on a planet of scumbags? The Clubbers are only slightly more likeable than the adults (don't get me started on those guys), and even then, they do some pretty morally reprehensible stuff. What universe is this set in, Being John Malkovich?

"When you grow old, your heart dies."
"Who cares?"

Not a single character I could sympathize or even empathize with. It's just a mean spirited assault on the soul.

Cosmic · Aug 12, 2011

Oddly enough, I was just thinking about the film yesterday. What's always puzzled me is Bender. Why would a rebellious, convict-in-training, psychologically tormented street urchin... Show up for detention on a weekend?
I agree, Catharsis. The whole film was just eerie.

Bracken · Aug 12, 2011

Cosmic said:
Oddly enough, I was just thinking about the film yesterday. What's always puzzled me is Bender. Why would a rebellious, convict-in-training, psychologically tormented street urchin... Show up for detention on a weekend?
I agree, Catharsis. The whole film was just eerie.

Yeah, that. ^
In re-watching it recently, it occurred to me that Bender looked way too old to still be in high school at all, and that usually guys like him would've dropped out (or been kicked out, or sent to a reform school, or a juvenile detention center) years before.
I first saw this movie when I was a kid, well before I got to high school, and it made me distinctly nervous. Fortunately, the reality turned out to be nothing like the movie.

thothguard51 · Aug 12, 2011

As with any film, book, music or other form of art, there will be those who like it, those who hate it, or those who have no opinion. This is what makes art interesting, there is something for everyone...

Me, I am sick to death of Vampire love stories so I don't read them. But, a lot of readers must feel otherwise.

As to The Breakfast Club, I have seen worse movie adaptations.

that redhead · Aug 12, 2011

I was a teenager in the 80's, and to this day I'm still a die-hard fan. I loved a lot of the teen-angst films of that era, but was never into the Breakfast Club. The pot scene bothered me, and I thought all the kids were just mean. It just made me uncomfortable in general. The best thing about the movie was the Simple Minds song. Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo's Fire and Less than Zero....THOSE were the movies I kept going back to. Torch Song Trilogy is up there as well, even though it's not a "teen" film.

Now, as far as why Bender kept going back, I may have an answer to that. I work in the probation system, in our in-house school for adult education and GED prep. We have a few specific students who spend as much time as possible in our lab, and it's not to study. It's because we're a safe place. Even though they sometimes act like jerks and get in trouble, they still come. It's the most stable and predictable thing in their world, and they've latched on. I imagine something in that ballpark for Bender.

dgiharris · Aug 13, 2011

Seriously??? You think kids in school were portrayed as too mean?

I felt the Breakfast club was more or less spot on with reality.

We had all kinds of kids at my school and lots of them were pretty damn mean.

As for troublemakers going to detention. They have to go or else they get expelled. Similarly, its part of their psychology. Its hard to be a troublemaker when you aren't allowed in the school.

Lastly, don't armchair quarterback one of the greatest teen agnst films of all times. Its all I can do to not reach through this screen and squeeze your neck until your head pops like a firecracker.

Sorry, fruedian slip, not cool to threaten you. Its just that you are treading on sacred territory here and a man can only take so much violation.

Mel...

backslashbaby · Aug 13, 2011

Did you ever see Heathers?

I think Breakfast Club used a bit of hyperbole for effect. Plus, the 80s were kind of cruel, I think. I can think of much worse behavior from popular folks in my high school alone. I don't know what's up with that, but it's probably a good thing if regular kids are less smartass and cruel nowadays

My dad's generation was worse than my peers (minus the cocaine). Seriously, I'm glad if we're getting kinder as we go on.

JohnnyGottaKeyboard · Aug 13, 2011

Bracken said:
I first saw this movie when I was a kid, well before I got to high school, and it made me distinctly nervous. Fortunately, the reality turned out to be nothing like the movie.

That's how I felt about the movie Grease.

Camilla Delvalle · Aug 13, 2011

Recently I saw Fast Times at Ridgemont High and I've also seen the Heathers and the Breakfast Club. These were great films about teens in school during the 80's. All of the more recent films in the same setting that I can think of seems more shallow, less serious and less daring with less edgy themes, though they are fun. Or maybe you have an example that I can look up?

Stacia Kane · Aug 13, 2011

dgiharris said:
Seriously??? You think kids in school were portrayed as too mean?

I felt the Breakfast club was more or less spot on with reality.

We had all kinds of kids at my school and lots of them were pretty damn mean.

As for troublemakers going to detention. They have to go or else they get expelled. Similarly, its part of their psychology. Its hard to be a troublemaker when you aren't allowed in the school.

This.

Yes, I suppose taping Larry Lester's buns together was morally reprehensible, but I don't see that the others did anything "reprehensible." And Andrew clearly didn't enjoy doing it, and regretted it.

Also..."if you don't like it, don't bother posting?" Um, no. Don't put it out there if you don't want people to respond.

Bracken · Aug 13, 2011

I read that the "nerd" character was initially supposed to be gay, but they wrote that out.
I guess the movie would've seemed even more "reprehensible" if it had included a bunch of gay bashing, instead of the far-more-socially-acceptable nerd bashing.

Still, it would've been interesting to see what effect a gay high school character would've had on popular culture, if one had been introduced at that time. it would've been quite a revolutionary move, in the early 80s when the film came out.

