Pretty in Pink
John Hughes, The Eternal Teenager: An Appreciation
A Tribute to the Man Behind The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles
Aug 07, 2009
John Hughes
What does it mean that the man who defined adolescence for an entire generation has died?
The sudden death of John Hughes today—after suffering a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan—creates a void not unlike that left upon the deaths of Elvis Presley, John Lennon or James Dean. Even if his best work was long behind him, he redefined for American culture what it meant to be a teenager.
Every generation gets its own teen films, but a John Hughes movie stood out, tackling the teen years with a sense of honesty and empathy that didn’t often show up on screen either before or after he crafted his most lasting body of work. As such, Hughes created the most significant and lasting teen films since Rebel Without A Cause and American Graffiti.
By and large, the teen movies that preceded Hughes’ core body of work—which included Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Pretty in Pink and others—were either vapid cash-ins hunting for teen dollars (Gidget, Beach Blanket Bingo, et al) or scare films of sorts like The Delinquents or High School Confidential; movies that depicted teenagers as aberrant, anti-social, drug-addled and generally gone off-the-rails.
But even as the early ‘80s gave birth to the teen sex comedy in films like Porky’s and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Hughes’ movies were the antithesis of those pictures. Whether it was Ferris Bueller, Brian Johnson or Samantha Baker, the teens that inhabited a Hughes movie weren’t solely sexual animals seeking release. Granted, there were elements of that, but—similar to real, live, actual teenagers—that was only a fraction of their personalities. They were human, with commonplace dreams and fears: dates, popularity, concert tickets, something cool to do over the weekend.
The relationship between Ferris and Jeannie Bueller remains one of the most lasting and affecting moments in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, in part because of the real emotions involved—Ferris’s frustration at life’s inherent rules; Jeannie’s jealousy that her brother will likely coast through life on charisma, completely ignoring those rules; their mutual competition for parental affection. Yet there’s also the sense that, beneath their differences, the two siblings actually love one another.
Though he was a filmmaker and not a musician, Hughes’ role as a chronicler of adolescence owes much to his keen use of song. Whether it’s Ferris leading Chicago in “Twist & Shout!” or Duckie’s “Try A Little Tenderness” from Pretty In Pink, Hughes unabashedly understood that sometimes—and for teens, very oftentimes—music provides a more cathartic release than talking ever could, and he wasn’t afraid to commit that feeling to film.
Even the notion of “‘80s music” is in part defined by Hughes’ soundtracks and his understanding of the passionate emotional touchstones music plays in teenage life. And even if the musical moments were occasionally a bit hokey—such as dancing in the library to Karla DeVito’s “We Are Not Alone” in The Breakfast Club—others hit their mark with perfection, such as Dream Academy’s rendition of The Smiths’ “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Hughes’ directed eight films between 1984 and 1991, but penned dozens of others throughout his career. He stepped away from the camera after 1991’s Curly Sue, but by that time he’d largely moved on from the type of pictures that made him a household name. For much of the rest of his career he often wrote for family films, everything from Home Alone and Beethoven to Miracle on 34th Street and 101 Dalmations. Under a penname he even provided the story to 2008’s cinematic train wreck Drillbit Taylor, a saddening coda to such a meaningful body of work.
But it’s interesting that, after spending so much of his career absorbed in teen culture, the man remained fixated on the curious ways in which childhood and adolescence shape us, rather than delving into what finally comes as a result of all that personal sculpting.
John Hughes is gone and no one’s going to replace him. It says something that few have really even attempted to, though if anyone’s come close it might surprisingly be Judd Apatow. Beneath all the dick and fart jokes, Apatow’s characters contain a Hughesian humanity and vulnerability, most touchingly glimpsed in the short-lived TV series Freaks and Geeks.
For the vast ways in which he altered the landscape of adolescence, it’s fitting that Hughes’ legacy lives on not only in his own films (surely soon to be rushed out in a commemorative DVD-package cash-in), but in records like M83’s John Hughes-influenced Saturdays=Youth, books like Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and television shows like Glee and the aforementioned Freaks and Geeks.
So throw your fist in the air and turn up some Simple Minds for John Hughes, gone off to that great big high school in the sky. Life moves pretty fast—here’s to a man smart enough to stop and look around once in a while so he wouldn’t miss it.
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Comments
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August 7th 2009
2:59am
:)
August 7th 2009
4:09am
John Hughes taught me what it meant to be a teenager and introduced me to the smiths…for this I will always be grateful! And Aaron this piece was amazing!
October 30th 2009
5:19pm
I will always be grateful! And Aaron this piece was amazing!
October 30th 2009
5:20pm
Well, most touchingly glimpsed in the short-lived TV series Freaks and Geeks.
October 30th 2009
5:22pm
John Hughes taught me what it meant to be a teenager and introduced me to the smiths…for this I will always be grateful!
October 30th 2009
5:22pm
Hey , very nice articles.
November 4th 2009
9:21am
John Hughes was my ideal and can’t forget him.
November 12th 2009
9:59am
John Hughes was a great film director, producer and writer. I like very much his films.
December 1st 2009
2:06pm
great site hgh
December 18th 2009
7:46am
May god bless him.He has done great job in his life.
February 10th 2010
5:38am
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April 15th 2010
8:14pm
I guess I was around at the right age and time to really enjoy these movies.
