Why The Breakfast Club deserves a sequel instead of a remake

For all those who grew up in the 1980sthe fact that the immortal coming-of-age film from 1985 The Breakfast Club is almost 40 years old seems both incomprehensible and disturbing, even though the evidence for this has become ever clearer and more painful since August 6, 2009, when the film’s auteur director and screenwriter, John Hughes, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 59.

When the five archetypal teenage characters in The Breakfast Club – shy Allison, stereotypical jock Andrew, rebellious Bender, goofy Brian and popular Claire – would now be in their late 50s, Anthony Michael Hall, who plays Brian, and Molly Ringwald, who plays Claire, are now 56, while his fellow cast members Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson are now in their 60s.

The depth of these characterizations and depictions in pop culture is perhaps most evident in the fact that many people of all ages reflexively view these characters as virtual high school classmates whose current whereabouts as adults are a tormenting mystery.

While there is speculation and support for a remake of The Breakfast ClubThere is much more curiosity and drama surrounding the fate of these characters, both in terms of how they developed as adults and whether their unlikely friendships survived Saturday detention.

The Breakfast Club

Release date

15 February 1985

Duration

97 minutes

Expand

The Breakfast Club is an enduring pop culture phenomenon

While all of John Hughes’ films for teenagers enjoy cult status and are remembered to varying degrees, The Breakfast Clubwhich was Hughes’ second directorial debut after the 1984 teen comedy “The Last Man” Sixteen candlesis the film that most clearly established Hughes’ towering reputation as the patron saint of teenage alienation and angst.

One of the most poignant and disarming aspects of The Breakfast Clubwhose production cost was approximately $1 million, lies in the sheer simplicity of its construction and format. The Breakfast Club tells the story of five high school students from different social cliques who have to spend a Saturday in detention in the school library because of various offenses.

Almost the entire film takes place in and around the school library, where the teenagers slowly begin to build a relationship with each other. They talk about their high school personalities and their overwhelming happiness. They talk about the various reasons for their detention. They mostly just talk. While the low-key, conversational structure of The Breakfast Club Some critics described The Breakfast Club than My dinner with Andre of teen films that reference the acclaimed 1981 comedy about two friends having a feature-length conversation in a Manhattan restaurant, the cultural influence of The Breakfast Club has far exceeded this comparison over time.

By giving his teenage characters more emotional depth and making them far less stereotypical than most other films aimed at teens, he influenced several decades of teen cinema and general teenage behavior. The Breakfast Club has earned the reputation of Citizen Kane of the teen film genre.

40th reunion of Shermer High School, graduating class of 1985

One of the most revealing moments in The Breakfast Club is when Brian asks the four other teenage characters in detention what will happen when they return to school on Monday morning. Will the friendships they made in Saturday detention remain, or will the characters return to their traditional high school cliques and avoid each other?

Perhaps the most interesting scene in The Breakfast Clubin the context of a possible sequel, concerns a confrontation between the film’s most disturbing character, Bender, and Richard Vernon, the perpetually frustrated vice principal of Shermer High School who oversees Saturday detention. During a confrontation between Bender and Vernon, Vernon tells the four other teenagers that if they all want to have a lot of fun, they should find Bender in 10 years.. This represents a brutal rejection for Bender, whose triumphant raised fist gesture as he walks across the school football field in the film’s final scene can be seen as either the beginning of a positive turning point for Bender or the culmination of the rest of his life.

Related

The 10 best characters from John Hughes movies that we will never forget

Whether from “The Breakfast Club,” “Home Alone” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” there are simply some of John Hughes’ characters that will always remain in our memory.

The Brat Pack Label

Naturally, an important aspect of the lasting legacy of The Breakfast Club it becomes clear how the film served to establish its young stars as founding members of the Brat Packthe derogatory term for the select group of young actors who appeared together in several coming-of-age films in the 1980s, led by The Breakfast Club.

In the 2024 documentary BratsEmilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy lament their seemingly inescapable affiliation with the “Brat Pack” label and the teen film genre, while Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson and Molly Ringwald declined to be interviewed for the film, reportedly because they prefer to focus on the future rather than dwell on the past.

Related

The best films of John Hughes, ranking

The prolific director influenced an entire generation with his classic films. These are the best films by John Hughes, sorted by rank.

The varying degrees of frustration that the stars of The Breakfast Club hold for the Brat Pack label provide fruitful inspiration for a sequel, in terms of how the adult versions of the teenage characters perceive their teenage personalities and the labels they had to endure in high school. The Breakfast Club makes it clear that labels and words can have great meaning and power.