The White 80's Personified

Rating: 10/10 (11 December 2009)

If you are white and went to junior-high or highschool during the 80's, this movie is for you.
The reason I mention being "white" is that the 80's were different for people of color (which I am not, and therefore, cannot identify with the challenges). But to the average white American, The Breakfast Club was truly a coming-of-age movie.
The late John Hughes served up a masterpiece film about what it was like to be in junior-high and high school during the 80's in a way that nearly everyone could identify with.
At my school there were the "Freaks", the "Soshes", the "Jocks", the "Losers", and the "Nerds". Each of Hughes' characters represent one of the group at my school: Esteves ("Andrew Clark") for the Jocks. Ringwald ("Claire Standish") for the Soches. Sheddy ("Alison Reynolds") for the Freaks. Nelson ("John Bender") for the Losers. Hall ("Brian Johnson") for the Nerds.
I saw the movie in the theater when it came out, and later on VHS at several social functions with my peers. Each time, the result was the same: some people embarrassed by being exposed as the frauds they were, some people lionized by vindication, some people weeping by acknowledging the unpopular roles they played.
The Breakfast Club is a perfect representation of the microcosm of 80's students, the utter BS of 80's school administrators, and the very real issues of saving face within social class distinction.
The issues presented in The Breakfast Club are as relevant today as they were in the 80's.