2016-06-07

The Breakfast Club

Perhaps John Hughes’ greatest triumph, The Breakfast Club takes us inside the lives of five high school students who have been imprisoned together for a Saturday of detention.  Ever since its release viewers have been relating to the plights of these students.  While they are each unique, chances are one of them will remind you of yourself.  The geek, the jock, the popular girl, the bad boy, the possibly mentally disturbed loner – high school had them all.  What the film shows though is that we all have parts of each of those characters within us, and that is what brings us together.

“You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.”

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

Dude!  No way!  Yes way!  Man, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is one righteous movie.  Two high school misfits find themselves on an amazing journey through time, and through it they discover the joy of history, forge an ever better friendship, and cement their place in history as some of the greatest rock musicians of all time.  Bill and Ted’s adventures do promote something positive though – no matter who you are or what you are going through you can always have an impact on the future.  Your music might even be the basis for an entire civilization!

“Hi, welcome to the future. San Dimas, California, 2688. And I'm telling you it's great here. The air is clean, the water's clean, even the dirt, it's clean. Bowling averages are way up, mini-golf scores are way down. And we have more excellent water slides than any other planet we communicate with. I'm telling you this place is great! But it almost wasn't. You see, 700 years ago, the two great ones, ran into a few problems. So now I have to travel back in time to help them out. If I should fail to keep these two on the correct path, the basis of our society will be in danger. Don't worry, it'll all make sense. I'm a professional.” 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

We all want to get away every now and then.  Ferris Bueller’s crazy high school escape is a great way to live vicariously.  Who doesn’t want to dance in a parade, go to a baseball game, go swimming, or drive a sweet car?  More than that though, Ferris and co. remind us that we CAN take a break.  Life is here for the living, and usually the only thing keeping us from loosening up is ourselves.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” 

Back to the Future

Back to the Future explores the nature of high school in two very different eras.  Like many great high school films, it examines the relationship between teens and their parents, but with quite a twist!  Marty McFly gets to see who his parents were at his age, and from them he learns an important lesson – even the smallest of decisions can have a huge impact on your future. 

“Marvin, you gotta play. See that's where they kiss for the first time on the dance floor. And if there's no music, they can't dance. If they can't dance, they can't kiss. If they can't kiss they can't fall in love, and I'm history.” 

Sixteen Candles

When you’re a teenager it sometimes feels like everything that could go wrong will go wrong.  Actually, that happens as an adult too, except the problems are generally a bit more serious.  The plight of teenager Sam is one we can all relate to, but it’s fun to escape to a world where the biggest problems are all about boys and getting the proper amount of attention on your birthday.  True to life though, in the movie everything somehow works out.

"Would you stop feeling sorry for yourself? It's bad for your complexion." 

Footloose

Sometimes you’ve just got to dance.  There will always be people who don’t want you to dance, but what they think isn’t important – just dance.  Even dancing in anger is better than not dancing at all.

"I just don't know if I believe in everything that you believe in. But I believe in you." 

Pretty In Pink

Teen romance films generally stray away from the really heavy issues, but not Pretty In Pink.  The movie follows a sweet love story with the backdrop of a family in poverty, which has a large effect on protagonist Andie.  The boy she likes is from a different social class, and it turns out he likes her too.  Unfortunately his friends do not follow suit.  Her quest to find a dress, an afterthought for many, becomes central for her being accepted by her classmates.  The lesson?  If two people are meant to be together, no amount of social pressure should stop them.  Also, Duckie is just fantastic.

 "I just want them to know that they didn't break me."

'Flags of Our Fathers'
Nominee: Best Spiritual Film of 2006 Read next feature >
More from beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad