“…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 …”
A line from David Bowie’s song “Changes” is the first piece of information anyone who watches John Hughes’ 1985 film “The Breakfast Club” will see on their screen. This is unexpectedly followed by glass loudly shattering to reveal the fictional Shermer High School on an early Saturday morning, where our story takes place.
One by one, a princess (Claire, played by Molly Ringwald), a brain (Brian, played by Anthony Michael Hall), an athlete (Andrew, played by Emilio Estevez), a criminal (Bender, played by Judd Nelson) and a basket case (Allison, played by Ally Sheedy) all make their way to the school library, where they will be spending their Saturday in detention.
Five teenagers from different cliques formed a special bond on March 24, 1984. They revealed their deepest and darkest secrets, danced on tables, ran through hallways and for most of the group, even developed feelings for one another.
When the film was released on Feb. 15, 1985, it was an instant box office success, making over $51 million worldwide despite having a budget of $1 million. “The Breakfast Club” came out at a time when Madonna and Bruce Springsteen were at the top of the music charts, popular fashion trends included leg warmers and denim jackets and the TV show “Dallas” was all the rage.
Transcending age or generational differences, “The Breakfast Club” remains a culturally relatable film.
Encapsulating teenage rebellion and angst in mainstream media has never been an easy task and has only been done successfully a few times. “The Breakfast Club” can be seen as one of the most popular examples of this.
One of the most notable scenes from “The Breakfast Club” that best represents the high school-aged experience is when the five characters sit in a circle and confess why each of them is in detention (which was completely ad-libbed by the actors!).
“‘He’s like this mindless machine that I can’t even relate to anymore …;’ ‘Andrew, you’ve got to be number one! I won’t tolerate any losers in this family … Your intensity is for shit!
Win. Win! WIN!!’” You son of a bitch! You know, sometimes, I wish my knee would give…and I wouldn’t be able to wrestle anymore. And he could forget all about me …’”
This line is shouted out by Emilio Estevez’s character, Andrew. The raw emotion that is displayed by the “dumb jock” trope that Andrew is meant to represent at his high school shocks the rest of the characters, revealing that the stereotype is eating him alive, especially after meeting his other high school acquaintances who he surprisingly shares a lot in common with.
In terms of how the actors feel about the film 40 years later, they all seem to hold a special place in their hearts for most of it (e.g., Bender sexually harassing Claire within the first 30 minutes of the film).
The cast, minus Emilio Estevez, reunited for a panel discussion at MegaCon Orlando on Feb. 7 to discuss the film’s legacy and how they each feel about it decades later.
“Whenever I got to do a movie, I got to leave my school and that was amazing,” Ringwald said. “We’d go do a scene in the library and then study algebra with our studio teacher. But it was fun.”
“I was really happy when we were making this movie, we all really … I don’t know if you can tell but we all really do love each other,” Sheedy said. “It was a dream … A joyful experience.”
Paige Hanson can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @Paige_Hanson1.
