# What happened to John Hughes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199 "2008-08-16T05:20:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/21 "2008-08-18T14:06:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyone see what Curly Sue looks like these days? Yowzer. Hughes gets a pass. The years have been good to [her](http://ns4w.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/Curley_Sue_Alisan_Porter.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/22 "2008-08-18T14:24:56Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] See, this is what I was thinking, which just condemns him further, IMO. He’s not in it because he loves directing; as soon as he had enough money to stop, he did. Now there’s a dedicated artist. [/QUOTE] Maybe he just prefers to spend more time with his family. Perhaps he prefers writing to directing. Maybe he was really tired. Whatever one might think of John Hughes, deciding you don’t want to do something because you don’t need to do it anymore, and would rather spend your time doing other things, doesn’t detract from the validity of your work. ---
**Author:** ![Erasmus\_Darwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@Erasmus\_Darwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erasmus_Darwin)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/23 "2008-08-18T14:27:06Z")
[QUOTE=SmartAleq] According to IMDB he’s been writing crappy movies fairly steadily under the name Edmund Dantes–the latest one being “Drillbit Taylor.” [/QUOTE] He’s only credited with the story, not the screenplay. From what I remember hearing, he had apparently come up with the basic idea at some point in the past. Seth Rogen heard about it and asked him if he could make it into a movie. So it’s really not fair to blame him for any failings of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/24 "2008-08-18T15:55:44Z")
He’s one of the icon of the 80s, as far as teenage angst and all out clever comedy goes. C’mon, movies like Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink? Perfection. Then you have Vacation and Christmas Vacation, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Glorious comedies. Over the top, but you can’t dismiss the heart he’s able to put in his films. I love his direction too. Even his freeze frames at the end. Also, didn’t he invent the whole little gag-after-the-credits thing too? Shit, even movies like Weird Science and Mr. Mom where a blast. I just think he’s lost his connection with the 80s generation, and plain ran out of good ideas for adult-ish comedies. Too bad, that guy has a keen sense of humor, and knew how to use his actors to get the most from them. What? You’re still here? Well, go on… the reply’s over. You can go now… Go on… _chick-chicka-chickaaaa_ ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/25 "2008-08-18T23:46:45Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] When I say Hughes gets a pass, it’s mainly for [this series of scenes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MZWrEfB_VM). [/QUOTE] I \ I have something in my eye. ---
**Author:** ![Redsland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9de0a6/32.png) [@Redsland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redsland)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/26 "2008-08-20T13:22:19Z")
Quite by coincidence someone sent me [this link](http://www.all-story.com/issues.cgi?action=show_story&story_id=389) today, which doesn’t answer the question of whatever happened to him, but it is his tale of how got into show business and wrote _Vacation_. Some may enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/27 "2008-08-20T13:50:01Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Anyone see what Curly Sue looks like these days? Yowzer. Hughes gets a pass. [/QUOTE] Yes. I went to high school with Alisan Porter. A real stuck up bitch in real life, who had an attitude that starring in one movie (and being a character on PeeWee’s Playhouse) made her superior to anyone else in our drama club. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/28 "2008-08-20T14:50:15Z")
I primarily remember Hughes for his work in the **National Lampoon**. He was involved in the brilliant **Sunday Newspaper Parody** , wrote the story that was adapted to **National Lampoon’s Vacation** , and the exceedingly bizarre “My Penis” and its semi-sequel, “[My Vagina](http://nationallampoon.com/nl/02_fb/myvag/02_sbmyvag.asp).” His movies are OK, but nowhere near as good. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/29 "2008-08-20T18:08:41Z")
John Hughes is a recluse. It’s as simple as that. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/30 "2008-08-21T05:30:03Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] I primarily remember Hughes for his work in the **National Lampoon**. He was involved in the brilliant **Sunday Newspaper Parody** , wrote the story that was adapted to **National Lampoon’s Vacation** , and the exceedingly bizarre “My Penis” and its semi-sequel, “[My Vagina](http://nationallampoon.com/nl/02_fb/myvag/02_sbmyvag.asp).” His movies are OK, but nowhere near as good. [/QUOTE] Holy cow, I read those two stories in some book I was perusing at the library or bookstore years ago… but I had no idea the author was THAT John Hughes. “Exceedingly bizarre” just about covers it, that’s for sure. Pretty thought-provoking though. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/31 "2008-08-21T12:39:52Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] Holy cow, I read those two stories in some book I was perusing at the library or bookstore years ago… but I had no idea the author was THAT John Hughes. “Exceedingly bizarre” just about covers it, that’s for sure. Pretty thought-provoking though. [/QUOTE] They do say some interesting things about the differences between the sexes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/32 "2008-08-21T18:09:18Z")
I read this thread as “What happened to John Holmes,” which has an entirely different answer. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/33 "2008-08-21T18:55:29Z")
[QUOTE=fusoya] Yes. I went to high school with Alisan Porter. A real stuck up bitch in real life, who had an attitude that starring in one movie (and being a character on PeeWee’s Playhouse) made her superior to anyone else in our drama club. [/QUOTE] But…she’s hot. That still counts for something in **my** America, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/34 "2008-08-21T19:22:02Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] I primarily remember Hughes for his work in the **National Lampoon**. He was involved in the brilliant **Sunday Newspaper Parody** , … [/QUOTE] Do you mean “The _Dacron Republican-Democrat_, One of America’s Newspapers?” My God, that was hilarious! I think I still have my copy. I’ll have to hunt it up. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/35 "2008-08-21T19:47:19Z")
[QUOTE=Labdad] Do you mean “The _Dacron Republican-Democrat_, One of America’s Newspapers?” My God, that was hilarious! I think I still have my copy. I’ll have to hunt it up. [/QUOTE] I recently reread it – they’d done a book version a few years ago. Saves wear and tear on my newsprint copy. Just as funny as ever. One of the best parts is noticing the connections between news articles and ads. For instance, there was an article on poisoned canned hash, and in one of the ads, the grocery is selling canned hash really cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/36 "2008-08-21T20:23:11Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] See, this is what I was thinking, which just condemns him further, IMO. He’s not in it because he loves directing; as soon as he had enough money to stop, he did. Now there’s a dedicated artist. [/QUOTE] Going by that standard, he appears to be more dedicated than, say, J.D. Salinger, or Harper Lee. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199/37 "2008-08-21T23:58:57Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Going by that standard, he appears to be more dedicated than, say, J.D. Salinger, or Harper Lee. [/QUOTE] True, taken out of context. But as part of the larger picture, it’s easier to imagine different motivations for such a decision. I don’t see Harper Lee sitting on a pile of royalties and chortling, and Salinger might be a little too crazy to conform to standard predictions of rational behavior. But in the context of Hughes’s ouevre, it’s not difficult to imagine someone whose work was so mind-numbingly commercial in the first place, being just that much more commercial than your average hack. Still, it’s obviously speculation and open to debate. But not to proof. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-john-hughes/460199.md?page=1)