When in school, we tend to act differently from what we wanted to be. Whether that’s by our parents’ inclusion, our friends, or even our own thoughts, we either rebel from it, revel in it, or get swallowed up by it. Where does the value in who we are lie? Is it our grades, how many friends we gain, how good we are at sports? Or does it happen in our exclusion, by ignoring everything and everyone, or pretending to act as though everything is fine? No-one is perfect and no-one is what they say they are. But that’s the beauty in being an individual.
This is Two Takes and this is One Shot. An analysis of Breakfast Club.
High School Shouldn’t Define You
There’s moments in all of our teenage years where a little white lie is acceptable. It makes us more interesting. And with The Breakfast Club, there is no exception to that rule. They might mock each other, ignore each other, feel superior to each other, but everyone lies. They lie about their virginity’s, what they drink, how they feel about their situations and more. And it’s only through each other’s momentary lapse of judgement do they actually believe them. It’s sweet when the walls tumble down to reveal their soft centres. Everyone wants to be accepted, at least a little, and we can see this with each of them. Whether slowly, loudly or nonchalantly. This acceptance seems like a big problem for the characters, since they are in the middle of it all, which we will analyse later on. But what I find interesting is the inclusion of Carl the janitor in the midst of the characters figuring things out.
Carl, even though he was presented as ‘Man of The Year’ for a brief second, strolls through the library with music in tow. It’s interesting to involve this character, even for a brief moment as this shows much more than we realise. It emphasises the embodiment of the whole high school experience. You might be someone in high school, but afterward, you are on your own. So, even though Carl was ‘Man of the Year’, it doesn’t mean anything in the outside world. His job, also, doesn’t define who he is, and this can be presented in how Carl talks about it. Like he said himself
‘I am the eyes and ears of this institution, my friends’
Carl, The Janitor from The Breakfast Club
which, in my opinion, makes the characters in detention respect him more. He is thinking outside of what he is, what he can do. And this brings forth a new perspective of how unimportant high school is in the whole grand scheme of one’s life. High school is temporary, a stopgap to get you to where you go, whilst hopefully learning lessons along the way, but what Carl is meant to present is that high school doesn’t represent who you are, or who you are going to be.
They’re Just Being Teenagers
The scenes in this film, although of course funny, witty and fascinating in their dialogue, are quite quick compared to various film from different eras that drag a scene out. I suspect it’s because of the fact that when in school, the conversations, the time spent with friends, it can go by so fast; the emotions, like the scene when Andy and Brian tells them why they got detention, suddenly has the next scene be them all dancing to some awesome music. It’s a perfect blend of heartfelt emotion in seriousness, then suddenly in freedom. Scenes like the dance scene and the weed scene present moments in which the boundaries of their stereotypes are broken and taken away. They are just teenagers, doing teenage things. And it is here, where are can somewhat analyse them. So let’s begin.
The Lone Wolves
An interesting note would be that after watching this film far more times that I would like to admit, I found that John never puts Alison down, as he does with the others. It might be because they never really interact with each other, but I feel lies more on the fact that they are both outcasts, both with families that don’t really want them around. In a strange way, in their small actions, they might even be protective of each other. Moments like when John says
‘She doesn’t talk, sir’
John Bender from The Breakfast Club
and when Alison slides into frame to take the knife away from an irritated John, shows some promise of minor protectiveness simply because their stereotype portrays them like outcasts, like lone wolves. Form a pack, and we have a different story.
They are lone wolves, Alison and John, placing their focus on positioning walls around themselves, whether that’s by antagonising those around them to get attention (John), or a ‘don’t come near me’ attitude like Alison, when we can clearly see, eventually in the film anyway, that they really want to lower it. John wants to see people more than what they represent, and Alison wants to let people in. I guess, it’s just difficult if someone’s already labelled you as something different to what you wanted to be. And it’s here and with these two characters, they just go with what they have been labelled and use it as their barrier. It’s not who they are, but why would anyone want to see something different?
