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  • Essay / Stereotypes in Movies: "The Breakfast Club"

    Table of ContentsIntroductionThe Theme of Stereotypes in "The Breakfast Club"ConclusionWorks Cited:IntroductionIn Denby's article "High School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies", he poses a rhetorical question about high school genre films and whether or not they reflect reality or are simply a set of conventions referencing other films. High school genre films like John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club" show that even though there were heavy character stereotypes, the characters all realize that they have the same problems regardless of the stereotype, thus overcoming one of the conventions highlighted by Denby. After realizing this, the characters break down the barriers between them, "crossing over" like what is common in high school and showing that in the case of The Breakfast Club, high school genre films can keep up with reality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The Theme of Stereotypes in 'The Breakfast Club' All the children in the film had their problems. Let them be stereotyped as a popular “princess” like Claire Standish whose parents use her for revenge. Let them be stereotyped as a bad boy like John Bender whose parents abuse him verbally and physically. That they were stereotyped as basket cases like Allison Reynolds whose parents paid her no attention and ignored her to the point that she was never born. Let them be stereotyped as nerds like Brian Johnson, who is embarrassed by the F grade he received and didn't want his parents to find out, ready to kill himself using a flare gun. That they are stereotyped as typical jocks like Andrew Clark whose father wants him to be a wrestler because he doesn't tolerate losers in the family, even though Andrew points out that he doesn't even like wrestling. Whether the character was a princess, a bad boy, a basket case, a nerd, or a jock, they all had their own problems, each no better than the others'. In the Denby High School Confidential article, one of the conventions he points out is that "the enemy is not authority, the enemy is other teenagers and the social system they follow." impose on each other. In the case of The Breakfast Club, this convention is only true at the beginning, and then the characters overcome it after realizing their problems are the same. The problems that the characters have all help them realize that they have more in common than what appears at first glance, allowing the characters to overcome the social system that their stereotypes impose on each other. At the start of the movie the room was almost as quiet as a mouse, everyone had a stereotype that everyone felt defined them at the start of the movie, no one wanted to interact with people outside of their stereotypical social circle. Brain, portrayed as the stereotypical nerd in the film, discovered that those stereotypes weren't what actually defined them. In his letter that Warden Vernon forced the children to write as part of their detention, Brian wrote that "each of us is a mastermind...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal." This shows that all the children realize, after talking about their problems, that they all have more in common than they think, that they are not defined as just a stereotype set in stone. This is much more associated with what happens in real high school, where students are stereotyped, but there is a lot more crossover and more groups to fit into those stereotypes. For example,.