“...And these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds are immune to your consultations. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through...” (David Bowie)

So begins The Breakfast Club, one of the defining movies of the 1980s. It is the story of five very different high school students, all assigned to the same Saturday detention. But ultimately, the movie delves beneath the artificial barriers that all people put up amongst themselves, to discover the things that unify us all.

So back to that quote. It appears in white writing on a black screen. Then that screen shatters (with a very nice effect, I might add) to reveal the front of a high school. A voice-over kicks in:

“Saturday, March 24, 1984
Shermer High School
Shermer, Illinois, 60062.

Dear Mr. Vernon,

We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did was wrong, but we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us—In the simplest terms, the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Correct? That’s the way we saw each other at 7 o’clock this morning. We were brainwashed.”

While this is read, we are shown a variety of still-lifes inside the school. Devoid of people on this weekend morning, the rooms contain only the artifacts of their daily activites. We see trophies, plaques, vandalic (It’s a word. I looked it up.) carvings and writings, and littered hallways. For each of the five stereotypes mentioned, we see a particularly iconic image. Brain – classroom, Athlete – locker room, Basket Case – guidance counselor’s office (complete with Rorshock cards), Princess – prom queen campaign poster, and Criminal – a particularly ominous locker.

And then we witness the arrival of our quintet of detainees. This scene serves brilliantly to introduce the characters in terms of their stereotypes, and just as importantly in terms of their relationships with their parents. Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald [The Stand, Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story]), the “Princess,” arrives in her father’s BMW, lamenting the injustice of having Saturday detention when she’s clearly not a “defective.” Mr. Standish coddles his daughter, promising to “make it up to [her],” and confirming that ditching class to go shopping does not make her a defective. Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall [The Dead Zone (The series, not the movie.), Pirates of Silicon Valley]), the “Brain,” is more or less torn a new one by his domineering mother, who demands to know if this is the first, or last time that they will be doing this. She orders him to find a way to study, even though Brian tells her that they’re not allowed to. Andrew Clarke (Emilio Estevez [Stakeout, The Mighty Ducks]), the “Athlete,” is chided by his father, not for “screwing around,” but for “getting caught.” The man warns him that disciplinary problems could cost him his wrestling scholarship, which he clearly thinks is something extremely important for his son’s future. Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy [WarGames, Short Circuit]), the “Basket Case,” is summarily delivered by one or more of her parents, who abruptly leave even as Allison leans forward to say something through the front window. And while that happens, John Bender (Judd Nelson [Cabin by the Lake, Suddenly Susan]), the “Criminal,” walks towards the school, alone.

The beginning of the next scene serves to reinforce the stereotypes. Claire and Andrew, being from the social “jet set,” sit together at the front of the library. Bender approaches where Brian is sitting and makes him move. And Allison sits alone in the back, facing away from everyone else. And then Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason [Not Another Teen Movie, Van Wilder, but pretty small parts in both]), the esteemed vice principal, enters the room. He tells them that they have nine hours (Oh, all right, eight hours and fifty-four minutes, since it’s already 7:06am.) to “think about why [they]’re here,” and to write a thousand-word essay describing who each of them “thinks [he or she is].” And now the stage is fully set.

The Breakfast Club is a movie about people and the way they perceive one another. There is much, much more to each of the characters than is immediately apparent. Of course, it’s hardly even fun for me to analyze them, because they all become completely exposed before the end of the film. In particular, a full description of each character could be considered a spoiler. So if you don’t want to read what we eventually learn about each character’s psyche, don’t read the portion of each paragraph between these marks: /~/ After the second mark, I talk about the actor or actress who played the role.

Claire is popular, attractive, and wealthy. She behaves as though she considers herself better than everyone else, mainly because she thinks others perceive her that way. /~/ But she secretly hates the limitations that popularity places on her. In order to retain her social status, she has to obey the dictates of her clique. Thus, she is deprived of the ability to forge her own identity. On top of that, she is caught in a tug-of-war between her parents. Her mother and father do not get along with one another, and they use Claire as a bargaining chip between them. Because of this, she doesn’t take her parents seriously and clearly doesn’t deal seriously with authority of any type. /~/ I really think that Molly Ringwald is a great actress, and I don’t know why she’s been so underutilized in the last ten years. There’s a particular line, when Bender is taunting Claire by describing an intimate situation, and she says, “Do you want me to puke?” It’s as though she were trying to say it sweetly while being flip, but it has no force behind it and her voice almost cracks. It’s obvious that it’s getting to her, and it turns out that this will be important later on. Her character is a little bit sheltered, and Molly does a good job of expressing the shock and disgust that Claire feels at some of the other characters’ revelations. She also does a great job during the “Answer the question!” dialogue towards the end.