Lyra Jean · Aug 13, 2011

I liked the Breakfast Club. Even though there is a makeover scene the whole freaking movie wasn't about turning the ugly girl pretty.

KTC · Aug 13, 2011

Being a teen in the early 80s this movie was so spot on it's frightening! The universe it's from is the 80s!

regdog · Aug 13, 2011

KTC said:
Being a teen in the early 80s this movie was so spot on it's frightening! The universe it's from is the 80s!

This +2

willietheshakes · Aug 13, 2011

KTC said:
Being a teen in the early 80s this movie was so spot on it's frightening! The universe it's from is the 80s!

regdog said:
This +2

+3

ChaosTitan · Aug 13, 2011

CatharsisChild said:
If you don't like it, don't bother posting.

MOD NOTE: No. If you want to post an opinion that no one gets to disagree with, get a blog and turn off comments. AW is a discussion board, and as long as folks remember our one rule ("Respect Your Fellow Writer"), then they are allowed to agree or disagree with all opinions posted.

Soccer Mom · Aug 13, 2011

willietheshakes said:
+3

+4

robeiae · Aug 13, 2011

Soccer Mom said:
+4

+5

Bender, in particular, was spot on. Absolutely spot on. I knew plenty of kids like him. They were troublemakers, smart alecks, bullies, sure. But they all weren't headed for jail or a reform school. Like most high school kids--myself included--they were often full of shit and sometimes a little too self-absorbed.

And the cliques in the high schools in my area broke down pretty much exactly the way they did in the movie. It may seem contrived and overly simplistic now, but it's accurate for non-rural, non-big city schools, imo.

Satori1977 · Aug 13, 2011

Oh no you didn't. Breakfast Club is one of my favorite movies. My Dad and I actually watched it for the first time together, and he loves it too. And we both agree (him a child of the 60's, me of the 90's), that it is timeless. Whether you are in high school now or graduated decades before, it is relatable. Cliques, bullies, nerds, outcasts, peer pressure, drugs, parental pressure, uncaring authority figures. That *IS* high school. I don't care where you went or what decade you grew up in. The clothes may change, so will the slang, but the bullshit remains.

Bubastes · Aug 13, 2011

robeiae said:
+5

Bender, in particular, was spot on. Absolutely spot on. I knew plenty of kids like him. They were troublemakers, smart alecks, bullies, sure. But they all weren't headed for jail or a reform school. Like most high school kids--myself included--they were often full of shit and sometimes a little too self-absorbed.

And the cliques in the high schools in my area broke down pretty much exactly the way they did in the movie. It may seem contrived and overly simplistic now, but it's accurate for non-rural, non-big city schools, imo.

+6

I saw it with my friends when we were in high school. We all cried during the movie and left the theatre saying, "OMG, it's so true! It's just like our lives!"

veinglory · Aug 13, 2011

dgiharris · Aug 13, 2011

You can't think of the movie without thinking of the song "Don't You Forget About Me". It's amazing how the music merges with that movie to create something greater than the sum of its parts.

Its the kind of song that silences an entire room and puts a wistful look on everyone's face. We fade into our own private pasts and relive the greatest emotional moments of our lives.

You never forget your "first" and high school was the home of so many firsts.

I know it sounds cheesy, but the Breakfast Club somehow managed to encapsulated all of that. And I will love that movie forever

Mel...

Celia Cyanide · Aug 13, 2011

dgiharris said:
Seriously??? You think kids in school were portrayed as too mean?

I felt the Breakfast club was more or less spot on with reality.

We had all kinds of kids at my school and lots of them were pretty damn mean.

Yeah, the kids I went to school with were mean. Some of them even did things that you might consider morally reprensible. This movie portrays "mean kids" as human, and actually regretting the bad things they have done. Which they do. Some kids I went to high school with have run into me years later and apologized for things they had done to me that I had long forgotten about.

dgiharris said:
As for troublemakers going to detention. They have to go or else they get expelled. Similarly, its part of their psychology. Its hard to be a troublemaker when you aren't allowed in the school.

Word. And trust me on this one, if you are a kid and you have a home life like Bender's, you do not want to get expelled. Not only will your dad beat you, but you don't get to go to school to get away from him anymore. Similarly, Bender went to detention because it meant not being at home.

thethinker42 · Aug 13, 2011

Celia Cyanide said:
Yeah, the kids I went to school with were mean. Some of them even did things that you might consider morally reprensible. This movie portrays "mean kids" as human, and actually regretting the bad things they have done. Which they do. Some kids I went to high school with have run into me years later and apologized for things they had done to me that I had long forgotten about.

Same here. 100%. In fact, that was one of the reasons I went to my high school reunion: because even though there were people who treated me badly, people grow up. And sure enough, ten years had made a big difference. I walked away from the reunion on better terms with several people than when we graduated.

Ten years prior to the reunion? Oh yeah, The Breakfast Club was a pretty damned good summary of high school...and I graduated in the late 1990s, not the 1980s.

BenPanced · Aug 14, 2011

dgiharris said:
You can't think of the movie without thinking of the song "Don't You Forget About Me". It's amazing how the music merges with that movie to create something greater than the sum of its parts.

Its the kind of song that silences an entire room and puts a wistful look on everyone's face. We fade into our own private pasts and relive the greatest emotional moments of our lives.

Well, considering I've never seen the movie, I can make that disconnect...

A gripe about the Breakfast Club

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