Movie Analysis Assignment: The Breakfast Club

Movie Analysis Assignment: The Breakfast Club
Assignment Due: July 17, 2012











Sociology of Youth and Youth Cultures




Summary

Five high school students, Andy, Brian, Claire, John, and Allison are sentenced to detention and are forced to spend their Saturday in the school library.   This unlikely group of teenagers are thrown together and forced to write an essay.   The essay is supposed to be about what each individual thinks he or she is.
In this movie, all the social groups are represented.   Claire is the pretty popular girl.   John is the high school jock.   Brian is a nerd.   Allison is the girl nobody notices and Andy is a highly sensitive bad boy.
Throughout the course of the day, these teenagers, who couldn’t be more different, begin communicating to each other and discover that they have a lot in common.   By the end of the day, they become friends and learn a lot about themselves, each other, and life in general.   In the end Brian writes a single essay that expresses all of their thoughts.

Let me begin by saying that I liked this film.   I’m glad we had the opportunity to view the entire movie.   Until now, I did not realize why or how this movie became such a classic.   A classic movie for me is Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark.
      How can a movie, centered around five typical teenagers, still resonate such a strong message after 27 years?   After analyzing the plot and outcome of this story, I realized the Breakfast Club represented nearly every teenager in America.   I use the term “nearly” because there are a few social cliques not represented by these five teens.   For example, gays, lesbians, and minorities are not present in this film.
      If this movie was remade today, the cast would need a different look in order to be successful at the box office.   First of all, it would need an openly gay individual similar to Clay Aiken.
      His views and lifestyle would reach millions of teens as the movie could...