The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Clubending is a much more profound , ambiguous , and thought - plague close than the average teen comedy , with storyline left unresolved and question exit unrequited . Released in 1985 to vital eclat and box office achiever , The Breakfast Clubrevolves around a group of high school misfits in Saturday custody under the watchful center of their totalistic vice principal . One of John Hughes ’ most iconic high school movies marked the apex of the “ Brat Pack ” geological era , with such stars as Emilio Estevez , Molly Ringwald , and Anthony Michael Hall giving some of the best performances of their life history .
Decades after its release , The Breakfast Clubremains a celebrate classic and a staple of democratic civilisation . With some of the most memorable citation , characters , and cinematic moments of its decennary , it ’s a cornerstone ofthe ‘ fourscore movie aesthetic . Its unforgettable final scene leaves a lot of crucial questions unreciprocated , though . Most fall - of - geezerhood pic reveal the fate of their characters , butThe Breakfast Clubsubverts expectations of the genre by forget its players ' destiny unsealed .
Why Claire Gives Bender One Of Her Earrings
Clare & Bender Connect Throughout The Movie
At the end ofThe Breakfast Club , when Claire buss Bender and bids him farewell , she pay him one of her infield earrings . It ’s not immediately clear why she ’s only give him one and not both , or why she ’s giving him an earring at all . Claire ease up John one of her earrings as a symbolic gestureto say she can meet him midway . By pursuing a kinship with each other , foeman - call on - lovers Claire and Benderare both step out of their consolation zones . The olive arm of the earring propose that they meet in the middle , and Bender accepts .
Why The Characters Refer To Themselves As “The Breakfast Club”
Brian Coins The Term In The Movie
Brian ’s essay to Mr. Vernon end with the iconic polarity - off , “ Sincerely yours , The Breakfast Club , ” the last line in the picture show . This nickname is n’t explicitly explain in the flick , but there was a real - earth reason for John Hughes ’s use of this moniker .
Actor
Character
Stereotype
Emilio Estevez
Andrew Clark
Original SR Image by Shawn Lealos.
" The Athlete "
Anthony Michael Hall
Brian Johnson
After receiving detention, a group of five high-school students bonds as they realize they have quite a bit in common despite being from different friend groups. Despite being over 35 years old, The Breakfast Club still stands as one of the quintessential movies of the ‘80s and one of director John Hughes standout films.
" The mastermind "
Judd Nelson
John Bender
" The Criminal "
Molly Ringwald
Claire Standish
" The Princess "
Ally Sheedy
Allison Reynolds
" The Basket Case "
He earlier titled his scriptDetention , a wholly unexciting name for a moving picture , beforehe overheard a friend ’s teenage son refer to Saturday morning detainment as “ the breakfast club . ”After learn this set phrase , Hughes transfer the title of his motion picture and its terminal line to reflect it ( via theAmerican Film Institute ) . The relief is photographic film history .
The original title ofThe Breakfast Clubwas but titledDetention .
What’s The Punchline To Bender’s Joke?
Judd Nelson Improvised This Joke
WhenBender , the most quotableBreakfast Clubcharacter , is crawling through the air ducts , he bulge out differentiate a jocularity , but he fall through the vent before getting to the punchline . The setup go like this : “ A naked blonde walks into a bar with a poodle under one branch and a two - groundwork salami under the other … the barkeeper says , ‘ So , I do n’t suppose you ’d be needing a potable ? ’ The naked madam says … ” The joke is never finished and the punchline is never reveal . The apparently dirty joke was ad - libbed by Bender actor Judd Nelsonand no punchline ever in reality exist .
Why Allison’s Ending Is So Controversial
Allison Received A Makeover
Every character inThe Breakfast Clubgets a resolution to their history arc , but one person ’s ending has garnered controversy over the eld . Claire abandons her goody - two - shoes persona ; Andrew stops being defined by what his dad wants ; Brian writes the essay that close down out the flick .
The Breakfast Club ’s confession scene is one of the flick ’s most polar and telltale , and it was also surprisingly ad - libbed by the motion-picture show ’s cast .
Almost ruiningThe Breakfast Club , Allison ’s ending is by far the most rushed and unbefitting of her eccentric . Claire gives her a makeover , which on the spur of the moment attracts romantic pastime from Andrew . This send off the wrong subject matter by telling consultation they have to be conventionally physically attractiveto have any value .
Why Bender Pumps His Fist In The Air
Bender’s Final Action Has Become Iconic
In the final mo ofThe Breakfast Club , Bender walk across the football field of battle and pumps his fist in the melody . Of all the characters inThe Breakfast Club , Bender is the one who is most deeply changed by making friends with kid outside his social circle and escaping his stereotype . He pump his clenched fist in the melody , one of the most memorablepop acculturation references originating inThe Breakfast Club , to show thathe realized he does n’t have to be define by his father ’s misuse ; he ’s embraced forgivingness and opened his heart to his fresh friends .
What “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” Means
Simple Minds Sings The End Credits Song
The Breakfast Clubends with one of the most memorable soundtrack phonograph needle - cliff of all metre . As the kids leave behind Saturday detention , Simple Minds ’ “ Do n’t You ( Forget About Me ) ” recoil in on the soundtrack . John Hughes uses this Song dynasty to end the movie because its lyric poem link up into the five grapheme ’ motivation .
