The Breakfast Club is about five totally different strangers becoming friends with each other after realizing that their stereotypes shouldn't define who they are.

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2012)

The Breakfast Club has the theme that stereotyping is wrong and should be avoided even with one's self. The film starts out by introducing the five different teens as their label; the princess played by Molly Ringwald, the brain played by Anthony Hall, the criminal played by Judd Nelson, the basket case played by Ally Sheedy, and the athlete played by Emilio Estevez. As the movie progresses the viewer gets to know them as Allison (previously the basket case), Claire (beforehand the princess), Andrew (was the athlete), Brian (who was the brain), and John (which was the criminal).
The theme is shown by the changes made in the letter from the beginning of the movie to the one at the end of the movie. The first version just admits what was done to get them there was wrong, they thought the he was crazy to tell them to write an essay about themselves, and that he wouldn't care to read the essays anyways since he sees them as their stereotyped labels. The corrected version at the end doesn't have them admitting to having done anything wrong just that they deserve the detention and accept it, writing an essay about themselves is crazy, and he'll see them as he wants to under "the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions" which they each sign off as under their own label.
The other way it is shown is as each individual explains their home life. Each of them have the same problem, their parents don't understand them as their selves but as their labels. They further their realization of that as they realize they are just different is all. They each had something different as their lunch; with one of the having nothing, one having sushi, one having sugar on bread, one having a regular nutritious lunch, and one having tons to eat. Then they understand that in totality after seeing what each person carries around in either their purse or wallet.
This same theme is covered in a different way in the movie The Pregnancy Project. That film focused more on pregnant teens being stereotyped as having no future any more. However at the end the girl conduction the project realized the problem wasn't that the pregnant teens were treated different the problem was stereotyping and happened to more than just pregnant teens. She gives a presentation at the end to explain this, while this is explained only in the letter and their new friendships in The Breakfast Club.
Film elements and techniques added to the film to help get the theme across. One main way was the music and in specific the song ''Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds. The song's lyrics are very similar to the plot of the movie while the song is played at the beginning and picked up at the part that has the word la repeated in beat by John as he helps the others avoid getting in trouble by getting himself in trouble, the song then is repeated at the end of the film. Another way is how the film goes back and forth between the principal, Mr. Vernon played by Paul Gleason, and the 5 teenagers.
Overall the film covers how labels shouldn't be put on people. Everyone is different but their differences aren't given justice by labeling them. Stereotyping just causes problems. I feel that the movie was excellent and the acting was done excellent as well especially with the actress Ally Sheedy's playing Allison who at the beginning of the film was a funny character by the way she acted entirely different than the rest but over time starts talking and at the end changes her look all together with help of Claire. Definitely a movie worth watching again for either the theme or comedy it presents in the way they manage to aggravate Mr. Vernon.