Molly Ringwald's touching tribute to the late John Hughes hit a chord with me. There is no question that his films went a long way towards shaping the popular culture of the early 80's - something for which some might find condemnation rather than praise appropriate. But films like "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles" were bittersweet gems which impacted millions of Gen-Xers - and some of us boomers as well. Some of my more astute film connoisseur friends might look down on this sort of thing, but the fact is John Hughes' work touched millions of lives - they gave adolescents a model and a vent in the dreary Reagan era. How many kids (now adults) look back on those films and say "that movie got me through high school?"
We boomers don't really understand what those 80's kids went through - and we sure as hell can't grasp what the millennials are dealing with now. But these are the ones who are going to have to fix the mess that people my age have created. They are going to have to deal with the environmental devastation, the increasing unavailability of basic services, and the outlook for a less prosperous life than the generations which preceded them. No wonder they're cynical and suspicious of their elders and the institutions which have been handed down to them.
And what do we - those elders do? We selfishly fight for our short term interests - mindless of the mess we have created and continue to create. The words of Alison from the Breakfast Club were sadly prophetic for too many of us - "when you grow up - your heart dies."
HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY MR CAGE
11 years ago
ken, sorry but i've always considered hughes' films to be monumental lies, hollywood misrepresentations to calm the fears of parents. i've always suspected that hughes was some geeky guy in his youth like joss whedon who was able to give life to his teenaged masturbatory fantasies through a combination of luck & talent.
ReplyDeletewhat you say about what this generation has been handed is pretty much true of every generation: they get handed the sins & the virtues of their parents. unfortunately, that's the way of the world.
if you really want to experience an interesting generation of meaning from dichotomy, watch 16 candles & then watch larry clarks' kids. remember, we're talking about hervey & donnie & that gang here. you don't find them in hughes at all.
Danny - if they were simply lies, then why would they be so popular with the adolescent audiences? Kids can usually spot a fake a mile away and the last thing a teenager wants to see is some sop aimed at assuaging grown-ups. Hughes' film were wildly popular with teens (and still are) because they spoke to those teens. The fact is, Hughes usually made adults look ridiculous - and pegged them as the source of all the ills in the world. I would hardly find Hughes' vision of adulthood comforting to any parent.
ReplyDeleteYou mention 16 Candles - my focus would actually be the Breakfast Club; that's what I had in mind while I was writing this. I'm not going to say Hughes is a great artist ala Bergman; but he did manage to speak to a large audience - and affect their thinking. As far as that film goes, the characters are not really meant to be everyday teens. Rather they were archetypes - the Hood, the Crazy Girl, the Rich Girl, the Jock, etc. They functioned in a more mythical than realistic role. That doesn't make them lies mind you - any more that the pilgrims in Chaucer were lies.
As far as the generational challenges go - I will grant you most of your point, but I still feel there is a difference. In the sixties there was an optimism which existed despite the horrors of the day. I do not see that optimism today - the kids today don't seem to expect much in the way of happy endings. K
btw - Hervey, Donnie et.al = "everyday teens" ???
ReplyDeletehardly. No one I ever saw hanging around the Outrigger meant the criteria for "everyday" anything :^)