That scene where he gets himself caught by Vernon in order to get the rest of the detainees from getting in more trouble kinda proves he's more than an arrogant kid with a devil may care attitude. He was a selfless guy who was willing to take the proverbial bullet for others.
Not entirely selfless. Remember that he had a bag of weed on him which Vernon might find. He puts the weed in the least likely place (Brian's pants) then draws attention to himself because a) he's used to being in trouble and b) Vernon will assume it's just Bender being Bender. What's the first thing he does when left alone? Breaks out to get his weed. He does share, so it's not a total dick move
@@rayvega3163 i was in detention all the time. But it has never taken place on a Saturday. My parents said that in the 80s when they were in high school they had detention on Saturdays. My dad pretty much lived in there and its actually where he met my mom.
I love how much about their personalities we learn by the subtle things like Allison's squeak and Brian struggling to tell the rest that he has issues with his parents. She clearly is terrified by a man yelling so you know someone in her life screams at her and it's scarring. Brian is expected to be the perfect child and when he tries to vent he gets shut down, being told he's a perfect child. But he has his own problems. Even though everyone tells him he doesn't so he gets no sympathy. Bender carries a knife because he's scared that at any point anyone could be a threat and he has to keep up his guard. His whole life he's been at the mercy of an abusive father and so he feels he needs to protect himself. These are the kinds of things that make these characters into living breathing people.
Judd Nelson's acting was absolutely phenomenal, it made the movie. The others were great too.....but let's face it, Nelson stole the spotlight!! Paul Gleason is underrated.
When I first saw TBC in the theater as a young teen, Bender was the protagonist i identified with most in film and that remained the case for decades. Nowadays and after dozens of rewatches, Carl the janitor has become my favorite. He is the TBC sage.
Let's be fair, not one character has the lead role. Removing any character would ruin the film. That being said, I just love Allison. How she embraces her weirdness and is cool with that. And that she does nothing for 4/5 of the movie, but contributes a lot to the conclusion. However, I relate more to Carl as I'm a wisecracking cleaner.
Dear Mr. Vernon: We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us… In the simplest terms and 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. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.
I disagree with that true the stereotypes are not a complete personality assessment but you can't be a "brain" unless you are smart and you can't be a jock if you are not into sports and you won't be a basket case unless you were abused or something or a princess unless you are spoiled etc. There is a reason people are the way they are.
+Jacks Master Videos I think she was always pretty, I just thought it was nice to really be able to see her face. Otherwise, it's not like she actually needed to change her appearance to look better because she was already attractive.
Jacks Broken Heart his parents are abusive. A bit further from hatred, but I agree. He went into detention so he wouldn’t have to deal with them. But the thing is, that would just make them worse, therefore treating him worse, therefore more detentions for him and then it’s just a whole viscous cycle. Poor boy.
Bender's character is the most believeable for me. I was him for most of my life too. Bender won't fight the Principal. That is THE best part. No matter how much he's provoked. Schools should show this film in high schools and colleges too. Peace. P.S. John Hughes genius.
One of my favorite high school teachers had our parents sign waiver forms for us to watch and discuss TBC in a senior English class. It was glorious, and not just because our teacher agreed Bender was the smartest character in the Club.
That fact that when the teacher stood over bender asking him to punch him, you can see the fear in bender's eyes as it would make him just like his father, which is what he fears most.
No you god damn idiots.. Its because he was locked up and nobody would actually believe the teacher punched him because he has no power. The teacher wouldnt get the blame but if john hit him he would probably get jail time. And he could have killed andrew but he never wanted to fight physically anyways. Not everyone wrestles mate during a fight, many use knife straight away.
@@DirtyFan2 It's a mix. The teacher basically used emotional abuse tactics to try to trigger a reaction to validate him physically abusing this kid. John was terrified of several things in this moment. The teacher, the situation he was in and what he would have to do if he followed any self defensive impulses. That is not only bound to that solitary moment. It meant, if he had acted, that he'd be forced to break or become what he hates. He'd have to choose physical or mental torture.
I said that once...I jumped outta our second story Spanish room window...n ipassed by the biolab on the fist florr..when icame inside...our wrestling coach saw me...and that's literally what I said when he caught me....lol......swear to God....Greenfield high school class of 02' p.s. thanks Mrs. Najera for not adding more punishment for jumping outta ur class....(I know in hindsight I clda pote tially cost u your job..so thank you..... also p.s......i had the biggest crush on u in high school
"I expected a little more from a Varsity Letterman" lol yeah I see it. And he challenges Bender to a fight in the Janitor's closet, and he hardly acknowledges Allison.
