The Breakfast Club inspires an optimistic feeling of rising above what you’re labelled as, driven by the possibility of finding a tribe that understands who you truly are and accepts you precisely because of that.
You’re at a party, and it’s beginning to die down. Without realising it, there’s only a handful of you left. The music is much more mellow now; you’re all intoxicated, but you’re just about aware enough to hold a conversation. You look around, and you see a surprisingly unrelated group of people. As though unprompted, you all begin to talk about the things you’ve thought about a million times in your head but never considered saying out loud. That feeling is the quintessential spirit of The Breakfast Club.
The plot is even simpler than Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: five archetypes of adolescence are placed together in Saturday detention and forced to get to know one another in their confinement. What’s clear is that the archetypes introduced are not set in stone – Hughes’ characters are constantly turning and changing, shape-shifting before your very eyes: Judd Nelson’s rebellious outlaw John Bender reveals a vulnerable side, while Anthony Michael Hall’s ‘The Brain’ Brian expresses his desire to simply let loose for once against the crippling weight of living up to his perceived intelligence.
When you’re in secondary school, it’s incredibly easy to define those you encounter by the one or two traits you most identify them with – the ‘Populars’, the ‘Nerds’, the ‘Jocks’, the ‘Weirdos’; this social segregation is frighteningly natural within the school system, and John Hughes makes a clear attempt to demonstrate the ridiculousness of it all.
What’s all too relatable about The Breakfast Club is the group’s collective realisation and admission that the labels they’re defined by are shackles, keeping them from realising their true selves. It’s one of the first times any of them feel truly understood by each other. No matter who you are, every teenager can relate to the isolating feeling of being misunderstood and misrepresented by teachers, friends, or even your parents. That’s why so many connect with The Breakfast Club and come away from it feeling like they are the group’s sixth member.
The Breakfast Club inspires an optimistic feeling of rising above what you’re labelled as, driven by the possibility of finding a tribe that understands who you truly are and accepts you precisely because of that.
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