The Breakfast Club

Back to Normal on Monday?: Stereotypes in The Breakfast Club 12th Grade

Like many other movies from the 1980s, The Breakfast Club has become a timeless classic. Directed by John Hughes, The Breakfast Club focuses on five students in an Illinois high school, who each come from very different backgrounds. The five of them end up spending a day in Saturday detention and get to know each other quite well. Through their conversations, we see five various high school stereotypes represented.

Claire Standish is a popular girl, who does no wrong. Brian Johnson is the near or brainiac. Andrew Clark is the athletic jock. Allison Reynolds and John Bender are both the ones who just don’t care, and have seen their fair share of trouble. Bender is even portrayed as a thug or drug head. Having to spend the day with each other was the last thing this group wanted. By the end of the day, these five classmates have an unusual bond that has forever connected them to each other. However, we are not left with any impression that suggests this friendship goes beyond this day of detention. On Monday they most likely all returned to their normal lifestyles.

From the moment that Claire Standish is shown in her father’s BMW, one can infer that she is well off and tends to think that she is better than the other four...

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