High school, a term that makes some people excited and other people apprehensive. A place where dreams are started and ideas are created. A place where pressure is overwhelming and fitting in seems impossible. High school, the mixing pot of socially awkward, angsty, rebelling teenagers. Movies and books nowadays try to portray high school as the best four years of our lives. The place where you find yourself, gain tons of life long friends, fall in love, and run away to marry your high school sweetheart. In reality, high school is a mix of wonderful and horrible adventures. In the 1985 film "The Breakfast Club," written and directed by John Hughes, the comical and dreadful sides of high school are depicted seamlessly when five teens from different "groups" come together for one day in detention. Hughes uncovers some of the toughest but most common high school complications that often get overlooked in modern media such as adolescent development, family problems, peer pressure, and stereotypes.
A traditional Hughes theme can be perceived throughout the entire movie, that is the intolerance and foolishness of adults. This theme can been seen through the foul teacher who uses his power against the students and the children's dread of possibly becoming like their parents. At the beginning of The Breakfast Club the quote ". 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." by David Bowie appears on the screen. This quote really sets the mood for the hatred of adults by the students in this movie. Adults know that a human body goes through a lot of changes during the teenage years, but they often forget that the brain is also experiencing changes. During the teenage years the brain is fragile, every thought the brain constructs affects its process of trying to advance itself to adulthood.