Brian is a nerd. He’s smart, but lacks experience in social interactions. He’s a stickler for rules and regulations, indicating a strong superego at work. /~/ A big part of his academic success is a result of external pressure from his parents combined with his own self-imposed pressure. Believe me, I know a lot about this. His need to overachieve has made him unable to accept any form of failure, which of course makes life in the real world quite difficult. Brian is also extremely sensitive, and a fundamentally kind person. /~/ Anthony Michael Hall is just so damn adorable! In addition to that, though, he’s a very good actor as well. I strongly identified with the character of Brian, and I can say that Anthony really nails it dead-on. He conveys that timidity of someone who knows that he or she is classified as a nerd, but at the same time he speaks up without a second though when it comes to any factual point. He delivers his lines with an intentionally awkward almost-stutter that is very appropriate to the character. He really taps the core of the character in the scenes where he talks about his project for shop class.

Andrew is physically strong, and expects others to respect him. His focus has been athletics, so academics are not important to him. He resorts to physical measures as a means of conflict resolution, and he’s into partying. /~/ But, much like Brian, Andrew doesn’t do what he does because he feels passionately about it. He does it to please his parents. Andrew’s father drives him to excel at sports because it’s what he values, and he sees that as the only way in which his son can be worth anything. Andrew acts to fulfill what he perceives as his father’s ideal, valuing physical strength above all else, even though he knows that it’s not a real measure of a person. /~/ Well, Emilio Estevez has never really been an A-list actor. But that fact has nothing to do with his performance in this movie. He does a great job of blustering his way through the first half of the movie with the strong personality that Andrew cultivates. But when he talks about his relationship with his father, he exposes the character’s pent-up anger and frustration.

Allison is just strange. She’s a loner, and nobody really even knows who she is. She indulges is strange and pointless behaviors, and she doesn’t talk. /~/ The reason Allison behaves like this is because she is desperate for attention. Her parents ignore her, so she behaves in an odd way to draw attention. And it works. Even though none of the others actually knows her, Bender says that he has seen her. She’s made herself that sort of outsider who everyone makes fun of but at least is aware of. She makes up bizarre hardships in her life to generate further interest, and as Andrew eventually points out, she invites others into her problems. But she’s not really psychologically imbalanced, just unhappy. /~/ Ally Sheedy was called upon to complete the most unusual performance in the movie, because she has to be so odd. But she really sells the whole “dark and twisted” image at the beginning of the movie and transitions well into the character’s more exposed personality later. She especially does a very good job of fulfilling Allison’s kleptomaniac tendencies when she grabs, at various times, Bender’s pocket knife, an unclosed lock on a locker, and the letter from Andrew’s shirt.

Bender is a jerk and a delinquent. He doesn’t care about school or about anybody besides himself. He thinks that there’s no point in interacting positively with others, since he doesn’t care what they think. He uses profanity and vulgar imagery to excess. He’s a dropout on life. /~/ Bender is abused mentally and physically by his parents, who also treat each other in the same way. They don’t care what happens to him, and they think he’s worthless. As a result, Bender wants nothing more than to fulfill their image of him. He wants everyone to think that he doesn’t give a damn, but the truth is he really does and it bothers him more than he’ll admit. His greatest fear is that his parents are right about him. /~/ I’m going to have to fully agree here with Jay’s profound statement in Dogma: Judd Nelson was fucking harsh! It was Judd Nelson’s performance here that made me notice the striking similarities between Bender and Tom Hunter, the boy that I tutor. He completely captures that behavior and verbal traits that identify a person who is putting on an act of reckless bravado. He reveals the character’s vulnerable side without seeming weak in any way. It’s really a shame that he hasn’t had any meatier roles of late.