OMG I told one of my teachers who was really ticking me off to eat my shorts and he just started laughing and said "Go sit in the hall" so in retaliation I sat there until he asked me if I wanted detention to which I said "I'd be thrilled" and he said to the class "Ladies and gentlemen we have a new Bender in this class!" Totally made my day
Greatest movie in the 80`s when I was a teenager.John Bender )Judd Nelson) WAS the movie. It`s said that Nicolas cage was ment for the role as John Bender. But they couldn`t afford his salery. Can you imagine Cage as John Bender??? Good God I`m glad they went for Judd Nelson
come on held back i new kids would just dropped out and never showed up back again,hell i seen kids in my class fail in elementary school, but just got push threw and onto high school.
When you get old enough you realize that bender is the most important character he’s the one that broke the conformity he made them all see each other for who they really are
Y'know, Bender was actually the smartest of them all. Yeah, all of them learned in school what you need to get through life, but Bender knows from his unfortunate experience how horrible life can be due to the abuse/neglect he's gone through.
There actually was suppost to be more, one every ten or so years, but since Judd Nelson's rude comments toward Molly Ringwald and others on set, John huges said he'd never work with Judd ever again. (Therefore, no more.)
04:00 'Instead of prison, you'll come here.' The writing in this movie was phenomenal. Besides the story, the placement, execution and directing was spot on. This movie is loaded with great lines.
I slept through this popular shit as a kid and thought it was mainstream crap, but the things you point out make me think I was not the target audience, and this move was actually clever. Thank you?
@@rickstalentedtongue910 It wasn't the only stereotypes in 1980-s High School, but I knew kids who fit into all five of these categories. The Breakfast Club at least has a moral message to not just judge a book by the cover, even seemingly bad people may have more going on, and even the seemingly well adjusted are still dealing with stuff.
One of the best movies ever made! Every high schooler and every high school teacher in the country should watch this movie! It would solve a lot of problems that we face today.
I went to school with a kid like him. I remember he got mad because everyone in PE was arguing, so he yelled "I'm sick of all this hate!" and he punched a wall... Kids like him made high school entertaining.
Still one of the best movies to come out of the 80's. It was the greatest decade. Thankfully I was there to see and live it. John Hughes is a genius. This movie helped define a generation like no other. My generation. Thank you.
I always loved the scene where Andy is taking out his lunch. I also love when Andy trips after he moves the magazine thing. it's a small thing, but I find it hilarious.
One of those movies I can watch over and over and never get bored. I was in junior high when it came out and when i watched it as an adult I picked up so many more things from the movie that as a kid you don't really "get". You really do see what a great job the actors do through the subtleties throughout the movie.
I first saw this movie in German school during English class. The teacher, a British stiff upper lip stuffy fellow thought this was a violent movie. I laughed. I loved it. It is a great movie.
"Saturday march 24th, 1984. Sherman Highschool, Sherman illinois. 60062." I've been able to recite this movie since a kid. I can quote just about every line word for word.
fun fact for this movie sorry for the best 1985 movie of all time is that Judd Nelson actually went to a high school and did what Bender would do in high school and that is caused a lot of trouble
Matt Groening is a fan of this movie so bad that "eat my shorts" is a catch phrase that Bart Simpson use all the time, and also he named "Bender" of Futurama after the Character in the movie.
Watching this movie makes me want to go back to high school and smoke weed between classes. Just chill with my friends and have some laughs, having an overall perspective of life and taking things easy. I always took my schoolwork too seriously and now I realise it was a complete waste of time. In life, what matters is determination, perseverance, resilience, good health, visualising your goals, treating yourself and people well etc. The grades you get in school really don't matter at all.
When Andy pins Bender down, notice how Bender barely struggles. He freezes up pretty quick out of fear. He does his best to tense up and go down as easily as he can so it won't hurt as much. Because he's used to being roughed up and hit and hurt, and he knows that if he hits back it's gonna come back twice as hard and twice as damaging. So he just takes it. And he makes some small noises and you can tell me might be having some flashbacks.
I went to school with someone like John Bender I won't say his name because of private reasons but his mom was in jail his dad was mean and his grandmother took care of him. He was really smart and told me he considered me a friend even though we never really got along often. Point of this is that he was a misunderstood kid and I hope the best for him
"You just bought yourself another Saturday." "Well I'm free the Saturday after that, but past that I'm gonna have to check my schedule." Bender rlly is the best part of this movie lol
I was a mix of John Bender and Jeff Spicoli in high school (I actually looked like both those characters). Being the VERY rebellious kid that I was, in my junior year I absolutely refused to go to my 4th period class because I hated it. My "Richard Vernon" Principal was so frustrated and angry that he stuck me in an empty class room and that was my class for 4th period. I would kick back and put my feet up on the desk and sleep. Sometimes other kids would cut class and hang out with me. True story...
The "eat my shorts" scene was great. In "Not Another Teen Movie", it was perfectly parodied, right down to Paul Gleason playing the principal, and the kid's outfit was exactly the same as Bender.
I was born in the early '80s. Frankly, this movie and Ferris Bueller's Day Off were the only redeemable things about that decade. Otherwise the '80s sucked. The '90s were awesome though - thats the decade I wish we could bring back.
