# John Hughes has died. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572 "2009-08-06T21:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/41 "2009-08-07T13:49:45Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > [He corresponded regularly](http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html)with a fan who smacked him one for sending her what she thought was a form letter. :: sniff :: I think I have something in my eye… ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/42 "2009-08-07T14:35:13Z")
I graduated from a Chicago-area suburban high school in 1986. When they came out, **The Breakfast Club** and **Ferris Bueller’s Day Off** both seemed to have been made just for me. The setting of **The Breakfast Club** was very similar to my high school. In fact, my high school is less than 15 miles away from Maine North High School, where the film was shot. Glenbrook North High School, where John Hughes went to school (and which was used for the exterior shots in **Ferris Bueller’s Day Off** , is even closer. I had actually done much of what Ferris had done before **Ferris Bueller’s Day Off** was released, including: skipping school (once), leaning against the glass on the Sears Tower observation deck, visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, attending a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and even “borrowing” a car (Porsche instead of a Ferrari). None of this was in the same day–they were just various things I had done during the few years that I lived in the Chicago area. Anyway, seeing the movie was positively weird. It was one of the few movies I’ve ever seen in my life where I immediately recognized almost every scene. It was actually kind of creepy at the time. So anyway, rest in peace, Mr. Hughes. You will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/43 "2009-08-07T14:43:21Z")
We had a major thread about **The Breakfast Club** a few years ago. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=348170&highlight=breakfast](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=348170&highlight=breakfast) ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/44 "2009-08-07T14:50:58Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Not to mention “rich people bad, poor people good.” He had a fairly typical Baby Boomer attitude: wealth is a pie, there’s only so much to go around, and if Peter has so much, he’s personally depriving Paul. Wonder how he reconciled his own wealth… So then you’re saying that Ferris and Kevin lived in hovels, or what? You’re missing the mark here. Hughes attacked classism, prejudices, and the straitjackets that society puts us in. This can’t be reduced to a rich/poor, or teen/adult thing, although he used those at times as microcosms. His movies are not terribly deep, of course. “The Breakfast Club” was probably his most serious attempt at making a statement, and I always thought it was fairly simplistic and monstrously boring. On the other hand, it’s every bit as good, to my mind, as “The Catcher in the Rye.” Both, I guess, have resonated with a lot of people; I just don’t happen to be among them. But when the guy went for funny, he could definitely deliver. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/45 "2009-08-07T15:01:55Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I graduated from a Chicago-area suburban high school in 1986. When they came out, **The Breakfast Club** and **Ferris Bueller’s Day Off** both seemed to have been made just for me. > > The setting of **The Breakfast Club** was very similar to my high school. In fact, my high school is less than 15 miles away from Maine North High School, where the film was shot. Glenbrook North High School, where John Hughes went to school (and which was used for the exterior shots in **Ferris Bueller’s Day Off** , is even closer. > > I had actually done much of what Ferris had done before **Ferris Bueller’s Day Off** was released, including: skipping school (once), leaning against the glass on the Sears Tower observation deck, visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, attending a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and even “borrowing” a car (Porsche instead of a Ferrari). None of this was in the same day–they were just various things I had done during the few years that I lived in the Chicago area. Anyway, seeing the movie was positively weird. It was one of the few movies I’ve ever seen in my life where I immediately recognized almost every scene. It was actually kind of creepy at the time. > > So anyway, rest in peace, Mr. Hughes. You will be missed. So, you lived in Shermer, Illinois (emphasis on the"s"). I hear all the honeys are top-shelf, but all the dudes are whiny pussies - except for Judd Nelson, he’s fuckin’ harsh - and best of all, there is no one dealin’. I’ve always figured you could live like a phat rat if you were the blunt connection in Shermer, Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/46 "2009-08-07T15:42:40Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Here’s to the underappreciated genius of _Uncle Buck_. R.I.P. Yep, one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/47 "2009-08-07T18:20:31Z")
When the movies came out, I _was_ many of those characters as I journeyed through junior high and high school. My particular schools were very heavily cliqued and stratified, and his themes of the struggle to break those boundaries were very resonant with me. If you mixed in a blender John Cusack in 16 Candles, Ducky in Pretty in Pink, and Anthony Michael Hall in Breakfast Club, you’d get me. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/48 "2009-08-07T18:28:13Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > If you mixed in a blender John Cusack in 16 Candles, Ducky in Pretty in Pink, and Anthony Michael Hall in Breakfast Club, you’d get me. Without freezing it even? How do you type? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/49 "2009-08-07T19:19:58Z")
I saw \*The Breakfast Club \*twice in the Eighties and it most definitely was one of the significant films of the decade. RIP Mr. Hughes ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/50 "2009-08-07T22:54:41Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > So, you lived in Shermer, Illinois (emphasis on the"s"). I hear all the honeys are top-shelf, but all the dudes are whiny pussies - except for Judd Nelson, he’s fuckin’ harsh - and best of all, there is no one dealin’. I’ve always figured you could live like a phat rat if you were the blunt connection in Shermer, Illinois. Man, movies are bullshit. God bless you, John Hughes- not only for your own movies but for inspiring a ton of others (Hiding Out & Morgan Stewart’s Coming Home come to mind). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/51 "2009-08-08T01:27:09Z")
Why do you have a fake i.d.? So I can vote. Do you know what I like about you? Is it my clean close shave? Automobile??? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/52 "2009-08-08T12:35:06Z")
Interesting story: > **[Sincerely, John Hughes](http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html)** > > I was babysitting for my mom's friend Kathleen's daughter the night I wrote that first fan letter to John Hughes. I can literally remember t... Brian ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/53 "2009-08-08T12:50:29Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Interesting story: > [We'll Know When We Get There: Sincerely, John Hughes](http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html) > > Brian Psst. See post 39. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572/54 "2009-08-09T00:26:33Z")
Opps, I skimmed the 1st page but obviously misse dit. Brian [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-hughes-has-died/505572.md?page=2)