To what extent do you agree?
...and these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds are immune to your consultations. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through... – David Bowie
David Bowie’s words above introduce the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club; they suggest the central themes explored about teenage issues. Hughes portrays five different sub cultural school groups: “the geek” – Brian Johnson; “the jock” – Andrew Clark; “the princess” – Claire Standish; “the criminal” – John Bender; and “the sensitive artistic type” – Alison Reynolds. The Breakfast Club deals with many issues which high school students are faced with over their high schooling years, such as peer pressure and parental expectations. Although this film was produced in 1985 it is a film which I feel from my own personal experiences, most teenagers are still able to relate to.
Everyone wants to be like, to fit in and to be part of a group. The five students identified in this film represent the whole student body. These students each belong to different peer groups which reflect on most schools in Australia. All the students in the film believe that they have a bad home life, so when they go to school they are able to belong to something which is stable, that being their peer group. In the movie this was the first way in which the characters tried to interact by sharing their beliefs on their home life.
Most schools reveal peer pressure. From what I have personally experienced this can make students change who they are, so that they are able to fit in with other students. Sometimes these students withdraw themselves, become anti social or feel that they have to be out spoken and make trouble for themselves. All of these characters types are conveyed in the film. In The Breakfast Club John Bender plays the role