The Breakfast Club Psychology

There is one underappreciated factor in John Hughes’ 80s high school movies that make them so good, and that’s the acting. In one of the most well known films to this day, The Breakfast Club, the condescending Mr. Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason) supervises detention where five students with completely different personalities felt trapped, but by being stuck together, they learned they had more in common than they thought possible. There was an athlete, a criminal, a princess, a basket case, and a brain; Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez), John Bender (Judd Nelson), Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald), Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy), and Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall). It was performances such as Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson’s from The Breakfast
For example, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off didn’t have every character giving an emotional performance, but Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye certainly did. Ruck’s character was a follower, and didn’t stand up to people when they ordered him around. While his best friend, Ferris, was bossy only so that they could have the best day ever, Cameron’s father did it out of not caring for his son. That’s where the connection is between Cameron and the five students from The Breakfast Club, and they all had to convince the viewer that they were hurt but wouldn’t let that stop them. There was one scene where Cameron was ranting and kicking a Ferrari out of antipathy for his father, who loved a car more than him. Accidentally, he sent it flying out the window, and it was completely totaled. However, Cameron seemed to be fine. Before this, Cameron had been paralyzed out of fear of disappointing his father, but now he had the confidence to stand up to him. Alan Ruck’s performance was so moving, especially for a light-hearted comedy, that it made the viewer feel what he felt; anger, resentment, strength, happiness. This was when Cameron realized that he could and would be his own person, and if not for Ruck’s acting, that moment wouldn’t have been as