The Breakfast Club

14 Pages 3464 Words

administrators to punish, reform and deter schoolboys and schoolgirls from breaking any rules and regulations. The scene is narrated by the brain of the group, the know it all, dorky, goofy, nerd whose idea of fun was to grow fungus and compete in the academic decathlon. In a dry and sardonic voice he leads you into the movie and their day in detention.

Stereotypes abound in life, but in high school the social caste system is magnified, into a hierarchy of cool to zero, with subtle varying degrees in the spectrum. "The Breakfast Club" characterizes this phenomena by depicting the jock, the brain, the emotional wreck, the princess, and the juvenile delinquent. In the movie each character is representative of the social class to which they belong. The jock signifies the sports star that can do no wrong, but the movie character bullies another boy and when caught all he receives is detention. Although on the other hand the delinquent who is a dope smoking, foul mouthed punk, received the same punishment for talking back to a teacher. Administrators and teachers are very quick to mete out severe punishment to those students that they have deemed worthless, while good kids get a slap on the wrist. The movie's jock is placed in Saturday detention, instead of being suspended, so that he may wrestle in an upcoming tournament; a case in which Hollywood makes an accurate depiction. This is the holding of power that Wehlage and Rutter spoke about in their study, High School and Beyond. Students who receive better treatment seem to do better in school when subjected to an orderly environment, a committed and caring faculty, and an emphasis on academic pursuits

The movie goes on to compare and contrast the princess and the basketcase, both seventeen year old girls who evoke male attention, yet one is the cool crowd prom queen and the other is the loser, burned out weirdo. Brian, the narrating brain, is a fifteen-year-old sophomore wh...