Belonging Skrzynecki/the Breakfast Club

Changing circumstances can precipitate a change in our intimate relationships. The 1980 John Hughes film The Breakfast Club may seem like just another angst filled high school movie, which in some parts it may be, but in fact, this film is unique because of its exploration of certain ideas of belonging. For example, the idea that people, no matter how different their personalities are, will bond together when they are isolated and a mutual enemy is presented to them. The Skrzynecki poem Migrant Hostel fits with this message while St Patrick’s College conveys the opposite. St Patrick’s College by Peter Skrzynecki examines Skrzynecki’s time at a Catholic college that his mother forced him to attend. He feels excluded from the moment he enters and his view does not change once he has graduated. The ominous imagery of Mary, “With outstretched arms, her face overshadowed by clouds,” supports the message that Skrzynecki felt unwelcome from his very first day at this school. “For eight years,” is repeated twice in this poem, enforcing the drudgery felt by the poet because of his lack of belonging. The poem is ended with the line “Before I let my light shine.” By using the metaphorical “light”, Skrzynecki is communicating his feeling of relief at finally being out of a dark place and being free from this place that he has formed no emotional attachment to after being there for an exceptional amount of time, which completely contrasts with The Breakfast Club. The initial feelings of being secluded and uncomfortable that are explored in St Patrick’s College are shared in the first few minutes of The Breakfast Club but while Skrzynecki remains excluded, the characters in The Breakfast Club congeal together and find hope in their unfortunate circumstances. The high angled shot of the characters in detention in-between low angled shots of the teacher convey the students’ lack of authority. It shows that they are powerless in their presence at detention and their resignation to this fact by their slumped postures. A medium-long shot is directed at the group of tables that the students were placed in, exploring their proximity and segregation. They are all at least one seat apart with the “popular” kids at the front and the “unpopular” kids at the back, ascertaining how the stereotypes are more comfortable amongst themselves. As the movie progresses and the detainees begin to know one another, another medium-long shot is used to display the change in structure of the group. In this particular shot, all of the students are sitting on the ground with relaxed postures, making eye contact with one another, greatly juxtaposing their first few minutes in detention and displaying the trust they now have for each other. These detainees, when forced into isolation together have developed a genuine, caring relationship. A similar concept is disclosed in Skrzynecki’s Migrant Hostel where groups of migrants find each other in a foreign land to try and find comfort in things that are familiar. By labelling the migrants as “newcomers”, Skrzynecki is making it clear that their state of belonging has not yet been established and, therefore, creating a feeling of uncertainty and alienation. The simile “like a homing pigeon,” communicates how quickly the different nationalities found each other, trying to find some familiarity in this alien circumstance. The fact that they did not choose this change is enforced by the use of the simile, “like birds of passage,” because, birds of passage that change location during different season do so for their own survival and wellbeing, as did these migrants. In poems written later in Skrzynecki’s life such as Felicks Skrzynecki, it is evident that the migrants’ sense of belonging has shifted by the high modality utilised in the line, “Happy as I have never been,” relaying Felicks’ – a former migrant - contentment within himself and his surroundings, similar to the ending of The Breakfast Club. As the students in the movie The Breakfast Club leave detention, it is extremely evident that they have broken through their socioeconomic boundaries and accepted one another for who they are. There are close ups of John and Claire; and Andrew and Allison becoming closer and closer until they kiss, which signifies that they have grown to trust and love one another. The voice over of the essay that Brian wrote to their teacher is read as John walks across the field and raises his fist in the air at the moment the essay finishes. This provides a powerful and triumphant atmosphere to end the movie, wrapping up the story perfectly and enhancing the intended message. The group had found that, although they were stereotyped differently, their personalities included so many more aspects than originally thought. Every one of them was a brain; an athlete; a basket case; a princess; and a criminal. If they hadn’t been forced into such a situation, they might’ve never discovered this and come to accept themselves. Bonds may or may not be strengthened when a group is isolated and presented with a common enemy. This common enemy may be anything; a teacher, school or an alien community but the most important factor in becoming part of a group is similarity and compatibility, whether that is superficial and evident straight away, or discovered after an amount of time. Skrzynecki showed in St Patrick’s College that he was unable to find any similarities in his school environment which is why he remained alienated. The characters in Migrant Hostel and The Breakfast Club, however, were able to find similarities within others and enrich their own sense of belonging and comfort.