Stereotypes In The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American movie written and directed by John Hughes. The movie focuses on five different teenagers, each of which fits a typical stereotype. Each teen is introduced individually, displaying the traits of their respective stereotypes. The audience is first introduced to Claire, the preppy, popular girl, referred to as “The Prom Queen” in the script. Next, the audience is introduced to Brian, the nerd, or geek, of the group. Following Brian, the audience is introduced to Andrew, the popular athlete, referred to as “The Jock” in the script. In the shortest introductions, the audience is given a small glimpse of John Bender, although at this time the stereotype he fits is not known, a short observation of the physical attributes and clothing style will reveal to the audience that John Bender fills the role of the rebel or delinquent. The final member of the group is introduced in a short fashion as well. Allison, steps out of a car, dressed in dark clothing, with dark hair and makeup, is the outcast, or introvert of the group. Each stereotype represented by the teens is predicated on the general idea of high school cliques and the categories they generally fall into.

Conformity is defined by Aronson (1988) as ‘a change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people.

The Breakfast Club is a classic 1980’s film depicting the various lives of a group of extremely diverse high school students; each dealing with and trying to overcome their own obstacles and challenges. Despite the initial conflict between the characters due to them all coming from different backgrounds and social cliques, they soon learn that they are not all so different from one another and are each struggling with similar problems within themselves and their personal lives. They eventually learn to accept the differences between each other and realize the falseness of some of their internalized values and stereotypes that they hold against others and themselves. The Breakfast club perfectly exhibits how stereotypes effect our lives, illustrates

John Hughes masterfully captures the shades of adolescent stereotypes and interactions, the culture clash between adolescents and adults, and the role that parents play in modeling the high school experience of each adolescent. The Breakfast Club follows five different teenagers throughout the course of a day as they are forced to endure detention on a Saturday. Each character symbolizes a classic adolescent prototype: the athlete, the basket case, the brain, the criminal, and the princess. At first, the adolescents separate themselves and make judgments and assumptions about each other based on the stereotype they each characterize. As the film develops, the characters start to move past these stereotypes to recognize they have

The American Dream, the most sought-after idea and accomplishment in America. The dream of a white picket fence, the big house, some kids and a happy family; however, the American Dream is different for every person in America. In all actuality, there is no set definition of the American Dream, it varies from person to person as they dream of what they want their life to look like as they begin adulthood. The American Dream is a fantasy of happiness and accomplishment, but what a lot of parents do not realize, is that when they dream about the accomplishments they hope for their family, they create unattainable expectations and a pressure-filled life for their children. This was the case for The Breakfast Club, each of their lives were different,

The movie “The Breakfast Club” is a movie that clearly demonstrates how people can come to relate to one another regardless of their individual personality or lifestyle. Five teenagers, who are from very different stereotypical cliques: the popular, the athletic jock, the nerd, and the outcasts, all end up in Saturday detention together. Although none of them knew each other and at first don’t think they have anything in common, they begin to see each other apart from their stereotypes and realize they actually do have things in common. They find out qualities about each other that allow them to see each other differently. Peer pressure, parental pressure/family issues, and stereotypes outline the individual personalities of each of the characters displayed in this film.

The Breakfast Club is a movie about a group of kids at Shermer High School in the 1980s who bond during their stint in Saturday detention. Each of the four teenagers represented show differing cliques that can be ever so present in high school. Claire Standish is a snobbish rich girl that looks down on her fellow schoolmates that do not match her similar appearance and behavior. Andrew Clark is a varsity wrestler that personifies the jock stereotype and hangs around with the popular girls like Claire. Another detained teen is Brian Johnson that portrays the brainiac that has problems socializing with others.

First, high schools do have cliques that unify students by groups. However, that doesn’t mean students confine in the groups they are “assigned” to, as shown in most movies representing cliques. In the movie The Breakfast Club, the five main characters used to represent the school all come from different crowds, which ultimately results in showing how they can still get along even though they don’t necessarily hang out with the same people. The characters are defined as “a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.” These labels divide the characters into

Written and directed by John Hughes, The Breakfast Club is the first quintessential high school drama that has become one of the most significant regarding high school student images. As any typical high school stereotype, there is the jock, princess, geek, the basket case and of course, the bad boy, John Bender. The focus of the movie’s characters is these five students, but Bender is the most outshining character of all. It is no doubt that the point of this movie is to prove that everyone may be different in their own way, but successfully convey that each of them have the same problem in common; contempt for the adult society and mostly image. But who is that character that slowly and gradually breaks each character’s faux shells to reveal

From beginning to end, the distance the characters feel from each other is lessened by them opening up to one another and breaking down barriers. Peer pressure is something everyone faces in high school and is especially obvious in The Breakfast Club. While stereotypes were placed on every character, they all broke down the stereotypes by seeing each other as equals in the end. Even though all of their parents shape the way they act, most of them had come to terms with the expectations placed on them and ways to deal with the stress it causes. By the end of the movie, the nerd ends up writing the essay explaining who they are but he writes it as a rhetorical question to the principal: “You see us as you want to see us…

To understand why we have a sense of conformity, we must first understand value. “Values are used to learn people’s culture, ideas, and what they want out of life (Henslin 49). Every culture has similar and different values. “Norms are the expectations a group develops concerning the ‘right’ way to reflects its values” (Henslin49). An example of a norm would be personal space and speaking quietly in certain places such as a library. When norms are violated people often begin to question the person’s sanity and well-being based on how extreme the norm violation was.

The Breakfast club is based at a school location, on a Saturday with 5 students faced with detention. Each individual student has a reason as to why they are in detention so throughout the movie we as the audience uncover why they are there. Each of these students are labelled: Brain, Athlete, a basket case, Criminal and a Princess but to each other they were more than just labels

Have you ever known someone that follows your every move, not literally following, but mimicking your decisions? For example a friend in High School who constantly dresses like you or wants to look like you. Well, that person would be a conformist. Have you ever had big plans for your life, but because your whole family went to Med School you feel that you have to also, so you do? That would be acting as a conformist. Conformity is a process by which a person’s attitudes and beliefs become influenced by other people. Peer pressure is an example that often occurs quite openly. It can also be an occurrence that that takes place over several years. These people that we call conformists are often called “sheep”, because sheep and conformists express

When we are in adolescence, most of us choose to conform to what is socially accepted as we go through the education system and learn the basics of life. As we grow older, we are expected to choose our own path in life. eventually we are all expected to leave our comfort zone, expected to follow our own path and establish ourselves as free thinking adults. people have different desires in life and choose to pursue them in their own way. To people, the word conformity inherently is met with a negative connotation. Individuals do not like to think that they are being pressured by societal influences, but in reality, it is in our human nature to want to be accepted as part of a group, many will change themselves or their opinions in order to achieve a

Conformity is when your asked to do something you don’t agree with but you do it anyway for a reward or social gain, however, it is not always the right decision. Firstly, people listen to others and follow their directions not necessarily because it’s what they agree with most of the time but it’s what they have to do in order to be liked by that person. For example, high schoolers will tend to pick classes that their friends are picking in order to be with them and to not lose that friendship or liking they receive from that person. They do the same extracurricular activities that are popular amongst their friends to fit in regardless of how they feel towards it. Secondly, our parents influence many of our decisions but at some point in our