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‘By detailed analysis of one exploitation film of your choice and with reference to film and theory discussed during the lecture/seminar, examine how that text may either reinforce or challenge social, political, cultural, and/or sexual boundaries for its audience.’

We often reference the tantalising ‘Magic of the movies’, the unbelievable ability of the filmic medium to transport an audience into another world. We also commend a films ability to document what is going on around the world, albeit in another country or right on our doorstep, however whenever we look at film as an art form we often miss the point; audiences tend to scrutinize the entertainment factors alone, praising or criticizing the visuals over anything else and this leads them to sometimes miss the point.

Scholars from all platforms of studies associated with film have delved into a plethora of relationships and theories between film and how Social, Political, Cultural and Sexual boundaries within them are recognized and examined by its audiences. The time between the 20th century and now, Hollywood films and entertainers alike within the industry have been greatly shaped by these ideologies and in that, have greatly shaped the ideologies themselves. Films that have developed a cult following have especially impacted national politics, inveigled cultural identities and have even affected social change as well.

The Breakfast Club is a beautifully simple film directed by John Hughes (1984), about a group of individuals who at first don’t recognise their similarities, but as they’re forced to reconcile with each other through detention on a Saturday, they soon realise they have much more in common than they originally thought. The film perfectly illustrates how a film text can develop a relationship between the audiences and how they interpret these commonly used themes in films today. By breaking down the film into digestible aspects, even if definitions of these ideologies vary, this essay will examine how The Breakfast Club specifically has constructed each scene to cast an either reinforced or challenged nature to the cultural, social, political and sexual boundaries faced by the audience.

The Breakfast Club throughout reinforces the cultural values of idealism, family and most importantly, fear. During the groups’ meltdown towards the end of the film where they slowly connect through common social denominators, Brian (Anthony Michael Hall), states: “I see me, and I don’t like what I see”. Idealism plays a fundamental role in the forthcoming of this film; each character seemingly takes on their own internal struggle with a need to be successful in the eyes of their guardians- whether that is their parents or peers. The interesting aspect of this boundary given to the audience is that each character has their own view on ‘success’, whether it is athletic, social, academic or simply personal achievement, however, they all share that same desire nonetheless. As the story prevails we come to understand that each character finds themselves undergoing drastic measures to ensure they fit into this category of successfulness, this can be seen when Brian attempts to commit suicide for failing to achieve an admirable grade in his physics class. This cultural theme of idealism and family is sometimes hard to interpret, but its something any audience member can relate to. Because of the variety of different struggles we’re met within the film, this offers an insight into the different versions of cultural idealism, especially within a ‘family’ environment. Everyone has their own personal family life, daily routines and family niggles only they would understand, John Hughes has taken the primary classes found in most cultures and portrayed them through five very different but very similar characters. This helps the audience deduct that people of all ethnicity have a lot more akin than they think; in terms of understanding how this reinforces cultural boundaries through film text, this is a really simple but easily recognised piece formed by John Hughes. Moreover, the way each character acts is a fair reflection of the worry they have of their parents or peers view on them. This is part of the reason each character isolates him or herself to a specified stereotype.

