RELEASED IN 1985, The Breakfast Club is easily one of the most acclaimed coming-of-age films in cinematic history.
Directed by John Hughes and starring Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy, the film told the story of five high school students who are forced to spend a Saturday together in detention.
Each a member of a different clique, the characters clash before ultimately finding a common ground in an ‘all’s well that ends well’ Hollywood ending.
Given the esteem in which the film is held in the public’s consciousness, it’s perhaps no surprise that Molly Ringwald’s recent assessment has divided movie fans.
Analysing the movie within the #MeToo framework, Molly, who played Claire Standish, said she was troubled by her character’s treatment.
In a lengthy piece written for The New Yorker, the actress, now 50, explains that she re-watched the film with her 10-year-old daughter, and found the Claire and Bender storyline problematic.
At one point in the film, the bad boy character, John Bender, ducks under the table where my character, Claire, is sitting, to hide from a teacher. While there, he takes the opportunity to peek under Claire’s skirt and, though the audience doesn’t see, it is implied that he touches her inappropriately.
Molly argues that the treatment was not isolated to one particular scene, adding that Judd Nelson’s character displayed signs of misogyny throughout the film, but ultimately went unpunished.
What’s more, as I can see now, Bender sexually harasses Claire throughout the film. When he’s not sexualising her, he takes out his rage on her with vicious contempt, calling her ‘pathetic,’ mocking her as ‘Queenie.’ It’s rejection that inspires his vitriol.
The article, which examines her own career trajectory, John Hughes’ impact on cinema, and the prevalence of misogyny within the movie industry, questions the culture of the time when the character of Bender still manages to ‘get the girl in the end’.
Molly’s assessment of the film has divided Twitter, with some lauding the article as an important piece of culture and cinematic analysis, while others have criticised the piece for ‘disparaging’ the work of John Hughes.
Take a look; it’s a mixed bag.
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