British Comedy Guide

John Hughes RIP Page 11

Quote: Dolly Dagger @ August 6 2009, 10:37 PM BST

Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink were awful. They were awful at the time and they still are.

Amen to that. Bloody awful both then and now. I overheard some women asking for The Breakfast Club in a video shop a few years ago so she could show it to her kids. I thought about kicking her up the arse.

Quote: Griff @ August 7 2009, 12:26 AM BST

Dolly have you been drinking this evening? You're like a Generation X version of Bushbaby.

What on earth makes you think that. Whistling nnocently

Drink or not, I'd say those films were shit to be honest.

Well the '80s were great for me because I was a little kid. It may have been rubbish being a teenager, I guess.

Quote: zooo @ August 7 2009, 12:35 AM BST

Well the '80s were great for me because I was a little kid. It may have been rubbish being a teenager, I guess.

It was. We had rubiks cubes taped to our foreheads whilst we were made to run around the set of Cheggars Plays Pop in pixie boots, eating Findas Crispy Pancakes.

We had Duran Duran fed into out tiny brains via walkman's that turned us into gender benders and made us buy leg warmers by the kilo from Chelsea Girl. But at least we had Pretty in Pink to make us happy.

The point that is sometimes missed about The Breakfast Club is that it is, on occasion, a painfully accurate account of the psychology of being a teenager. They are all "misunderstood", all "complicated", all "intense" human beings. They all have bad relationships with their parents, they all feel superior to the adults, they all have massive egos and little self-insight. Pretty much all the worst attributes of teenagers.

The one exception is Brian, who is the "nerd" (or well-adjusted kid) who has to share a day with these immense pricks. If you watch the film from Brian's perspective it makes more sense. I remember being that kind of kid at school - not cool, generally hard working, always having to exist in the shadows of a bunch of selfish and self-induldgent prancing peacocks.

The point is to laugh at the kids in this film, not with them. And on some level I believe that's what John Hughes was doing. :)

Quote: Tim Walker @ August 7 2009, 12:40 AM BST

The point that is sometimes missed about The Breakfast Club is that it is, on occasion, a painfully accurate account of the psychology of being a teenager. They are all "misunderstood", all "complicated", all "intense" human beings. They all have bad relationships with their parents, they all feel superior to the adults, they all have massive egos and little self-insight. Pretty much all the worst attributes of teenagers.

The one exception is Brian, who is the "nerd" (or well-adjusted kid) who has to share a day with these immense pricks. If you watch the film from Brian's perspective it makes more sense. I remember being that kind of kid at school - not cool, generally hard-working, always having to exist in the shadows of a bunch of selfish and self-induldgent prancing peacocks.

The point is to laugh at the kids in this film, not with them. And on some level I believe that's what John Hughes was doing. :)

But they looked about 30!

Laughing out loud

Quote: Dolly Dagger @ August 7 2009, 12:32 AM BST

I'd say those films were shit to be honest.

You're making the Donger cry. Teary

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Quote: Dolly Dagger @ August 7 2009, 12:39 AM BST

It was. We had rubiks cubes taped to our foreheads whilst we were made to run around the set of Cheggars Plays Pop in pixie boots, eating Findas Crispy Pancakes.

Tough stage school.

Quote: Dolly Dagger @ August 7 2009, 12:42 AM BST

But they looked about 30!

Laughing out loud

Eh? Errr

Quote: Tim Walker @ August 7 2009, 12:43 AM BST

Tough stage school.

But we learnt the hard way. Grange Hill method, stuck on an estate for 4 weeks with a single mum feeding us frozen mini pizzas that looked like brains. Set us up for The Bill, guv'nor. No mistake.

I haven't seen any of John Hughes' films by the looks of it, but the eighties was great before Wham! f**ked it up.

Quote: Tim Walker @ August 7 2009, 12:43 AM BST

Eh? Errr

Those so-called teens in Breakfast Club looked so old. Either they were really sad for 19 year olds, or just badly cast. Like in Grease.

Quote: Dolly Dagger @ August 7 2009, 12:46 AM BST

Those so-called teens in Breakfast Club looked so old. Either they were really sad for 19 year olds, or just badly cast. Like in Grease.

Whether or not that's fair comment (it's not, by the way), it wasn't really anything to do with the post you quoted me on. :)

Quote: Tim Walker @ August 7 2009, 12:48 AM BST

Whether or not that's fair comment (it's not, by the way), it wasn't really anything to do with the post you quoted me on. :)

Was it not? I just couldn't identify with the characters. I have a friend still traumatised by the dancing in that film. And Footloose. And Dirty Dancing.

Gregory's Girl was good. I'm trying to be positive. ;)

Quote: Griff @ August 7 2009, 12:50 AM BST

I was perfectly content with the eighties. I was into music way more than films or TV and with Julian Cope, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Smiths, Hawkwind, Motorhead, Sisters of Mercy, Madness, The Pogues, Jah Wobble etc to go and watch I was quite happy.

Ah, but you can still see most of those bands and there's loads of good new ones too. So everyone's a winner.

Quote: Dolly Dagger @ August 7 2009, 12:52 AM BST

Was it not? I just couldn't identify with the characters. I have a friend still traumatised by the dancing in that film. And Footloose. And Dirty Dancing.

Gregory's Girl was good. I'm trying to be positive. ;)

Never watched Footloose - too much Bacon for my liking - and Dirty Dancing is lost on me as a heterosexual. I agree that the dancing in TBC is shameful. The point is that Brian is the one character who doesn't indulge in any disgracefully annoying behaviour. If Hughes had shot the whole film from Brian's POV you'd love it, I assure you. ;) Brian is only a few degrees away from being a potential Columbine massacre-style gunman, by the way.

Gregory's Girl was just class. (The sequel was, naturally, abysmal.)

Quote: Tim Walker @ August 7 2009, 12:56 AM BST

Gregory's Girl was just class. (The sequel was, naturally, abysmal.)

Good. We agree.

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