At the Movies

I just got through watching the last thirty minutes of the Breakfast Club. This movie was a seminal movie from my teen years. Of all of the John Hughes movies out there, this was the one I related to the most. I first watched it at my own birthday party when I was 14. I had three friends spend the night, and we put balloons under our shirts and pretended we had, ahem, large bosoms. Yes, I was a little old for that. Regardless, I related to this movie so much. When the nerd cries and talked about the pressure he was under, I understood. When the goth girl gets a makeover, I loved it. When they all made fun of the popular girl, I was cheering them on.

Watching this movie today, I feel old. The Emilio Estevez character says, "Do you think we're going to grow up to be our parents?" Back then, I used to think, "no way! they are going to be different." Today, I just laugh. Because the reality is, we're not carbon copies of our parents, but we certainly have many similarities; how can we not, we have their genetics!

I think about M and K and wonder what movies really influenced their high school years. Would it be the silliness of "High School Musical"? Or the serious sci-fi shenanigans of "Inception"? What about the movies based on books, like "Twilight" or "Harry Potter"? Man, I sure hope it wasn't a teen movie like "Juno." I'd rather that it's something like "Nancy Drew" which K loves. I know M loves things like "Anchorman", "Baby Mama", and "Crazy Stupid Love," and K is a huge fan of "She's the Man", too. We quote that movie while we watch it. I have to say, I didn't watch nearly as many movies in my teen years as they do now. I remember spending my Friday nights with my parents watching "Dallas", which I'm sure had a huge impact on what I thought relationships shouldn't be like. Not to mention that I was watching soap operas with my parents. On a Friday night. Sigh.

We are shaped by our culture, whether we like it or not. I've learned to try to apply some wisdom to watching movies, but I like fun movies as much as the next person.

"Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal...Does that answer your question?... Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club."