May 7th 2010
9:11am
The contribution of John Hughes in the film industry is beyond the boundaries. His work is unforgettable and fascinating. His sudden death was a great shock for his fans. He explored in his film the curious ways in which childhood and adolescence shape us. His place in the industry is irreplaceable. He was really a great soul. Most of the films of his career are Family films. His experiences of life used to reflect from the films he made and the way he presented them. Home alone was a big hit and I liked it the most.
July 3rd 2010
4:38am
I am quite impressed and just wanted to let you know that you did a fine job on this article. However, I do have some unanswered questions that I would like to ask you. I will contact you via email so that you can clear some of these things up for me. Again, very well written article. Keep up the good work.
August 21st 2010
4:20pm
Today’s young women have slept with three times as many men as girls of the same age in the so-called ‘Swinging Sixties’, known for mini skirts, the Rolling Stones and drugs, according to a study.
Despite the image of practicing free love, the average 24-year-old woman in the 1960s had 1.72 sexual partners. On the other hand, today’s women of the same age have an average of 5.65 bed partners, which is more than her mother who is likely to have had 3.72 partners.
The study of 3,000 females of all ages, conducted by the chain Lloydspharmacy, comes as the chain voices fears of increased sexual health risks for women at a time when screening and better information should be reducing it.
A Lloydspharmacy spokeswoman said that cervical cancer rates in women under 25 have not decreased over the past decades despite better screening, possibly because of the greater number of partners, reports the Scotsman.
The chain is promoting a campaign for women to get a vaccine against HPV - the human papilloma virus - which is a sexually transmitted infection and a major cause of cervical cancer.
August 23rd 2010
2:17pm
I have stepped away from the camera after 1991’s Curly Sue, but by that time he’d largely moved on from the type of pictures that made him a household name. For much of the rest of his careered he often wrote for family films, everything from Home Alone and Beethoven to Miracle on 34th Street and 101 Dalmations…nose smaller
October 5th 2010
10:49am
It’s just so sad to lose a legendary guy like John Hughes. He will always remain a the cute teenage guy in the hearts of his fans. May you rest in eternal peace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40QhLU0FVnQ
October 5th 2010
3:45pm
Everyone in this world is unique. No one could replace you.
October 8th 2010
7:08pm
John Hughes’ movie which tackled about teen years with a sense of honesty and empathy stood out. So that’s what he’s famous of. And when he died, many remembered.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B1ZJfdHXxs
October 13th 2010
2:41pm
John Hughes is great. He really made a name. I hope I could see some of his works. Especially those related to teenagers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40QhLU0FVnQ
October 31st 2010
7:30am
I love John Hughes in Pretty in Pink. He’s also my mother’s ultimate crush. He’ll be missed dearly.
November 18th 2010
2:05pm
John Hughes films were the lifeblood of the eighties. Every one of them where classics featuring some of the brightest young stars who formed the brat pack of the time. Stars like Emilio Esteves, Robert Downie Junior, Lea Thompson and Demi Moore to name just a few. My personal favourite was the legendary “The Breakfast Club”. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it, but it must be a least twenty times and I never tire of watching it when it comes on the TV.
November 21st 2010
8:54am
Great Post! I love to read articles that are informative and beneficial for us. Thank You for sharing your knowledge.
February 22nd 2011
5:39am
What a fabulous post this has been.I am grateful to you and expect more number of posts like these. Thank you very much
March 1st 2011
8:12am
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March 1st 2011
4:02pm
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March 15th 2011
4:22am
Awesome characters. Thanks for providing such important information.
March 23rd 2011
9:16pm
John Hughes was an amazing talent indeed. It’s a shame he was gone so young.
March 25th 2011
2:29am
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March 28th 2011
1:52am
Thanks for taking this opportunity to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and I take pleasure in learning about this topic.
March 30th 2011
8:11pm
I love The Breakfast Club! It is one of my all time favorites!
March 31st 2011
1:47am
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April 18th 2011
1:26am
This man is actually very famous in all the movies that have hit the block bluster.
April 19th 2011
1:39pm
Great actor!
April 27th 2011
1:12pm
I recently came across your article and have been reading along. I want to express my admiration of your writing skill and ability to make readers read from the beginning to the end. I would like to read newer posts and to share my thoughts with you.
April 28th 2011
2:35am
Thanks for taking this opportunity to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and I take pleasure in learning about this topic.
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May 4th 2011
4:36am
Oh this man’s great. Well Rest in peace!
May 8th 2011
2:50pm
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May 11th 2011
11:41pm
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May 12th 2011
11:26pm
Its nice to be a teen…Full of bonding..I like your idea!
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May 16th 2011
12:29am
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May 16th 2011
1:54am
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June 18th 2011
10:01am
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9:37am
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12:23pm
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August 12th 2011
9:44am
Shocking to hear! I do remember him from a number of movies. Even in his older age he seemed not to have lost his youngish outlook. Blessings!
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5:19am
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6:37am
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October 7th 2011
10:30am
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October 8th 2011
9:15pm
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November 29th 2011
5:03pm
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January 24th 2012
3:14am
Great photos. I hope I could be able to view some more.
February 1st 2012
9:05am
Such a great tribute! I miss seeing John in movies! It would have been great if there will be a remake of his movies.
April 28th 2012
3:39pm
What a loss! John Hughes was such a good filmmaker realistically and starkly projecting the times in which he lived. His films gave life to the eighties. Every one of them was a classic in itself and will live and be relevant for a long time to come. What age can dim such a legendary as “The Breakfast Club”?
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