" Do n’t You ( blank out About Me ) " was a number - one hitting on the Billboard Hot 100
The Simple Minds song refers to the characters hoping to stay champion or else of habitually render to their pre - install high school social structures . As they ’ve open up up to each other , they ’ve feel more seen and heard than ever before ; now , they want to be remembered .
What Happens On Monday?
The Breakfast Club Likely Goes Their Separate Ways A Bit
In one of thebest teen movie endings , The Breakfast Clubis deliberately ambiguous about what could happen to its main characters when they return to school on Monday . After their mortal - look Saturday , their next steps could go either style . They could snub each other and summarize their comfortable positions in the established social rescript , or they could start hanging out together on a even basis , upending that hierarchy .
The material response is probably somewhere in the middle . They might have stay separate during school day hours to keep up appearances , then receive themselves sent to Saturday detention every week so that they could have that clip together again .
What Was The Premise Of The Unmade Sequel?
John Hughes Wanted To Make A Sequel Years Later
While a continuation toThe Breakfast Clubwas never produced , John Hughes did have an idea to research the same existential themesin a different stage of the characters ’ lifetime . Anthony Michael Hall explained ,
“ [ Hughes ] did mention the potential drop of doinga sequel to The Breakfast Club . It would have been all of us in our middle age . His theme was to blame up with them in their 20s or 30 " ( viaMovieWeb ) .
Since Hughes died in 2009 , it ’s unlikelyThe Breakfast Club 2will ever get made . After the success ofTop Gun : Maverickproved ‘ 80s nostalgia is impregnable than ever , though , aBreakfast Clubsequel is n’t an impossibleness .
The Real Meaning Of The Breakfast Club’s Ending
John Hughes Believed No One Should Be Boxed In
The Breakfast Clubis about American teenagers ' struggle with identity operator in a humanity where parents and pedagogue box kids in with assuming labels . Brian ’s essay reflects the chemical group ’s soldering and their realization that they ’re not as different as they thought .
No one falls into a unimaginative category like " a brain , an athlete , a field goal causa , a princess , and a criminal . “Humans are more complex and three - dimensional than that , but people lean to lowball other people ’s astuteness . Brian ’s essay outlines whythe type ofThe Breakfast Clubrefuse to allow Mr. Vernon to vulgarise them base on those label .
The Alternate Ending Was Much Darker
The Breakfast Club Almost Had A Very Different Ending
The Breakfast Clubhad some dark moments . Brian was in detention because he brought a starter handgun to school to undertake self-annihilation , and Bender address about his male parent burning him with a cigarette . This show some darkness was already under the hood , but John Hughes almost made it much worse . The agency the movie ended left affair open for what take place next , with most viewers agreeing they remained separate after this but had a good intellect of others .
While Anthony Michael Hall said John Hughes had plans for a continuation years later , looking at where they ended up , this almost go on at the picture ’s end . The news about the alternative ending come from John Kapelos , who make for Carl the janitor ( viaReuters ) . He say Hughes was buy the farm to add a prospect break where everyone ended up , and it was n’t good .
Brian became a stockbroker who died of a heart attack at 35 . Claire will become a housewife , and Bender will terminate up in prison .
Brian became a stockbroker who decease of a essence attack at 35 . Claire will become a housewife , and Bender will stop up in prison . The Breakfast Clubmight not be as fondly remembered if Hughes had decease with this darker alternate ending . Instead , the motion-picture show keep affair light and ended on an optimistic greenback that the minor would all move on and at least learn that they could accept others and not let the world pigeonhole them . If Brian croak and Bender goes to prison house , it changes that imply completely .
How The Breakfast Club Ending Was Received
The Freeze Framer Remains An Iconic Cinematic Moment
The Breakfast Clubis one of the most iconic teenager movies of all time and the closing is a big reason for that . There are those rare moments in cinema history in which a individual frame has become iconic to many generations of fans . Slashfilmacknowledged the iconic nature of Bender clenched fist - pumping at the end ofThe Breakfast Clubwith the halt - frame minute making for an instantly placeable movie moment :
It ’s very potential that many fans of " The Breakfast Club " can not listen to Simple Minds ’s " Do n’t You ( bury About Me ) " without throw in a fist pump or two for good mensuration , and that famous scene definitely solidify Bender as one of the coolest and most bad ass characters in the entire film .
However , along with being an iconic flick instant , the end has been praised as being an idealistic one for the history it narrate . Part of this is because of how it present each of the characters a completed arc in which they are able to escape the stereotype that have been thrust upon them for so long . However , another aspect of the end that adds to how well it was received is that there are still moments that can be debated .
WhileThe Breakfast Clubcould be seen by many as receive a felicitous ending , it can also be seen as bittersweet . BFI ’s search back on the movie ’s iconic ending pointed out that these adolescent did indeed go through a releasing variety together , but questioned whether it was just a fleeting escape before returning to the realness of their high shoal hold up :
It is a bold way to finish a adolescent movie , but that boldest has madeThe Breakfast Clubending unforgettable .
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Cast
After receiving detainment , a radical of five high - school day student bond as they realize they have quite a bit in common despite being from dissimilar Quaker groups . Despite being over 35 years older , The Breakfast Club still stands as one of the quintessential movies of the ‘ 80s and one of theatre director John Hughes standout film .
