Monday, January 7, 2013

Back to School

... but not the Rodney Dangerfield one! (Don't have a t-shirt to commemorate that one yet)

Happy New Year!







ThinkGeek purchase (Xmas gift to myself)



The first tee of 2013 is inspired by the 1986 Matthew Broderick film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, possibly one of the most iconic of 80s high school movies for quotability and pop references. "Movies based in high schools" is a great cross-genre genre. Like the adolescent years, these movies encompass comedy, tragedy, surrealism, mystery, and fantasy. Often all in one afternoon. They can be uplifting, sobering, confusing, disturbing, and ridiculous. Again, sometimes simultaneously. And if anyone were to contend that these movies are hyperbolic in addressing the chaos and roller-coaster nature of these hallowed halls, please come and visit my classroom for one day.

I'll throw the first gauntlet down and state that The Breakfast Club is the best of the lot. I could probably entertain contenders in the forms of To Sir With Love (theme song alone puts it in the top 10), Stand and Deliver (with the astounding performance of Edward James "So Say We All!" Olmos) or Pretty in Pink (despite the unfortunate script change, it's still the best of the female-centred Hughes movies). Any other challengers out there?









14 comments:

  1. I hate The Breakfast Club.

    P.S. I know I'm bad, but I warned you :-). Your Bruce program is still by my front door, waiting for me to get it to the post office.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your copy of Aaron's book is still on my couch. :)

      Your hatred didn't stop you from (maybe - possibly - with no clear recollection) using The Breakfast Club in your "Teenagers in American Popular Culture since the 1950s" course... :)

      http://begonias.typepad.com/srubio/2007/08/best-whatever-o.html

      I like it because it hits all the notes in the scale of high school mundanity which borders on the extraordinary.

      And it's got a fun soundtrack.

      Delete
  2. I'm a fan of the HS movies that came out while I was a teen, so I'll always have a soft spot for 10 Things I Hate About You, Bring It On (the first one!), Election, Clueless, and She's All That. I also really love Mean Girls, The Virgin Suicides, and Brick. But if I had to choose one? Definitely Clueless!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My brother was in love with the girl from the Secret World of Alex Mack - Larisa Oleynik - but I've never seen all of "10 Things" although it is now a set piece in English classrooms for studying "Taming of the Shrew". I got super creeped out by Election so I probably would never willingly watch it again. Just bought a copy of Brick. :)

      Love Clueless. Jane Austen works SO well in high school settings!

      Delete
  3. I love the idea of this BLOG! Super cute!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I feel like I ultimately went with River's Edge for my 80s movie. But there is no question, John Hughes was crucial, and Breakfast Club is the best example of what he was up to.

    I can reduce my feelings of anger towards The Breakfast Club to these words:

    Molly Ringwald does a makeover on Ally Sheedy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yeah. That was/is problematic. Ringwald always seems to be at the centre of these controversial choices. It's rumoured that she was the driving force behind changing the end of Pretty in Pink so that she ended up with McCarthy instead of Cryer.

      Delete
  5. I agree with all of Annabelle's choices, and would add GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN. Classic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you agree that top honours go to "Clueless"?

      Delete
  6. I would like to speak up as someone who preferred Ringwald winding up with McCarthy, rather than Cryer. Frankly, I would have chosen him too. Although either guy is better than the heap of wood she winds up with at the end of Sixteen Candles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good points! But I do remember thinking it was an awkward ending when I saw the movie. The whole show was really leading towards Ducky. Preppie McCarthy showing up in the parking lot was kind of out of left field.

      Delete
  7. I do love the Hughes movies. If I had to pick a favourite, it's Weird Science. Though it only touches on the high school dynamics, and in pretty standard form (geeks want popularity, are picked on by popular dudes, end up with pretty girls at the end all with the help of a computer-generated model (ok, maybe not that standard)) it's just so fun and goofy.

    But outside of that, my favourite from the 80s era is Valley Girl. It's raunchier than Hughes ever dared to be (frontal nudity! Actual sex!) and has a more punk rock vibe. It stars a pre-will-do-anything-for-a-buck Nicolas Cage and he's actually really great in it.

    From the 90s, hands down - Clueless by a country mile. So great.

    Fun fact: my mother, a teacher-librarian, wouldn't let me watch Ferris Bueller because he "set a bad example", but Valley Girl and its frontal nudity was fine. I guess because no one skipped school?
    Funner fact: Ilan Mitchell-Smith (Wyatt in Weird Science) left acting and is an assistant professor of Medieval Studies at Texas A&M. Or at least he was in 2002.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tried to rent Weird Science for my Grade 5 birthday party. Dad wouldn't go for it. When I finally did get to see it, it was totally worth the taboo wait.

      Don't think I've seen Valley Girl. Will have to see if the library has a copy.

      *snort* you used the word "funner"

      "fun fact" phrase is doubly fun to use now that it has a Sheila from "Guys With Kids" connection.

      Thanks for commenting!

      Delete