The Breakfast Club

In the summer of 1984, my parents moved from Red Lake Falls to a farm just north of Marcioux Corner, right on the intersection of Highway 2 and 32.

I went from having cable in town (my favorite was when HBO had a week-long free trial - and then at one point we wrapped tinfoil around our cable that ran into the back of the TV and we got free HBO, in black and white . . . that's where I saw Star Wars about 40 times, as well as Swamp Thing, Super Fuzz, Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit, Jaws 1 and 2, The Last Chase, and when I was home alone with my brother, Rambo: First Blood, American Werewolf in London, Conan the Barbarian, and Excalibur).  I was also in constant contact with my friends and spend many afternoons biking around town (my favorite times were spent on my Huffy with my little Sanyo speakers taped to my handlebars plugged into my Soundesign headphones with Def Leppard's Pyromania blaring).

Though our farm was only 10 miles south of Red Lake Falls, it felt like I was on Mars.  That meant seeing my friends only about once a month, rarely riding my bike (I mean, where was I going to bike? Though Dad did eventually get me a Honda 250 three-wheeler which was awesome!), and it also meant only three channels (not counting, of course, PBS).

That also meant the end of any movies.  My wife just shakes her head every time she mentions an iconic film from the mid-eighties - The Goonies, Ghostbusters, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Tron, National Lampoons Family Vacation, Gremlins, Indian Jones, The Lost Boys, Dirty Dancing . . . I just shake my head and say that I've never seen it.  I did eventually see The Lost Boys, though, when I had the chicken pox as a freshman in high school and mom rented a VCR from US Video and Doug, the owner and my Babe Ruth baseball coach suggested she rent The Lost Boys for me.  You could say that between Return of the Jedi when my parents took me to it in TRF all the way through Top Gun, which I attended with Dale Vatthuer, a friend of mine from school, who asked me to spend a couple nights with he and his family in Grand Forks for his birthday, I missed all of those iconic (or at least popular) films.

The one 'classic' I did happen to see, although it was the edited for TV version, was The Breakfast Club.

I show this in my Composition course at the ALC to discuss rites of passage and coming of age.  As we watched the first half, Kenny, who teaches the summer history courses here, peaked in again and again to catch parts of it.

"What an great film," he told me in between classes.

"Yeah, it is," I agreed.

"It would be an interesting assignment to examine if each of those categories of kids can still be found today," Kenny said.  "Or if there are new categories for kids."

That was, in my opinion, an excellent idea.

For those who don't know The Breakfast Club, it's the story of five high school kids who have to spend a Saturday in their high school library for detention.

The characters feature John Bender, the punk, rebel kid from an abusive home; Andrew Clark, the squeaky clean jock; Brian Johnson, the nerd and geek; Allison Reynolds, the "basket-case" goth-chick; and Claire Standish, the rich, preppy prom queen.

Mr. Geiser asked where the emo kids would fit today.  I'd probably lump them in with Bender's group.

Then I said it would be an interesting psychology assignment to apply these groups to Lincoln High School.  The only group that I see not represented from our school here is the rednecks.  The kids who used to park in the back parking lot with their large trucks splattered with mud, their hunting supplies in their trucks, and wearing camouflage and cowboy boots.

Then again, country music was not nearly as popular in the mid 1980's as it is today.  In fact, country was nonexistent in our world until Garth Brooks became really popular in the early 1990's.

Mr. Geiser mentioned how interesting it was to view the film as an adult now.  He noted how the film changed for him as he grew up.

This, I told Mr. Geiser, happened to me with To Kill a Mockingbird.  When people first read it, traditionally in middle school, students are caught up in the childish aspect of Scout.  Then when people read it again, usually in high school or college, they are caught up in the racial tension and the horrific consequences of the trial.  Then as adults, people read it and relate to Atticus and how he chooses to raise his kids in spite of the racist environment they are surrounded by.

So it is with The Breakfast Club.

I know when I first saw it in 1986, I connected more with Bender, the rebel, for that's who I really wanted to be.  Yet, as I grew older, I was more like Andrew.  When college hit, and I was constantly studying and writing papers, I was definitely more like Brian.

Mr. Geiser argued that we all have pieces of these different characters in us.  Perhaps that's why the movie is as relevant as ever. Here is one of my favorite scenes.

And what a great ending!  I still remember this when I saw it for the first time on a Sunday afternoon up in my room.