“Teens are always shown as one dimensional. They're stereotyped. When I was in high school, I cared about more than getting a date or making the team.” (Jared Leto, Hollywood actor) [1] The stereotypes in The Breakfast Club are comfortably noticeable in the characters and their social groups. The main premise of the film plays on these stereotypes and how they evolve as the film pans out; the breakdown of five very contrasting character clique’s within an abstract but controlled social environment is John Hughes’ methodology to show how in a world where we’re bound to our class systems, we’re all very much alike when stripped back to bones and flesh. These stereotypes are conveyed purposefully through the clothes they wear and the way they act and represent how the members of the Breakfast Club see one another from the onset of the film. By analysing each character, we can begin to realize how gender is portrayed and make additional connections to how this further reinforces a cultural and social boundary to the audience. The two main girls in the plot, Allison (Ally Sheedy), ‘the Basket Case’ and Claire (Molly Ringwald), ‘the Princess’, represent the constitutional typical and atypical female role. Claire is essentially a somewhat hackneyed portrayal of what a person thinks when the word female is discussed. She is the cliché pretty, well-spoken, sharp and thin idealism we consider a female should be and in addition to this, she is clothed in the colour that symbolises feminism; pink. Claire is the main contributor to emotions being brought up during the film, this instantly brings to the audiences attention how women cope compared to men. Male roles rarely want to bring up feelings because it may downgrade their masculinity and furthermore, may contrast too highly against their stereotypical role as a ‘leader’. In comparison to Claire, following the same political boundaries of the cliché proposed to the audience, Allison is the binary opposite of what someone would consider ‘a typical female’. She is distance, very aloof wearing nearly all black baggy clothing that screams borderline Goth. Whereas Claire is very much aware of herself and what she provides as an entity, Allison is almost unsure of herself and this can be seen as the film progresses. When everyone starts to develop a connection between one another, during one scene Claire takes Allison to another room for a makeover. During this scene Claire makes a passing comment about how Allison looks better “without all of that black shit around your eye.” Claire insinuates this is out of kindness but there is argument that there is another motive behind the comment; to Claire, Allison’s attire is not normal and so she may be trying to change it. This shows how instead of accepting Allison’s appearance, Claire’s initial reaction is to try and mold Allison’s ego into something else; audiences can depict from this the obvious political boundary cast between the lines that the main western societies have, and will, always try to shape the way people think. This is a common occurrence across many different mediums and can be seen again through the analysis of the other side of gender within The Breakfast club.

Andrew (Emilio Estevez), ‘The Athlete’, Brian (Anthony Michael Hall), ‘The Brain’ and Bender (Judd Nelson), ‘The Criminal’ within short notice have tension that promptly sparks the argument over masculinity within the stereotypes. Andrew, the athlete, is very proud; he follows the typical conventions you would find with sportsmen being punctual and focused. This clashes instantly with the other two characters Brian and Bender. Brian is the typical ‘nerd’- high waisted jeans, nutritious lunch and a seemingly normal home life. Bender on the other hand plays out the loose canon, has no respect for anything or anyone and abides by the rules he sets himself. Because of Andrew’s sporting attire being tights Bender, and Brian, who seems to be only joining in out of interest and to gain Bender’s respect, begin to mock Andrew. This is an obvious example how political classes show a level of hierarchy even within adolescents at a high school, which loosely relates to the discussion of masculinity and the sense of belonging. Andrew becomes visibly upset with the remarks and as a result attempts to insult Bender back calling him a “faggot”, this shows us the mentality that men need to be strong and cannot admit any weakness. This is demonstrated throughout the film, Bender has his own issues as his home life is bad. We learn this within the plot and gives reason to why Bender attacks the other characters in a senseless appeal for attention and a typical defense mechanism. Personally I feel that Bender is in fact defeated inside and he plays on the criminal character to ensue an appearance of masculinity, because if he were to be open with his feelings and act accordingly this status would quickly diminish.

However, Brian on the other hand greatly challenges the political and social boundary presented to the audience through stereotypes. Brian, through his indecisive and contingent nature portrays gender concern. For example, Brian tells the group he “feels stupid” for failing class which led him to attempt suicide. Brian looks at himself as someone who is relatively smart and by failing class and losing his mentality enough to try and commit suicide, he doesn’t display the characteristics of the typical male role. This is abnormal for a leading male role and helps audiences relate to a character not commonly seen within films.

Brian is essentially the only stereotype that does challenge these boundaries and common themes, Andrew and Bender always portray the typical gender role and show us how important masculinity is within film and the connection it has with it’s audiences.

