40 Years Later, 'The Breakfast Club's' Social Commentary Still Rings True

Film review by Zaine Ahmed (Grade 10)

The Breakfast Club (1985) is an incredible social commentary about the hidden issues we all face, tackling themes of social inequality, anti-stereotypes, and the secret double lives we all live. Set in a mid-1980s Saturday school detention, the five main characters—who all lead drastically differing lives—are shoved together to bond after getting into miscellaneous trouble with the school. 

The story leads them to slowly bond, culminating in one final act where they showcase their affinity before promptly heading their separate ways. This movie really was dictated by the social norms of the time, where the stereotypical “Jock,” “Nerd,” and “Popular girl” really did exist. These stereotypes are explored and stretched to their very limits in this movie, where we truly explore what makes someone something at all. What is the difference between Allison and Claire? What is the difference between Bender and the Jock [Emilio Estevez]?

Honestly, this movie holds up well, even considering that in the world of the internet and the smartphone, there are no real set stereotypes anymore—at least not in this school setting. Because of the ease of instant communication, these differences aren’t so cut and dry, black and white anymore; they’re more like a spectrum. 

However, it is interesting to see how incredibly well the stories from this film hold up in the modern day. As someone who has been to a public school—albeit not for long—these stories are honestly the norm: people so worried about the numbers, people being pushed to athletic “perfection” by parents, and the people that gave up on it all because of a lack of support or even the ones who snapped when stretched. 

The main aspect of the movie—the social commentary—is unfortunately just as real nowadays as it was 40 years ago. In contrast, however, the authority figures (teachers) are a lot better nowadays. Teachers are much more patient, kinder, more helpful, and don’t put people into little boxes as much. 

This movie was phenomenal. I loved the camera work—eye-level and low-angle shots—that especially built on the subconscious “social power” ideas. I really liked the music choices—the detention dance scene is a banger—as well as the more subtle, suspenseful music helping the story along. The acting was amazing, making me truly feel for the characters, letting me put myself into their shoes and almost live their lives while watching the screen. I think some of the subtle but deliberate choices like having the characters sometimes avert their eyes and change subtle body language expressions really helped us notice the characters and their experiences. But for the main part, the character growth was really incredible. 

The director, John Hughes really had his vision shine through: of a group of outcasts coming together and bonding, of people from every different sect finding like-experienced people, and all by chance. I thought a lot of the themes and topics really pulled through and led together into a cohesive and concise whole, and that’s what directing is all about.

The themes that this movie talks about really are powerful and definitely still around today. The main idea of stereotypes, hidden problems, as well as the double lives are honestly more prominent today than they would have been 40 years ago. With the creation of the internet, anyone can lead a myriad of different lives, all from the comfort of their own home. Things like cyberbullying, online sexual harassment, and the “culture” of certain websites and corners of the internet can all affect us in ways immeasurable in The Breakfast Club’s time. 

Certainly, the motif is more and more prominent every day that passes. I really liked the quote, “We’re all pretty bizarre, some of us are just better at hiding it,” in the movie; it really summarizes life. We all have skeletons in our closets, and they all gleam white out of the darkness at us. These secrets gnaw at us all equally; whether they’re seen in public or not is up to the beholder. Sure, some are bigger than others, but we all have things we wouldn’t want others to see. 

As well as this theme, I really liked how they talked about peer pressure and social conformity. In the monologue where they all sit down, it is incredible how powerful the message is that they wouldn’t admit to being seen in public with each other. Only Allison and Brian would be proud, and that’s due to the fact that the three others all have drastically more “prestige”—so to speak, than them. It's incredible how the institution shoves these people together and breaks them apart, all in the span of 12 hours, while simultaneously telling each and every one of them that they’re all useless in their own ways. 

Finally, this is especially shown in the ending scene where Allison gets liked, praised, and a boyfriend. This only happens when she switches up her appearance to a more socially conventional one; she only gets social success when she conforms, and before that, she was held as a lying weirdo. However, once she puts on some makeup, she’s “pretty” and all else can be forgiven. These motifs really do say a lot about life, not just back then, but in general—even if a tad nihilistic. 

All in all, The Breakfast Club is a phenomenal movie, using all of its aspects deliberately and purposefully to achieve a cohesive whole that tells the story of enemies thrown together into a melting pot, just to find out that they actually combine and mesh together quite well. 

To me, it’s sort of reminiscent of the 1914 Christmas Truce, where former enemies joined together to play football, united as humans, not Germans or English, just empaths. The story, however, wrests us away from this fantasy with the grim reality that suits kill people and tear things down, not people, with the brutal reality check of their harsh situations, ending with a bittersweet note of conformity getting them places and prestige.