Breaking Out
It can be the same with Andrew and Claire, always in the limelight of their parents’ concentration, whether its a use of a buffer from their problems or a comparison to their past failures, it’s here that we realise, in their moments of being upset, that they are not living the perfect life after all. Whether they got diamonds earrings for Christmas whilst others only got cigarettes, it is here that we see Claire break down and show that she can be kind to those around her, whatever their background. It is here that we see her reveal that she hates going along with what her friends say, and that even though she is popular, she’s actually unhappy about the pressure of it all.
The most fascinating thing is her perception of what is allowed and what isn’t, like when she was asked what would happen on Monday, she gave the truth and was shouted at for it. Claire knows the reality of the situation, and is still somewhat scared about the outcomes of making friends outside of her own group. However, with the ending of Claire kissing John and giving him one of her diamond earrings, there might be hope yet, even in the pursuit of using each other to piss their parents’ off. And Claire takes full advantage of this, trying to shake off her ‘pristine girl’ image that other’s have placed on her. She wants to be a little bad, and that’s okay.
Andrew, on the other hand, is in his father’s shadow, almost wishing for his knee to give out so he could be less in the spotlight. His father reminds me of people who press their dreams on their children because they couldn’t amount to it in their lifetime. And because of this constant control over everything, Alison points out that he cannot think for himself, which is sadly true. But he does, in small moments, he can. And that is what is so interesting. With Alison, especially, he suddenly spurts thoughtful and endearing things in moments of reflection, whether that’s for himself or for others, and this is a good thing. In many films, athletes or jocks are always perceived as dumb or thoughtless, or even mean. But Andrew is not. There is hope of him enduring this suffocating atmosphere and then some. At the end, we see him completely smitten with Alison (and I feel it’s not just the make over, it’s more than that), understanding that there are some things he can take control over without his parents, like his heart.
Building It Back Up
Brian, seemingly in the middle of the group in many aspects, isn’t afraid to speak his mind, although he is the one that was extreme in his reactions when it comes to extreme pressure, like with the flare gun in his locker that was meant for more. Compared to Claire who has to hide almost her entire personality, Brian has to present himself on a pedestal for his parents who want him to be a model student. They are not interested in his personality, just the outcome of his actions. They don’t accept anything less than perfection, and it’s here that even with his grade point average of being a B (which I think its fantastic in itself), this isn’t good enough. There is less pressure outside of his home environment, but for a teenager, home is mostly where someone might decompress. Brian has adapted well, especially to insults or sarcastic remarks, and although at the beginning, it can look like he is intimidated by John, in the end, Brian was just calculating the best course of action.
Again, like Andrew could have been presented, Brian, the brain, could have been tailored to be extremely nerdy, scared and perhaps even mean in some comparisons. But in this film, like the rest of the characters, he is portrayed like a teenager with his own problems to deal with, and it is here that Brian could have ended his life over the pressure of grades. When he realises that it’s okay to laugh about it, and actually is the second character after Claire to run after John when he wants to smoke, Brian can finally let go. He can decompress with friends and that is why he is the one that brings up about being friends on Monday. Because for him, this is important.
More Than What You Represent
John Bender is a fascinating character; he seems to bring the group together in the most unorthodox of ways. Breaking the silence, breaking the stereotypes of each person and rising to the occasion when it comes to fighting against accusations, insults or even teachers. He mocks those around them because, like everyone else with each other, they have already placed each other in these boxes, these vacancies that they can’t seem to shake out of, even Bender himself, it seems. When people place him under the stance of a criminal, all he can do is rise to the occasion But what is interesting when observing his character is his motives behind things. He mocks people without actually insulting them, asking them questions that are so direct that it can almost sting, and then reacts to them being like their parents, or their chosen label. He says he’s trying to help, and in a weird way, he actually is.
