Back in 1985, when the worst thing most teenagers did was skip school to go shopping or set off false fire alarms, writer/director John Hughes created a topical story for middle-class white kids whose biggest worries were they’d turn into their parents. Propelling a new generation of actors into superstardom—Molly Ringwald; Judd Nelson; Ally Sheedy; the uncrazy Sheen offspring Emilio Estevez; and everyone’s nerd du jour, Anthony Michael Hall—The Breakfast Club is all about teens trying to undo the stereotypes foisted upon them by adults, as well as one another. It’s a timeless tale for Generation X, one that today’s youth just won’t get because no one in the film wants to be rich and famous—or thinks that they deserve to be just because they have a Facebook page.
Wed., May 25, 7:30 p.m., 2011
