I Love The 80s!

So I'm up late the other night, watching TV and drinking rum & Fresca (watching my calories you know). I'm flipping through the channels and come across The Breakfast Club on some free movie channel. Now, I was in high school when this movie came out, so it says more to me than it says to, say, any random Baby Boomer or "Generation Y" kid. By the way, it seems that we've really given up on any creativity in naming our generations. We go from Baby Boom to Generation X, but then nobody can think of something to name the next one other than a sequel to the Gen X name? Poor Douglas Copeland has to be doubly pissed-off now, I don't think he liked it when even just one generation was named after one of his books. But I digress.

What was I talking about? Oh right, The Breakfast Club. So I was watching a little of it after I came across the movie by way of channel flipping. And I was thinking about how most of my friends have written it off as outdated and too cheesy. But you know, for all of the movies faults, it still works for me. There is definitely a hokeyness to it, that can't be denied. John Hughes certainly had a ay of overwriting movies too. He just can't let anything go unsaid or let an actor use subtext to get the point across. One example is after Anthony Michael Hall's character talks about how the flare gun (that he was going to kill himself with) went off in his locker and the others start laughing. He's been crying and says "it's not funny." But the others can't help laughing and soon he starts laughing himself at the realization that it is, in fact, funny. But John Hughes couldn't help having the character throw in the line "Yes it is," so that the audience will get that he now sees the absurdity of the whole thing. So some unnecessary dialogue is definitely a problem.

I only described the above scene for people that may not be in their thirties, because if you are you more than likely know that whole scene by heart anyway, and don't deny it.

But for all its cheesiness and preachy way of telling us that we're all alike deep down, it still works for me. I recognize a lot of those people from high school. Sure it breaks down the whole social structure of high school down to five easy groups, but that's what high school basically does on its own. And it is easy to remember what it was like trying to survive being a teenager when watching The Breakfast Club. And the best character by far is Ally Sheedy's basket case Allison. For me, she sums up the whole movie, and teenage life in general when she says "When you grow up, your heart dies." And when asked "Who cares?" by Emilio Estevez's jock, she responds with an emotional and emphatic "I care." Gets me every time, including watching it the other night. Or it could have been the rum & Fresca. This is probably why my wife doesn't like me staying up late at night drinking and watching TV.

One thing I would change about The Breakfast Club though. Instead of getting the girl at the end, Emilio Estevez's wrestler guy, Andrew, should have gotten the shit kicked out of him instead. That would've been sweet.

As the credits rolled and Simple Minds kicked in, I flipped again and came across Madonna's Like a Prayer video starting on VH1. I thought to myself, "Wow, I forgot how creative this was. Black Jesus figure, burning crosses, Madonna wearing lingerie through all of it. Amazing!"

I decided that was enough rum.