John Hughes is considered to be one of the great directors and producers of our time. With classic movies such as “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Christmas Vacation” and all three of the original “Home Alone” movies, Hughes has left a meaningful impact on pop culture.
One of Hughes’ common themes in many of his movies is adolescence, but how do the children and teens depicted in his movies compare to the teens of today?
One of Hughes’ more well-known movies about teenagers is “The Breakfast Club,” in which five teens are stuck at school on a Saturday to serve a detention. However, all five teens come from completely different backgrounds and have different personalities. This causes them to not get along and break out into arguments for a majority of the movie. Throughout the movie the students use their collective strengths to face several different challenges.
Although most characters were somewhat realistic of how teens act today, one stood out. John Bender played by Judd Nelson, was an interesting character. Bender was far too bold for his own good and got into trouble easily. Nelson’s portrayal of Bender was great as he created a character that seemed constantly on edge and ready to fight, yet still could be sympathized with. However, in most cases this is not a good portrayal of current teenagers, as most people aren’t quite as outrageous or bold as Bender was.
The rest of the cast did an amazing job of showing how awkward teens are. The actors of “The Breakfast Club” showed how unique and diverse teenagers can be. Hughes also did a good job of portraying the group as judgmental as it is difficult for most teenagers to get along well because of their opposing views and personalities. Hughes also recognized how teens can be creative yet lazy, as each of the students find different ways to avoid writing the essay they were assigned. One of the things that was great about the movie was the character development that the main group went through. Most of the characters changed in some way by the end of the movie because of the other members of the group. Overall Hughes does a great job of accurately portraying how most teenagers act, “The Breakfast Club” is one of the defining movies of its era and for good reason.
Another movie John Hughes is known for is “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” A story following young high schooler Ferris Bueller played by Matthew Broderick, who decides to skip school for the day. From tricking his principal, to leading a parade, Bueller and his two friends Cameron (Alan Ruck) and Sloane (Mia Sara) get into all sorts of trouble.
Although it is a fun movie to watch, it is not at all a realistic representation of the real world. The characters of this movie aren’t quite realistic either, with the prime example being Ferris Bueller who does anything he puts his mind to. Throughout the film, Bueller avoids consequences despite getting into trouble multiple times, although it makes for a good story it doesn’t seem realistic enough.
The actions that go on during this film would not occur in a real-life situation, but that’s part of the magic of this film. This movie is loved for its memorable scenes of Bueller and his friends escaping school to go enjoy their lives. Hughes does a great job of incorporating comedy into the movie which has made it into a classic. Matthew Broderick does a fantastic job playing Ferris Bueller, adding charm and confidence into the character. Altogether, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is an amazing movie and deserves the praise it has gotten.
John Hughes has written and directed in various genres of films, however in these two iconic movies he does pretty accurate portrayals of teenagers. Hughes shows in both of these stories how bold and fearless teens are, and how they will do anything to get out of class.