Richard Vernon is an uptight jerk. He thinks he projects an air of stern control, but nobody really respects him. He’s completely out of touch with the youth of America, and he has no respect for them as people. /~/ In actuality, Vernon realizes that the kids don’t respect him and it troubles him. He’s disgusted by the adolescents of the day, and he’s really given up on them. He can’t sleep at night for the awareness that they truly are our nation’s future. In a way, he’s given up on the children because he feels that they’ve given up on him, but that’s only because he is a cynic with poor communication skills and very little self-awareness. /~/ Paul Gleason seems a reasonably good actor, although this is the only thing I’ve ever seen him in (aside from Not Another Teen Movie, where he just plays this same role, anyway). He makes it clear how tightly wound Vernon is.

They key to the characters is the interaction between them. Luckily, the chemistry among the actors is fantastic. The first important development is the unexpected esprit de corps that arises when Bender pulls the screw out of the door. Everyone participates in covering for him. The same thing happens when Bender crashes back into the library. This shows us that their intense dislike of Vernon overrides their initial distaste for one another. When Bender keeps prodding Vernon to give him more and more detentions, Claire’s reaction is very well-played. At the end of this scene, watch Bender and Vernon for a very telling reaction from each of them as well. The chemistry between Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson is great, through all the different phases of their interaction. When they fight, she really shows that he is getting to her. He understands her much better than she feels comfortable with. Andrew’s insight into Allison’s behavior is also an important element.

Vernon also engages in a discussion with Carl (John Kapelos [Fire & Ice (a made for TV film), Mimic: Sentinel (direct to video)]), the school’s janitor. The students, Bender in particular, seem to give him little credit as an individual. However, he quickly demonstrates that he is in fact quite intelligent and knows a great deal more about things that go on in the school than people might expect. It’s unclear how Vernon feels about Carl initially, but he seems to have no major qualms about talking with him (Granted, this happens after Carl catches him in an awkward position.). Carl offers some keen insight into how Vernon really feels about the kids at the school.

There is a fair amount of humor in the movie, such as when Vernon leaves the library with a disposable toilet seat protruding from his pants. It took about six viewings of the movie, but I eventually noticed that Brian is playing with himself during the boredom montage. There is also some very amusing dialogue. At one point, Bender calls Brian a “neo-maxi zoom dweebie.” In a different scene, Bender addresses him directly as “Dork,” which reminds me of Sixteen Candles, where Anthony Michael Hall’s character is similarly called “Geek.” When Bender crawls through the vents, he tells himself a joke. He is...interrupted, before he can reach the punch line. Just let me mention that I have done some research on this, and I can tell you definitively that there is not a punch line in existence at all. Judd Nelson was improvising the joke as he went along, knowing that it would not have a conclusion (Check out http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/regent/827/joke.html for more information about it.). Also, here’s a picture of a guy with elephantitis of the nuts (It’s definitely not tasty.): http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/OddPics/Images/elephantitis%20scrotum.jpg

The music in The Breakfast Club is truly amazing. The movie starts in a fashion that has become increasingly less common, with the credits displaying on a blank screen while some theme music plays. In this case, the song is “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds. It’s a great song in its own right, but I have to admit that I can’t hear it on the radio without thinking about this movie. What I will call the “Blues of Communal Boredom” are very well-matched to the action, or lack thereof. There’s a cute little cultural-sounding classical interlude when they discuss Molière. There’s also a fun bit where they whistle “Colonel Bogey’s March,” with Bender segueing into “Beethoven’s Fifth” when Vernon arrives. Wang Chung’s “Fire in the Twilight” (And I’ll bet you didn’t think they ever sang anything but “Everybody Have Fun Tonight.”) is a pretty cool, high-energy song that is played when Our Heroes run through the halls of the school. There’s a pretty cool “Bass of Covert Action” while Bender crawls through the ventilation shaft. The “Blues of Stonedness” are nice and vampy, evoking the laid-back attitude of the characters during the scene. “Andrew’s Pump-Up Medley” is enjoyable as well. The “Woodwinds of Allison’s Admission” are very subtle, which is definitely appropriate. There is a really great sequence near the end, where everybody dances to Karla DeVito’s “We Are Not Alone.” I really enjoyed this song, incidentally, and I liked Karla DeVito’s voice. However, this song never seems to have hit it big. In fact, the only place I could find the lyrics was in an X-Files fanfic. The dancing is really fun to watch, though. I enjoyed Ally Sheedy’s wanton flailing approach to dancing, and Judd Nelson flings himself upon a particularly phallic piece of sculpture. Just saying. But I think the best dancer in the scene is Molly Ringwald. The “Riffs of Transformation and Romantic Pairing,” very close to the end are particularly well-selected for the scene. And the closing scene, appropriately, reprises the opening theme.