John Bender is the only one that isn’t afraid to show who he really is, and this can be seen in the scene when John mocks Brian’s house, and Andrew demands to know about John’s house. This broken home scenario isn’t believed until John shows the scars. And it is here we realise that John is who he says he is. And his problems are harder to control, with the abuse torrenting from his family to him, with John only being able to react to things around him, perhaps even hoping that everyone is more than what they are representing. Because there’s nothing worse than realising that there is only one side to someone. People are complex, after all, and that is what makes them interesting.
And with Andrew, he mocks him saying he wants to be just like him
‘all I need is a lobotomy and some tights‘
John Bender from The Breakfast Club
blatantly hinting that Andrew is nothing more than what he represents. The same with Claire,
that’s a fat girl’s name’
John Bender
assuming that being the popular girl, she will find someone to settle down with quite quickly, make a family and gain loads of weight. And again with Brian, saying his a parent’s wet dream, when really that isn’t the case. After many scenes when John can understand that they do have problems that take away who they really are or want to be, John happens to sit quickly and listen to them. He takes what they say in, and actually emphasises with them,
‘my old man and your old man should get together and go bowling’
John Bender
But what I like most about John is that he not just some mean guy who is mysterious in his anger issues; when faced with the potential of actually being able to punch Mr. Vernon, John doesn’t rise to the challenge because we all know that’s a really stupid thing to do. He is more than what he represents and he wishes that for others to. His anger is expressed through the hope of finding people to be more than what they seem.
Let The Right One In
Alison, the strange one in the group, the compulsive liar, is the only one that actually observes the group before she decides to participate. And even before this, her reactions, like laughing at Mr. Vernon or shouting ‘Ha’ at Claire when she’s having a little pity party, brings about a new way of thinking for the group. Like Brian, she isn’t afraid to say what she thinks, and like John, gets people to open up about things by placing herself in the scenario and making it worse, like having sex with her shrink when talking about sex in general. But even then, theres this way of thinking, of gaining favour by mocking Claire, and then going back and almost apologising by saying Claire was right in the first place and that Alison is a compulsive liar.
Alison is quick to place herself in the right crowd until it comes to hurting someone, and then Alison backs down and help those that have fallen. Even to the point of changing the conversation so that everyone could perhaps tell the group something they can do, making it all more grounded.
And although Alison doesn’t have any friends because of the way she thinks, I feel she is presenting herself in a way where she doesn’t let anyone in because of it being a defence mechanism, like John with his sarcasm. But we can see, in small moments, that Alison does want to let people in, and the moment that happens, her problems are all over the floor, much like her bag that has everything in it. And it’s Andrew, the one that apparently cannot think for himself, that goes to her and confronts her. And the beauty lies in them finding middle ground. And even though there has been controversy about her makeover at the end of the film, it was the act of the makeover from Claire, of Alison letting Claire get close enough to do it, that is the important part. Andrew was already looking at Alison way before anyway. And at the end, getting kissed by Andrew, with him not being able to take his eyes off of her, it seems like an interesting development that we can only predict the outcome of. What is important is their conversations.
Finding That Middle Ground
When the narrator sets the stage for each person to show up at detention, it’s interesting to notice that unconsciously, they are all seated in arrangement of how popular they are. Claire and Andy at the front, respectively, with Brian and John in the middle, and Alison dead last at the end. Eventually, and perhaps without us noticing, they intermingle and switch seats, to the point that, in the end, we find them all sitting in a row, unified in their equality.
Each character seems to find middle ground, connecting them all by their parents’ flaws or misgivings. Whether that be by control, anger, nonchalant back and forth, or through them ignoring their children, it defines each person that we can see through this Saturday detention. The objective that Mr. Vernon gives, an assigned written essay about who they think they are, boils down to each character realising that they are not their parents, and they are not their stereotype, their vacancy. They are all sides of each assigned high school stereotype and more. The beauty lies in the potential.
Potential beginnings, potential openings, potential friends, and the potential for more all awaiting them on Monday.
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