Don’t You Forget About How Deep “The Breakfast Club” Really Is
There’s no better way to sum up John Hughes’ seminal teen movie The Breakfast Club than with the voiced-over letter at the end. Released in 1985, The Breakfast Clubturns 30 on February 15 and, amazingly, remains incredibly relevant today.
A quick refresher for those who’ve never seen the film (such people exist, we’ve heard): On a Saturday morning, five high school students in Shermer, Illinois, assemble in their school’s library for eight hours of detention. All the typical high school clique archetypes are present and accounted for: the popular girl, Claire (Molly Ringwald); the jock, Andrew (Emilio Estevez); the rebel, John (Judd Nelson); the outcast, Allison (Ally Sheedy); and the geek, Brian (Anthony Michael Hall). But time together eventually erodes the barriers separating them. It’s unclear if that will stick, but for now everyone gains new perspectives on the lot peers and parents have handed to them.
And, yes, this is an ’80s movie we’re talking about here–which means there is the obligatory dance break and the freak-to-chic makeover (why can’t you love Ally as she is, Andrew?!) However, The Breakfast Club is sneaky with its deep emotional truths–and rooted in ideas that teens and adults are, and will always be, grappling with.
Molly Ringwald has acknowledged the 'troubling' side of The Breakfast Club.
“While there, he takes the opportunity to peek under Claire’s skirt and, though the audience doesn’t see, it is implied that he touches her inappropriately.”
She added: “What’s more, as I can see now, Bender sexually harasses Claire throughout the film.
“When he’s not sexualising her, he takes out his rage on her with vicious contempt, calling her ‘pathetic,’ mocking her as ‘Queenie.’ It’s rejection that inspires his vitriol.”
Ringwald noted that, despite all of this, the film sees him “get the girl in the end”.
She said that she thought about the film a lot after re-watching it, particularly after a number of women came forward with sexual harassment allegations against the likes of film producer Harvey Weinstein and others.
There’s no better way to sum up John Hughes’ seminal teen movie The Breakfast Club than with the voiced-over letter at the end. Released in 1985, The Breakfast Clubturns 30 on February 15 and, amazingly, remains incredibly relevant today.
A quick refresher for those who’ve never seen the film (such people exist, we’ve heard): On a Saturday morning, five high school students in Shermer, Illinois, assemble in their school’s library for eight hours of detention. All the typical high school clique archetypes are present and accounted for: the popular girl, Claire (Molly Ringwald); the jock, Andrew (Emilio Estevez); the rebel, John (Judd Nelson); the outcast, Allison (Ally Sheedy); and the geek, Brian (Anthony Michael Hall). But time together eventually erodes the barriers separating them. It’s unclear if that will stick, but for now everyone gains new perspectives on the lot peers and parents have handed to them.
And, yes, this is an ’80s movie we’re talking about here–which means there is the obligatory dance break and the freak-to-chic makeover (why can’t you love Ally as she is, Andrew?!) However, The Breakfast Club is sneaky with its deep emotional truths–and rooted in ideas that teens and adults are, and will always be, grappling with.
Molly Ringwald has acknowledged the 'troubling' side of The Breakfast Club.
“While there, he takes the opportunity to peek under Claire’s skirt and, though the audience doesn’t see, it is implied that he touches her inappropriately.”
She added: “What’s more, as I can see now, Bender sexually harasses Claire throughout the film.
“When he’s not sexualising her, he takes out his rage on her with vicious contempt, calling her ‘pathetic,’ mocking her as ‘Queenie.’ It’s rejection that inspires his vitriol.”
Ringwald noted that, despite all of this, the film sees him “get the girl in the end”.
She said that she thought about the film a lot after re-watching it, particularly after a number of women came forward with sexual harassment allegations against the likes of film producer Harvey Weinstein and others.
