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The Breakfast Club and the Real Meaning Behind It
Andrew Jordan
Kent State
College Writing II
Mrs. Kalogerou
25 September 2021
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The Breakfast Club and the Real Meaning Behind It
Introduction
A deeper Look into the breakfast club and the real meaning behind it. A classic John
Hughes film, The Breakfast Club is thought to be one of the best movies about high school life.
Five students of Shermer Highschool are to attend an all-day detention on a Saturday, where
Vice-Principal Vernon gives them from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m to write him an essay telling him
"who you think you are." Avoiding the task, the students slowly get to know each other,
eventually opening up to one another and revealing why they are in detention in the first place.
Through this they admit their own issues and learn that even though they are all very different
people, they face similar problems. Near the end of detention, it is decided that Brian will write
the essay, one that represents all five of them. As the students leave and go home, Vernon reads
the essay that was left behind, in which Brian states that Vernon has already judged who they are
based off of stereotypes, and that he’s crazy to think they’ll tell him who they think they are.
Brian signs off with “Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club.” While the film does introduce many
heavy themes, it does a good job at showing how highschoolers can truly struggle, which could
lead to friends and family learning to be more open and communicate more with each other.
Summary of Audiences Views
The Breakfast Club introduces heavy topics such as suicide, abuse, drugs, and depression.
This could be an uneasy movie for a family movie night, and of course parents wouldn’t want to
condone things such as meaningless sex and drugs. Parents have good reason to be weary about
watching this movie, especially if they’re introducing it to their kids. Strong language is used
throughout the film, both from the students and teacher, things that parents would not want to
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repeat. Marijuana is smoked in one scene, one student pulls out a switchblade in another, and
several lewd gestures are made. This film shouldn’t be shown to those who aren’t as
understanding, unless their parents are able to properly explain the meaning behind the film. No
one wants it to seem like it’s condoning those types of behavior. Most importantly, there are very
heavy themes later in the film. John reveals cigar burns on his arm, evidence of his father’s
abuse. In another scene, the vice-principal shoves one of the students and threatens to beat them
up, stating “No one would ever believe you.” Very intense and dramatic scenarios. One would
feel they shouldn't show their kids a film like this until they were at least in high school.
Common Ground
These heavy themes, however, are good to be aware of. The world can be a dark place,
and people do need to at some point realize that such terrible things can even happen to people
that seem to be fine. Kids are going to learn about such things at some point in life, parents can’t
shield them from it forever. So ideally it would be better for parents to introduce such topics
themselves and through a form of media, rather than risk having their children be unprepared,
and experience it themselves.
Contribution of New Points to the Negotiation
As stated before, these heavy themes are good to be aware of. Watching this film should
be something that is done at the right time, much like a parent would wait for their child to be old
enough to have “the talk,” but it could be very beneficial for parents and their children. Ideally,
this would allow the children to feel like they could be more open with either their parents or
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friends about the issues they face. Allowing room for a more bonding and communicative
relationship.
Conclusion
The vulgar language, obscene gestures, and heavy themes are some things that a parent
should be wary about when considering showing this film to their kids. It becomes very
emotional halfway through, and contains some intense moments. However, if parents were to
explain the meaning of the film and discuss with their children about the topics, they could help
them to see past the many uneasy aspects, and it could be a good experience for everyone.
References
Wikipedia contributors. “The Breakfast Club.” Wikipedia, 28 Aug. 2021.
wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breakfast_Club.
“The Breakfast Club - Movie Review.” Commonsensemedia.Org, 30 Nov. 2005
www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-breakfast-club.