Deserved success

One song defines The Breakfast Club:"Don't You (Forget About Me)",by Simple Minds.One the one hand,the song is about a guy hitting on a girl.But,in the context of the movie,the "Don't you forget about me"chorus seems addressed to the baby boomers,the parents and the film's Gen X audience.

It's saying:Hey, you might be a self-involved bunch of rich '80s baby boomers,but can't you spare a thought for these Gen X misfits?As the lyrics read:"Will you stand above me? / Look my way,never love me / Rain keeps falling,rain keeps falling / Down,down,down."

The song was actually written specifically for The Breakfast Club by a movie composer,Keith Forsey, who also did a bunch of instrumental tracks for the movie,along with a guitarist named Steve Schiff.It was then taken to the band, Simple Minds, who covered it for the final soundtrack—making it a number-one hit in the process.It's the song playing when Bender pumps his fist in triumph at the end of the movie,highlighting the lessons they've learned and the fact that they can't forget about each other if they want to hang on to those lessons. 

Forsey had a long and pretty awesome career as a movie composer and music producer. He produced a bunch of successful Billy Idol albums,won an Oscar for the song "Flashdance… What a Feeling" from Flashdance and wrote songs for the soundtracks to Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills Cop. 

Basically,this guy was in the thick of '80s music (source: www.shmoop.com)

Five high school students,all different stereotypes,meet in detention,where they pour their hearts out to each other and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought.Let’s be honest,if the 5 Breakfast Club students were a sentence,four would be nouns and adjectives and John Bender would be the verb — the “action word.”His aggressive attitude raises the blood pressure of their babysitting adult supervision,turns their wide open door into a privately closed one,instigates the arguments,sends everyone high on a Cloud 9 of marijuana and creates a domino effect of brutal honesty.

John:"Screws fall out all the time,the world is an imperfect place".

But underneath Bender’s anarchy is an aching adolescent,self-aware of his roughneck reputation that prevents any projection of vulnerability.John Bender fights off urges to laugh or relate as much as he fights his peers and authority figures.But deep,deep,deep down,Bender wants acceptance,as any teenager craves.Whether Bender’s alienation is self-imposed or is enforced by other outside “cool kid” hierarchies,Bender is too proud to admit it bothers him.

Claire,the wealthy popular princess,is socially the polar opposite of John Bender’s abusive domestic doomsday experience.She represents everything in life that he feels he has been cheated out of.Claire’s diamond earrings,fancy sushi lunch and her father’s BMW chariot are all targets for the fiercest effects of his rage,almost guilt-tripping her into asking him out on a date.

Bender’s extremely gradual hidden attraction to Claire is the most precious buried treasure glistening underneath the gymnasium floor of The Breakfast Club.Their parents are in contrasting economic brackets.Their friends would irritate each other at first glance.Also,Bender’s “been there done all of that” demeanor is explicitly beyond Claire’s Disney World virginity.

But they could each offer a view into unexplored territory that their home lives have prevented them from being privy to.Bender’s projection of his own pain with his hurtful predictions of Claire growing up to be obese and his invented conclusions that they could never be friends reveals the social landmines he is detonating to kill their connection before Claire has the chance to potentially deny his desires for a relationship.

John:"You know how you said before,how your parents use you to get back at each other?Wouldn’t I be outstanding in that capacity?"

Could Claire’s curious kisses create a revival in Bender’s self-esteem and hopes for his constantly damned future?Bender is a teen-aged self-fulfilling prophecy of every time he was told he had no value.Instead of pouring more petroleum on his blazing bitterness, Claire ultimately “attracts more bees with honey” and Bender lets down his guard long enough to turn it into a victorious fist in the sky.Detention becomes redemption.

For his pent-up pain,his cry-for-help rage and his need to be introduced to the healing power of love — John Bender is a gr8t character in the incredible cannon of John Hughes teenagers.

[...]Almost all movies pose this question in some variation or another:"Who are you?"For adolescents,this is perhaps the most important dynamic at work in their lives,touching everything from personal appearance to sense of self to perception of their future.Hughes knew this.The Breakfast Club takes five types,puts them into a contained environment — it’s almost more like a play than a movie — and delves into each,Hughes doing so with courage,humor and honesty.

Any fans? Why not stop by comments and share your memories of seeing The Breakfast Club for the first time?

And a special music treat:“Don’t You Forget About Me”,by Simple Minds accompanied by a nice compilation of visuals from the movie. (Scott Myers, https://gointothestory.blcklst.com)