The costuming is pretty good. I mean, it’s not an especially difficult task, since the movie takes place in one day and there aren’t really any costume changes. However, the characters’ outfits are matched to their stereotypes. Brian has a wool hat pulled over his ears. Andrew is wearing a jogging outfit. Claire is dressed in a very pretty ensemble. Bender is effectively grungy, while Allison is dressed in dark, bulky clothes. However, they do undergo some modifications in attire, as befits their character development. Allison in particular, which will be apparent if you see the movie. When they leave the school at the end, their clothes are a bit more uniform and they basically all look like normal teenagers, not archetypes.

The movie is only very slightly dated. The word “jam” is used to mean “run away,” which I also just saw last night in Heathers. We certainly don’t use it that way now, but apparently it had that meaning in the 㣴s. Also, I was feeling troubled on September 11, 2002, after watching the news for a bit. It just really got to me. But I had The Breakfast Club, so I popped it in to watch that instead. And about two thirds of the way through the movie, Allison says that she might run away to, among other places, Afghanistan. Obviously, that particular locale would not have been selected today.

There were a few minor issues that I had with the movie, though, mainly related to the destruction of property. Not that I have a huge problem with the destruction of property, per se. It’s just that Bender collapses a ventilation duct and Andrew shatters a glass door, but nobody (i.e., Vernon) seems to find out about this. And it’s actually quite unclear how Andrew does break that door, anyway. Also, would you fully make out with someone directly in front of your parents? Because half of the teenaged characters are engaging in total mackage, immediately before entering their respective parents’ vehicles. Thus, presumably, their parents can see them and they are aware of this. Ick.

Even so, The Breakfast Club is one of the great films of the 1980s. The characters have an amazing depth to them and they are brought to life by the perfect cast. Everybody needs to see this movie at least once in their lives, but if you’re like me then you’ll wind up seeing it more than a dozen.

Secret Subplot (For a complete explanation of Secret Subplots, please see my profile page)
Brian is gay. Although this time it feels like a bit of a cop-out to say it, because the script really and truly seems to support this hypothesis. I mean, Brian cocks his head to peer at Bender when it seems that the latter might “whip it out” for urinary purposes. He also whistles loudly, as one would at a strip show, when Andrew removes some clothing during his impressive, stoned display of physical prowess. And, after all, he reminds me so much of myself...

QF1 (For a complete explanation of QF, please see my profile page.)
Again, the word faggot is bandied about pointlessly, this time when Andrew uses it as an invective against Bender. However in this case, it does at least lead to an amusing dialogue about Andrew, and if his tendencies towards rolling around with guys in tights make this a case of the pot calling the kettle fuscia.

I’ll leave you with the final voice-over:

“Dear Mr. Vernon,

We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us—In the simplest terms, the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question?

Sincerely Yours,
The Breakfast Club”

This has been the first of my three entries in my own write-off, D2K-93: The Widowmaker, in celebration of my two-year anniversary at Epinions. This is a write-off based on the “Brat Pack” actors of the 1980s, so I have decided to review the three best-known movies that star Molly Ringwald, my personal favorite Brat Pack performer. The other write-off participants are:

anderclayton * DavidK93 * dedemw * kurt_messick * LukePicard * MrsNormanMaine * Officer * pmills1210 * pogomom * sampo24 * st3on1ey1baby

I’m glad to say that I did get this done before midnight PST on the intended date. But, man, how messed up is it that I knew, three months ago, exactly when this write-off was going to be, and I still didn’t finish until less that two hours before the deadline. Well, maybe it’s because I took an hour to go to campus to find my very drunk friends and hang out with them.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS