March 24th marked the 33rd anniversary of the detention in the movie The Breakfast Club. The movie is about five high schoolers who are from completely different social groups and are stuck together for a nine hour detention on a Saturday. They represent the stereotypes, brain, athlete, basket case, princess and a criminal. While this movie came out in 1985 all of themes and stereotypes still exist today and taught us some important life lessons.
1. You never know a whole person's story
In other words every person you know is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Some people keep their feelings bottled up and others are very open. People today put on masks because they are afraid of rejection and going outside the norms. Throughout the movie we learn that Claire, the princess and Andrew, the athlete often feel pressured to agree with everything that their friends do.
2. Friendships and relationships often form in the strangest ways at the strangest times
All five of the characters in the movie come from different social groups thinking that they have nothing in common and that they cannot associate with each other. However, with some effort and commitment you can find something in common. All of the characters despise Mr. Vernon and all have trouble with their parents. While at the beginning they will do anything to rat each other out, by the end they are sharing their deepest secrets and form relationships
3. No matter how hard you try, people are always going to stereotype you.
At the very beginning of the movie Mr. Vernon, the assistant principal tells everyone to write a 1,000 word essay about themselves and that an essay does not mean writing the same word 1,000 times. Mr. Vernon just admitted he already has stereotyped each of the characters. People always make assumptions about others based on the people they are with and the activities that they do.
4. Your real friends are the ones who can tell you and handle an unfiltered truth
Real friends are the types of people who will tell you what you need to hear even if it is not exactly what you want to hear. Alison, the outcast, points out that Andrew, the athlete cannot speak for himself. Bender points out that Claire does everything that her friends do.
