Ben Ross is a writer at Hollywood Insider. He loves watching films and finding the message behind the art. With a love for movies and television, his goal is to understand as much as he can about anything he watches, and engage with readers about different topics related to the industry. He aims to find work that sheds a light on issues not really talked about and showcase it, feeling that it is important to understand the truth. Together with his readers, he hopes to celebrate beautiful stories in film and explore topics that are worth discussing – a value that defines Hollywood Insider.
Sep 1, 2024
Table of Contents
Words cannot describe the impact John Hughes has had on Cinema. His movies have impacted a generation of teenagers and fledgling filmmakers. How many times have you seen ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ being played on TV, or heard “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” from ‘The Breakfast Club’ on any 80s radio station? He defined the 1980s and 90s, and his teen comedies are still analyzed and discussed today. He also brought many actors that we now know and love into stardom, as many of the child and teen actors in his films became pop-culture icons. Without him, the coming-of-age drama would be drastically different, and with that, let’s take a look into how important Hughes was to American Cinema.
Breaking the Teenage Stereotype
One of the most defining and most charming aspects of Hughes’ films is his focus on young people and their personal growth. In real life, teenagers are seen as a mess. They’re moody, they can be rebellious, and they have millions of hormones surging through them constantly. Parents often find it hard to connect with them and older audiences don’t really relate to them on-screen. Filmmakers like Hughes have helped break this barrier and fleshed out what they can be. Instead of just being a flat, lazy stereotype of how teenagers are perceived, he challenged audiences to view them as more than just one-note characters. What if these were actual people behind the archetype?
To Hughes, they’re more than just that. Teenagers aren’t just rude and rebellious, they’re kids still trying to figure out their own lives. They’re young, they’re scared, they have their own problems to deal with that adults would never understand. Teenage years are a challenging time in everyone’s life, and Hughes films reflected that best. He captured teenage emotion and presented it in a way that would make these characters feel real.
‘The Breakfast Club’ and Breaking Down Teenage Tropes
The most prominent example of this is with one of his most popular works, ‘The Breakfast Club.’ The film follows five teenagers of varying types and cliques who are all forced to attend a Saturday detention, where they learn more about each other and themselves. There’s John Bender, the criminal, Allison Reynolds, the basket case, Andrew Clark, the athlete, Claire Standish, the princess, and Brian Johnson, the brain. They start the film antagonizing each other or acting coldly to one another as they deal with the domineering and disrespectful Vice Principal Vernon. But soon, they learn that they actually have a lot in common. Despite their differences, they all have insecurities and personal issues. They all have bad parents and secrets that nobody else knows. By the end of the film, they’ve all bonded with each other. Some of them have paired up romantically, others have found respect for one another, and despite being in different social cliques, they all leave detention a different person than when they entered.
Hughes takes characters like these and makes them so much more than most people would see them as. John Bender isn’t just the school delinquent; he also deals with abusive adults in his life (like Principal Vernon) and is afraid of becoming just like his father. Claire isn’t just a stuck-up popular girl; she deals with peer pressure from her school status and has parents who always use her against each other. With Hughes writing, these teens from ‘The Breakfast Club’ feel like real people with real problems and issues. It’s refreshing to see on-screen, and it’s why his movies resonate so well with teenagers who feel understood by these characters.
John Hughes: A Gifted Writer
This can all be owed to Hughes’ smart writing. In his scripts, he puts more emphasis on the characters surrounding the story rather than the story itself. Take, for example, another one of his films, ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles,’Steve Martin plays Neal Page, an advertising executive who tries to travel from New York City to Chicago to get home to his family in time for Thanksgiving. He’s paired with John Candy, an actor who’s starred in many Hughes films, who plays the talkative shower curtain salesman Del Griffin. Together, the two try to get Neal back to Chicago, but despite the outlandish moments that happen between the two on their adventure, the heart of the story is always with their interactions. The contrast between Neal and Del is very apparent and they openly argue or yell at each other. But as they travel to Chicago, they learn more about each other than before, and they share a moment of true friendship at the end. This all plays out very well and is credited due to these funny characters that feel human, something Hughes has always been great at portraying.
He’s written many other classics that have stood the test of time on the account of how truly comedic they are. He wrote the 80s classic ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ and its sequel, along with the Christmas classic ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.’ One of his most popular films, ‘Sixteen Candles,’ is based around the concept of a girl’s birthday gone entirely wrong, and Hughes’ writing elevates this ordinary concept into a classic. Molly Ringwald plays Sam, a girl who just wants to feel important on her birthday, and that’s a concept anybody can relate to. Hughes even wrote ‘Home Alone,’ a film that’s extremely popular today and another Christmas classic alongside ‘Christmas Vacation.’ He also wrote the next two sequels, ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’ and ‘Home Alone 3.’ His directing and writing filmography is incredible, and his films are on another level compared to others of his time.
Elevating His Actors
With all of these amazing films with his stamp on it, it makes sense that they have all proven to be successful to some degree. By the 90s, Hughes had become an uber-popular filmmaker with endless creativity. Because of how popular his films had become, he had also been known to make many of his leading actors into instant celebrities. Without him, we might have never known of actors like Molly Ringwald or Anthony Michael Hall. The popularity of ‘Home Alone’ led to Macaulay Culkin being one of the most in-demand child actors of his time, and he’s been a famous name ever since. With ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,’ Matthew Broderick’s role as the titular character earned him high praise and launched him to stardom. Even Michael Keaton grew to prominence all because of Hughes, who cast him in the lead role in his film ‘Mr. Mom.’ All of these actors owe their career start to Hughes, who gave them the start they needed.
Without him, these actors might have never been as prevalent as they are now. His films have changed people’s careers and because of him, the future of some movies would be drastically different. Many filmmakers today have been inspired by his coming-of-age comedies, with movies like ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ and ‘The Edge of Seventeen’ feeling reminiscent of his works. He changed the genre, and his impact has forever been stamped into film history. We owe some of the amazing work we see today to the late, great John Hughes, a man whose work is the definition of Cinema.
By Ben Ross
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
Ben Ross is a writer at Hollywood Insider. He loves watching films and finding the message behind the art. With a love for movies and television, his goal is to understand as much as he can about anything he watches, and engage with readers about different topics related to the industry. He aims to find work that sheds a light on issues not really talked about and showcase it, feeling that it is important to understand the truth. Together with his readers, he hopes to celebrate beautiful stories in film and explore topics that are worth discussing - a value that defines Hollywood Insider.
Ben Ross is a writer at Hollywood Insider. He loves watching films and finding the message behind the art. With a love for movies and television, his goal is to understand as much as he can about anything he watches, and engage with readers about different topics related to the industry. He aims to find work that sheds a light on issues not really talked about and showcase it, feeling that it is important to understand the truth. Together with his readers, he hopes to celebrate beautiful stories in film and explore topics that are worth discussing – a value that defines Hollywood Insider.
Ben Ross is a writer at Hollywood Insider. He loves watching films and finding the message behind the art. With a love for movies and television, his goal is to understand as much as he can about anything he watches, and engage with readers about different topics related to the industry. He aims to find work that sheds a light on issues not really talked about and showcase it, feeling that it is important to understand the truth. Together with his readers, he hopes to celebrate beautiful stories in film and explore topics that are worth discussing – a value that defines Hollywood Insider.
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