Dramatic representations of reality are created effortlessly through the use of camera angles in The Breakfast Club. This media tool is exercised so simply within the film and as a result perfectly portrays the reinforcement of the political education system that is still apparent today. The majority of the film is located within the library, being that this is one location it is easy to identify the changes in camera angles that pursue a deeper meaning. This can be shown when Vernon (Paul Gleason), the head teacher, is talking to the students and the over the shoulder shot used, is aimed down towards them. This straight away establishes an authoritative status in regards to Vernon and implies to the audience that the students are of a lower superiority: they’re inferior. This can be further evidenced when the shot changes to a medium close up of the students sat around their desks, the shot is now eye line with the students supposing they’re all equal- despite their social standings.

This is really cleverly done because we’re left with this contradictory view that the students are equal in comparison to their head teacher, who is superior, but they’re not equal between themselves. The basic switch in degree level between the two shots creates a comparative boundary between social and political standings of the students. In school they’re simply students like everyone else but between them they’re an athlete, a criminal, a princess, a basket case and a brain; a cliché in their own social environment. This theme is continued throughout the film and highlights easily how The Breakfast Club mainly reinforces the political, social and sometimes cultural boundaries between the audience and it’s text.

Another way The Breakfast Club reinforces social boundaries to the audience is approaching the subject of an ego trip and within that, overcoming the need to be liked. This is subtly done through the use of their non-diegetic sound; Brian’s speech at the end of the film nicely rounds up this idealism however the soundtrack to the film ‘Don’t You Forget About Me – Simple Minds’, is a perfect use of the media tool sound to propose this boundary. The soundtrack, “which at first was refused, but later agreed to be recorded after encouragement from their label”[2] could have never featured given it was refused another 3 times as well before Simple Minds decided to take it on. It’s hard to think that such a monumental film track and a key tool in The Breakfast Club’s attempt to portray social boundaries may never have seen the big screen had it not been for forced measures by the label. The song features two prominent lyrics that concrete the theme of egotism and the inkling to overcome this need: “Don’t you forget about me” and “As you walk on by, will you call me name?”

In terms of the films text, these lyrics refer to the world outside of detention and the so called ‘Breakfast Club”; there is a question about the future and whether or not the unforeseen friendships will last or be crippled by the social groups at high school. The song lyrics perfectly coincide with ongoing conventions of the film, whether or not the different social categories will eventually let their guard down in order to realise they are not so contrasting after all. This is used so effortlessly it’s certain that meaning behind the lyrics may go amiss, the soundtrack is played only twice during the film, once at the start and once at the end; at the start the song is used to foreshadow possibilities that may emerge later in the film but this could never be registered by the audience. However, John Hughes introduces the song again at the end alongside the famous snapshot of Bender punching the air; this ties the song lyrics and the relationships built between the students together during the film, leaving the audience to ponder over the social boundary proposed as the film closes. This type of mickey-mousing style sound production can also be seen in the opening of Milded Pierce (USA 1945: Michael Curtiz) where the soundtrack is used similarly to echo both the camera and character movements. The soundtrack in Milded Pierce follows the same structure of use as The Breakfast Club; the soundtrack also taps into the emotional turmoil of the characters and whether that is obvious to the audience or not the notion is still operating. In some ways the soundtrack to The Breakfast Club even shows signs of leitmotif as well, given that it is used twice during the film but for different reasons. This can be more famously recognised when used in a movie like Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg), where the music composed by John Williams uses leitmotif all through the plot, the theme song is used at different conjunctions in the film at a different pace to insight multiple meanings.

