Chiasmus cult cinema trailers - "The Breakfast Club" (1985). *These will be ongoing posts, courtesy of the A.Glass DVD collection. As I offer via Chiasmus Cult trailers, my summarized overviews*

The one Generation X coming of age movie that encompasses the teenage angst of the mid 1980s with finesse, would be John Hughes's; "The Breakfast Club" (1985).  Simple in its premise, yet crafted with perfect sincerity, assisted by a cast of young actors, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy, nearly 40 years ago.  Within that mid point of the 1980s, five years before the 1990s when we all became serious 20 year olds, despite the cast at the time were between the ages of 17 and 23 when production began in 1985.  They very much reflected what it was like growing up in the 1980s as teenages, showcasing our differences and similarities, without the use of mobile phones, in an honesty which is still relevant today, yet hasn't been matched since, as far as the teenage movie genre has been of the last forty years.

Director, and writer of the screenplay for "The Breakfast Club" John Hughes, with a budget of just One million, created a stage play esque performance, shot on film, with the young cast of actors, who all have to attend a Saturday detention at their High School, the fictional Shermer High School, within the fictional town of Shermer, Illinois.  Confining them all to a full day's Saturday detention, supervised by the vice principal "Richard Vernon" played by the late Paul Gleason as an agressive, power tripping and ultimately just as flawed as the wayward high school students, who he insults and bullies over the course of their detention.

The plot, as mentioned, is simple, with each of the students asked to write a Thousand word essay on who they are, with "John Bender" (Judd Nelson), the central character, written off by Vernon as a criminal no hoper, who will eventually end up being incarcerated.  Reacting to his stigmatised personification by Vernon, Nelson's character decides to cause havoc, whilst unsettling the other students, particularly "Claire Standish" (Molly Ringwald), the preemed 'rich girl', who all eventually begin to show comardmanship with Bender and each other, as they start to reveal the flaws, hopes and dreams to one and other.  With Standish and Bender, falling in love, that normally wouldn't have occurred, if it as not for the confined space of Saturday detection.  Also noted is the jock, "Andrew Clark", played by Emilio Estevez, (watch for the scene when he smokes some of Bender's 'weed' and goes bonkers in a fun, youthful 1980s kinda way.  Was it really marijuana?), who falls for the, and yes we all remember one of these oddball girl's at high school, the adorable, gothy, punk "Ally Sheedy" (Allison Reynolds), who wants a boy to find her attractive, and accept her for who she is, but eventually gets a makeover at the end of the movie, via Claire.  And yes, the jock and the eccentric punk girl, do kiss.  Finally, towards the conclusion of the movie, is the nerdy "Brian Johnson" played by Anthony Michael Hall, who was only 17 in the role, and plays in someway, the more fitting character of "The Breakfast Club" cast, actually does complete the required essay, by saying, as poignant subtext of the movie:

"Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you’re crazy for making us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us… In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal… Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club."

"The Breakfast Club" is a Gen X nostalgia trip, so dust off the DVD, and enjoy it as a reminder of what you were doing in 1985, whilst watching the movie.  I know what I was doing, and it was awesome.

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(A.Glass 2025)

All CHIAMUS Cult Cinema trailers/commentary to date: chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/search/label/Chiasmus%20cult%20cinema