I know I’m condemning my entire generation by saying this, but I don’t know how anyone with an ounce of compassion could think Breakfast Club is a great film.
I’m not saying it’s 100% bad. It’s redeemed somewhat by Estevez’ character, and by the scene between Vernon and the custodian. But I cannot understand all these people who say “I love Bender…he rules,” when his character makes it into the OJ/Nicole training video.
John Hughes was dissed by a cheerleader in 1966, and this film is his hate letter to all women.
Bender belongs in the early sixties, when a guy with mechanic’s clothes and an attitude was all that. In the ‘80s, he would have had a scraggly mullet, a Levi’s vest, and an Iron Maiden t-shirt. He would also have been nowhere near as articulate. And Claire has a flip! That’s it: “He’s a rebel and he’ll never ever be any good…”
Bender is a big baby, that’s all. When all else fails, he falls back on pushing and throwing things like a kindergartner. That was a great shot of him looking through the balcony railings. That’s where he belongs: in a playpen. Andrew is right when he says that Bender is no one to judge anyone, and that he has no right to be a pain in the ass.
And he wonders why everybody doesn’t love him? “You don’t know any of my friends”—because they offer no opportunity to get to know them. “You don’t look at any of my friends”—because making eye contact with someone who walks with his fists clenched is too risky. “You wouldn’t condescend to speak to any of my friends”—About what? And why? Just to be told to fuck off? He acts like he hates everyone else’s way of doing things, but he can’t bear it that they don’t like his way.
Claire is not responsible for Bender’s circumstances. Neither is Vernon, nor anyone else. He demands change, but is unwilling to modify his own behavior. If he wants to prove something, why doesn’t he make something of himself? He’s a straight white male who has his health. There are a lot of people with more reason to be bitter. Imagine being disabled, for instance.
She’s not a bad person because she has diamond earrings. Whatever circumstances led her to get such a gift are her business and hers only. Maybe her dad busted his ass all his life so his kids could have it better than he did, and if he wants to give his daughter diamond earrings, he can do that. Conversely, maybe the earrings were “thrown” at her, rather than given to her, to make up for some incident when her parents let her down.
I think this would not have found a following in subsequent generations if they saw it uncut, instead of the censored version that’s shown ad infinitum on TBS. You don’t get the full impact of Bender’s evil when you hear “fancy prom” instead of “fucking prom”.
You don’t get over that. You remember it for the rest of your life, wishing you’d said this or said that, and telling yourself it wasn’t true what he said…but the damage is done, and you’ve lost something of yourself. She never gets to say anything in her defense. But what is there to say? You can’t match that kind of aggression. All you get is a sore throat.
“Go home and cry to your daddy.” That’s how a rapist treats his victim. She looks to him for approval, and he nods. She’s learning! That’s how a battered woman acts towards her abuser: appease him at all costs and give up everything of yourself.
People: How would you feel if you were the recipient of those tirades?
And since when is it a conquest to make a teenage girl cry, anyway?
“We’ll get the prom queen impregnated?” That’s not an insult, that’s a threat.
And as far as nail polish, don’t Bender’s women wear nail polish?
Beyond that:
—These subjects are too complex for a 90-minute film. Like all this tripe about virginity. Of course, in John Hughes’ candy-colored world, no one could ever get pregnant, there are no STDs, a guy who gets it anywhere he can is a hero, and a girl who wants to wait for a guy she can trust is a bitch.
—As far as that goes, I wonder how many of those girls have Bender’s baby?
—I can’t speak for everyone, but when I was a teenager in the ‘80s, the student council-cheerleader-jock-and-beauty-queen types were regarded as dinosaurs. We, the so-called misfits, were ragging on them. We didn’t need them.
— Two alpha males, one beta male, one attractive, helpless female, one oddball female. How bloody original.
—Since when do teenagers wait their turn to speak?
—I have never heard of an unsupervised detention. Bender in particular should not be left alone with young women.
—Brian turns ghastly white and squeaks “That was MARIJUANA!” Apparently Hughes doesn’t know that it was guys like him—overachievers or academic puppets—who were the midnight tokers in the ‘80s. It was the best way to take the edge off.
—And no one’s going to bring sushi to school. It would already be spoiled by noon.
Easier, saves time…