The most obvious example of how this film text reinforces a boundary to the audience is perhaps the Bender and Claire harassment/romance dynamic. Bender gets some of the films’ most famous and memorable lines, his constant obnoxious pestering of the students and staff, especially Claire, brings a certain character to the film’s plot. However, the provocateur himself alternates between being a smart arse towards Claire and indulging his genuine anger and this balance of identities shows us the common sexual themes present in everyday life. Through Bender, John Hughes displays how adolescents can often assign themselves a role like ‘abusive asshole’ to a private context they wouldn’t necessarily get away with in the adult world. It’s a disturbing subject but totally authentic and easily relatable for the audience. “You couldn’t ignore me if you tried” and “slip the hot beef injection” are but two of Bender’s crude comments made towards Claire. This narrative evidences how sometimes teenagers will say or act out of character to obtain a reaction from someone, but this would be painstakingly unacceptable outside of the adolescent margins they find themselves in. Claire, the wealthy popular princess is socially the polar opposite to Bender’s domestic doomsday life. Her social belonging represents everything he never got a chance to experience; the “importance on belonging, on being included, and on being part of a group; group affiliation not only supplies emotional security, but also is a source of status and reputation with motivational properties” [3] and not having these motivational properties is the main target for the effects of his fiercest rage. The hate and prejudice alongside the contrasting un-surfaced romance between the pair coins the foundations for her to be guilt-tripped into asking him out at the end of the film; a clear indication of how the plot and narrative reinforce this most basic sexual boundary to the audience. The Bender/Claire dynamic also touches up on the ingrained misogynistic attitudes in our world today, something that does not seem to have developed enough since the onset of the film in 1985. Bender is always shown to be in control in his relationship with Claire, he manipulates her into bringing down her barriers and uses this to insight the opinion he wanted of himself from her. During the film Bender persuades Claire to show her secret talent, upon completion he then proceeds to clap longer than the rest of the group and adds: “wow Claire, my image of you is totally blow” sarcastically. This, considering the group has only just gone through some degree of team bonding, shows the total lack of respect men typically show women or have done in the past both sexually and socially.

Upon analysis, The Breakfast Club as a whole both reinforces and challenges social, political, cultural and sexual boundaries given to the audience. More so reinforcing these boundaries, the film touches a lot of conventions that have been heavily discussed across the years; approaching the subjects of idealism, egotism, growing up, love, family and fear through easily recognisable adolescents, the audience is met with a background of intergenerational conflict. However, in hindsight the film appears to pose a very broad question that’s only surfaced due to the aforementioned analysis: Who are you?

For adolescents especially, who’s primarily the target audience, this is perhaps the most important dynamic active in their lives, bearing everything from sense of self to stereotypes to awareness of their future. John Hughes most definitely knew this; he’s manipulated a very simple film plot to create a vast spectrum of boundaries to the audience. The Breakfast Club takes five cliché’s, puts them into a controlled environment and watches as political rebellion, social integration and cultural participation ensue following the collapse of the characters inner ego. From Bender’s ‘done it all’ demeanor to Claire’s Disney World virginity, we come to terms with the “enduring faith that the future of our world rests with the young, and so we look to this period of life more than any other for an evaluation of current society and the probable social future." [4] The audience are faced with a plethora of real world themes that they are then forced to consider through the carefully selected mise en scene, sound, camera angles and what I think to be the most important: narrative. At first, the film appeared to be testament to the famous journey of becoming an adult and facing the pressures all adolescents find themselves in within when being a part a social hierarchy, however, on reflection the film represents a couple hours of self-contained rebellion, an expansion rather than a breaking of boundaries.

[1] Jared Leto, Hollywood Actor

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/339884-teens-are-always-shown-as-one-dimensional-they-re-stereotyped-when

[2] Wikipedia fact

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_You_(Forget_About_Me)

[3] Quote taken from research page (Cotterell 1).

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am483_97/projects/coe/adolescents.html

[4] Guarino, A., & Ianni, A. (2010). Social learning with local interactions. (pp. 1-26). (Discussion Papers in Economics and Econometrics; No. 1011). University of Southampton.

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/economics/about/staff/ianni.page#publications

Filmography:

-indiana Jones: raiders of the lost ark

-Milded Pierce

-The Breakfast Club

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