A Child of the 80s Mourns John Hughes
Jennifer White Last August, iconic 80s film legend, John Hughes passed away after a heart attack while walking in NYC. This is a tragic loss for me. Now, don't get me wrong. I was upset when Walter Cronkite died. MJ, Farrah, they were all icons in their fields. Just as I was upset in the 90s, when it was Kurt Cobain, Chris Farley, and Phil Hartman.
Losing John Hughes is like losing part of my childhood. Let's face it, I am a product of the 80s. I had the teased, mall - rat hair with big bangs, the ever so chic off the shoulder sweaters, with the big belts, layers of socks and "bo -bo's." TGIF on Friday nights was awesome and growing up I so desperately wanted to be one of the girls from Saved By The Bell. That was until I was old enough to be introduced to the Brat Pack.
Just days before Hughes death, I took one of those FB quizzes - which member of the brat pack are you? - I came out as the Basketcase - Ally Sheedy's character in the Breakfast Club . She was probably my favorite character in the movie, well besides Judd Nelson, because he was the rebel. One of my co-worker's saw that post and she agreed with it to a point. I was actually happy about this, not that FB labeled me a Basketcase, but that I was that character. I could sympathize with her, just like I did with Molly in 16 Candles , or the geeks in Weird Science, Ducky in Pretty in Pink (The scene in the record store - my favorite). I was those kids. The outcast, the outsider, the forgotten one, the one who yearned for her best friend, the one who wanted that guy she could never have. It didn't matter that the movies were made years before I could read or write, they were iconic.Years later, teaching kids that are the age I was when I discovered the Brat Pack, I still get a twinkle in my eye when they know the movie.
However, let's not forget John Hughes' other great hits - Uncle Buck; Planes, Trains, & Automobiles; The Home Alones, She's Having a Baby (with a baby faced Kevin Bacon himself); The Great Outdoors, Some Kind of Wonderful; Mr. Mom (who can forget the Woobie) and probably the most iconic, non brat pack movie ever - Ferris Bueller's Day Off . This is a movie that is quoted around the world. Everyone knows Cameron, Sloan, Jennifer Grey's turn as the bratty sister, the principal....Abe Froman - Sausage King of Chicago...and not to mention such mediocres as Dutch, Curly Sue , and the Beethoven series.
Not only has the world lost the J.D. Salinger of the Hollywood World, but I have lost part of my childhood, the essence of what it mean to be a child of the 80s. I will be a little sadder now when I see those movies, but even more when I hear the song "Dont You Forget About Me."
Here is some wisdom a la John Hughes
1. You can cry and not feel sad, just like you can feel sad and not cry. - Curly Sue
2. And in the end, I realized that I took more than I gave, I was trusted more than I trusted, and I was loved more than I loved. And what I was looking for was not to be found but to be made. - She's Having a Baby
3.We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all. - Breakfast Club
4. 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 to make 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.
5. Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it - Ferris Bueller's Day Off
And that's all....*Walks away with back towards the computer screen and one arm pumps into the air (freeze frame) roll credits*
Reader Comments (3)
I enjoyed the post, especially the quotes at the end. Did Hughes do "Pretty in Pink"? Duckie was one of the most complex characters I remember from my youth. Even when I heard of his death, I didn't realize how many movies he had done that were part of my cultural upbringing.
Hughes' universe was one that if a million things went wrong in the first hour and a half, everything would be made right in the last five minutes. It was a comforting universe to grow up in because it held the ultimate tenant that good wins, order restored.
Hughes also celebrated the unique personality, the non-conformist in the total conforming 80's and 90's suburbs. Somehow the saving soul of those perfect places, mostly outside of Chicago, was the odd ball, the dreamer, who everyone would know one day would move away and never come back. The suburb's conformity would eventually squeeze them out.
I think this is a good time of year to think of those fun and perfect teen movies that celebrated youth, rebellion, and freedom that one associates with that time of life in our nostalgic minds. Hughes knew the reality just as we do of the turbulence that comes with being a teen regardless of the generation. But somehow his optimistic focus gave and gives us joy looking backward.
His movies will be classics long into the next century and your eulogy for him is well deserved and appreciated.
Thanks for the lunch.
Hard to believe that John Hughes is dead. He helped define the 1980s. I love the Breakfast Club. The characters in the movie can be described as "archetypes" of the 1980s. Yes, they are over-generalizations of the various social types, but in order to have a movie that's both enlightening and accessible to the masses, you gotta make it pretty cut n' dry. Hard to believe he's dead...
One of the great things about his movies was the sense that culture places a label on you very early on which limits who you are, out of necessity. But you still are obligated to locate your sense of self, which, in his movies, always turns out beautiful. I always identify with Ferris' friend Cameron, who cannot get out of bed. Yet Cameron's beloved friend gets him out anyway. Ferris reminds us (with or without quoting Oscar Wilde directly, I forget) that life is too important to be taken seriously.