An Inter-Generational Dialogue About John Hughes’ Films
Posted by anastasia on 08-07-2009
We decided to borrow Slate’s letter writing format between its TV critics as a way for me (a Gen Xer) and Ypulse’s managing editor Meredith Sires (a Gen Yer) to talk about what John Hughes’ passing has meant to both of us….It was kind of a fun experiment. Let us know what you think!
Dear Meredith,
For many Xers, it has been a tough couple of months losing Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. But while Michael my have influenced my jazz dance class routines and Farrah may have been responsible for cutting feathers into my hair, the loss [yesterday] of director John Hughes cuts much deeper. For me, growing up as a Jewish teen in Nashville, TN, and originally being from the Northeast, I never really felt like I fit into southern culture. My initial response was to rebel by attempting to be the class clown, getting in trouble by challenging teachers in a way that I thought gave me a certain amount of “cred” with other students. Pushing the limits and doing what they wouldn’t dare. I also never felt like I could measure up to the pretty, typically blond, southern preppy girl standard that defined popularity in both middle and high school.
For me, and I would guess, for countless other girls like me, John Hughes gave us the gift of Molly Ringwald. It started with “Sixteen Candles,” where despite her not being blond and as well endowed as Caroline (and being a mere sophomore!) – she could still turn senior Jake Ryan’s head and eventually, his heart. Her self deprecation, crazy family and being worshiped by the freshman nerds just made her all the more REAL. It gave us permission to accept that not being “Caroline” was more than ok – that we were equally attractive in our own way. This continued with “The Breakfast Club” – even though Molly played the princess, she still defied type, i.e. not stereotypical looking and loving the bad boy – and of course we had the amazing Ally Sheedy to fill the role of the “basket case” who was also beautiful underneath all her defenses. Then finally in “Pretty in Pink,” Molly’s Andie was the embodiment of alternative – punk friends, vintage and DIY clothes, cool car, broken home and still desired by the richies.
As I read this, I realize it might sound like I’m thankful John Hughes made me realize you could be yourself AND still be desired by rich, preppy, popular guys. Hmmmm. While that never really happened for me, these three Hughes classics and their heroines, especially Molly, definitely gave me permission to feel ok about being different. Thoughts?
- Anastasia
Dear Anastasia,
It’s so interesting to hear you and other Gen Xers talk about John Hughes with this sense of intimacy. As if he and his films were actually in dialogue with you and your peers (not entirely untrue apparently). For me, hearing the news of his death, while still emotional, felt like much more of a symbolic loss. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that by the time I was introduced to his films, Hughes himself was already virtually out of the picture. Or maybe it’s because even though my friends and I cherished “Breakfast Club”, “Sixteen Candles” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” they always felt more like parables of “teen life” than a slice from our own existence (for one thing, our labels were much more internalized). Not to say they felt anything like an after school special (“Sixteen Candles” was probably one the first “racy” movies I ever saw). More like in the way that the voice of a Judy Blume character (a comparison I saw you made yesterday on Twitter) could seem both dated and completely relevant at the same time — part of the appeal was that it was just refreshing (and maybe a little reassuring) to hear naked teen angst, not cloaked in 90s irony. Of course, looking back Hughes’ films did clearly inspire so many of those tongue-in-cheek teen films that I did grow up with – “Can’t Hardly Wait,” “Clueless” and “Mean Girls.”
- Meredith
Dear Meredith,
In some ways, I feel like I have to apologize for all the irony because I fear that much of it stems from Gen Xers writing/creating the movies/pop culture your generation has grown up with. It’s probably just what happens as you get older and then try to write about teen life while drawing on your own in retrospect. And it’s not just irony, it’s all the 80s references in shows like “Family Guy” and even shows like “The O.C.” and “Gossip Girl,” which were created by Josh Schwartz (Xer). Not that being a teen has changed so dramatically, but it would be interesting to see a version of teen life on film or the small screen driven by someone squarely from your generation and how it would be different. Does class play as big of a role as it did in Hughes’ classics where Andie clearly lived on the wrong side of the tracks? What about race? I doubt we would see a character like Long Duck Dong today – but was the quiet Asian character on Gossip Girl really any more well rounded? And in Sixteen Candles, Sam’s parents literally forget her birthday. Would that ever happen to today’s hyper connected teens who tend to be closer to their parents? Interestingly, I think what’s missing from the fare you reference as being spawned by Hughes’ film legacy (and created by Xers), including Mean Girls (which comes closest IMHO), is that they tend to lack the sometimes awkward emotional space Hughes gave his characters to visibly be their stereotypes but be questioning them at the same time without any irony or being highly stylized (MTV effect). I’m also curious about the music in the movies you grew up with – are those soundtracks as emblazoned in your psyche as the songs “Pretty in Pink” and “Don’t you forget about me” are in mine?
- Anastasia
Dear Anastasia,
Hah. No apologies necessary! The irony and 80s references probably played just as much, if not more of an integral role in my childhood/teen years as Blume and Hughes’ earnest material. And really, I wouldn’t have it any other way. As I said, as much as I love the films, they were more comforting and reassuring to me than anything else. I would never have sat down to watch “The Breakfast Club” TV show or (perish the thought) a modern day sequel to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” It was much more entertaining to see that source material filtered through the lens of your generation and become the inspiration for original films/TV shows that riffed off the archetypes Hughes captured. And that goes for the issues of class and race, too. Even though it feels like teen films (and other forms of media) are still struggling with how to authentically represent the whole spectrum of teens both socio-economically and ethnically, there have been some recent examples (“Napoleon Dynamite,” the mathletes in “Mean Girls,” “Harold and Kumar”) that to me show signs of real progress in going beyond the “simplest terms, the most convenient definitions.” As for the awkward pauses, I think/hope they’re making a comeback with films like “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” and “Superbad”, but I agree that the girls and guys I saw on screen were a lot less realistic looking/sounding than the not-so-polished versions Hughes created. Finally, yes! The music was key. I treasured those soundtracks and remember how cool it was when “Clueless” VHS came complete with the Supergrass music video. Ohh, the days before DVD bonus features…
- Meredith
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