This was what high school in the 80s was like...

Rating: 8/10 (9 January 2002)

It blows me away when I read the nasty comments about this movie. From what I remember when I first saw it, it hit home in a number of areas for me -- as it did for plenty of teens that I knew. Remember, this was a HUGE hit back in '85 and that was because kids related. This wasn't just another teen romance -- it actually attempted to dig deeper into the crud we knew as high school cliques.
Don't get me wrong, it has it's shallow moments and I cringe when I watch chunks of it but that's because I couldn't stand being a teenager. Who on earth did? Think about it... each cliche in the movie existed somewhere in your high school in some relatable form. John Hughes knew what he was doing when he took a person from every major clique in high school and said, "What would happen if you put them all in a locked up room together for a Saturday afternoon?" He succeeded somewhat. Each clique member eventually revealed that they were a person underneath the label. That was the whole point of the movie.
As for where Hughes got his inspirations and writings, it was very simple: he talked to teenagers and plenty of them. Sure, he didn't capture it entirely, but he got pretty close. I remember watching this with friends and my mother saying that high school wasn't anything like that and all of us replying: "Yes, it is." I remember my local church posting a bulletin that they were playing it for the kids that attended that evening (despite the language) because it had a good lesson. I remember that it made such an impact on my high school that they actually performed it onstage in a play. Why? That's because John Hughes somehow captured underneath the unbelievable crashing windows and ceilings collapsing how crappy it is to be a teenager.
Still think it's a bad movie? Or did you possibly want to forget how much you hated high school? Think about it.