The preachings of ... John Hughes?

Sure, the 80s are worthy of undying adoration, but should our '80s movie icons be the subject of church sermons?

A small American Baptist congregation outside Chicago is getting weekly lessons in "The Gospel of John Hughes," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Each Wednesday, Pastor Tripp Hudgins offers a screening of a different Hughes movie. Then each Sunday morning, he dissects the movie during church service.

For example, with "The Breakfast Club," Hudgins' message is this, according to the Sun-Times: " ''Don't You Forget About Me' says we are not forgotten. ... But everyone's forgotten on some level. Everyone's a little lost. The underlying theme is, 'I know you feel lost, but you're really not.' "

Really? That's the theme? I thought the message was that we're all deeper and more complex than the stereotypes we represent. Makes you wonder what the religious theme is of "Twist and Shout" in Ferris Bueller.

Comments

[Michelle]

It's JCPenney's back-to-school ad. I heard it ad nauseum while waiting for "The X-Files" to start at the theater.

[Rick]

Of course everyone gets to have an opinion, and Douglas' response when he was 16 was his response when he was 16. No one can take that away from him. But that was never my point...

My point was in reference to the pastor who based his message on the theme of Hughes' movie. So, on that score, it makes a difference what HUGHES' intended to say based on the structure and content of his movie.

As for my own reaction, I had recently graduated from college, but high school was all still fresh to me. I remember being really taken by the movie, it being one of those you're-sorry-it-has-to-end kind of movies.

I've watched it many times since.

[Former Producer Dave]

What's the groups' opinion on the new TV commercial that matches almost shot-for-shot the movie? It appears to have been shot in the same school and library and the actors are recreating the iconic scenes right down to the flat, overhead lighting. I've spent so much time just watching the scene matching that I couldn't honestly tell you what product they're advertising....which is the textbook definition of a "bad ad"....but it's sure fun to watch!

[CHAD]

i wonder what his sermon on home alone will be like. cartoon violence, but it is funny as heck

[Kristie]

Rick, I was just commenting on Douglas Arthur's observation about the Ally Sheedy character. (Why can't I remember her name?) I just wanted to add what I got from it as the teenage girl I was at the time.

Douglas Arthur, I absolutely respect your viewpoint. I never meant to discount it. I was just putting in my two cents. I agree that it sucks that one's appearance, as well as the labels on one's clothing affect the way that a kid is perceived, but that is the reality of the situation. I think that the Ally Sheedy character deals with how a kid negotiates that reality. That's all. There's no right way to go, but kids have to deal with that, one way or another. All the Breakfast Club kids did. As we all did.

[Melissa]

I was just a basket case. Some things never change.

[Douglas Arthur]

It's probably why I never became a screenwriter.

But I still stand by my reaction as a 16 year old. I still look back at it as hypocritical because she changed her look and appearance to be more accepted. Maybe I should watch it again with my more experienced eye, but I have a rack of DVD's yet to watch, so it is not a huge priority at this point.

But you know, this is the great thing about movies, and music, everyone likes different things and can have an opinion. There is plenty of stuff that has caught my eye and ear that other folks can't stand, and that is ok. We can all get along in the end.

[Rick]

I understand that we all can come away with different messages standing out for us, depending on where we are when we see a movie or hear a song, like Kristie honing in on what adolescent girls deal with. (There were three boys in the movie, too, so what was it about for them?)

Anyway, I've been writing from the perspective of what HUGHES
IMO seemed to say based on what I know about screenwriting.

[Rick]

Douglas, you kind of underscored my point for me obliquely:
it WASN'T about being accepted for being a part of this or that clique. It was about finding real acceptance/significance, not the shallow kind found in group identity.

The Ally Sheedy character didn't like being an outcast freak any more than Binder liked being an abused wastoid or Andy liked
being a driven wrestler or Brian a brainy geek type or Claire
a pretty rich girl.

In each case they found significance when they let down their guard, broke rank, and were recognized/affirmed by one another for who they really were.

Each opened up and found significance from someone else, each gave a little to achieve that: in Allison's case, she put on a little make-up to show she'd stopped hiding emotionally. That wasn't hypocrisy any more than it was when Andy cried or when Bender accepted Claire's earring.

The overarching theme demanded that each of them give in a little, show movement toward one another, as they let down their guards.

So, Douglas, you walked out of the movie having missed the point,
I think. Since Hughes didn't deviate from his point, there was no hypocrisy to curse.

(I've thought a lot about it because I'm a screenwriter who loves Hughes' movies. What I've posted comes from knowing the craft
and structure of screenwriting.)

[Mike in Austin]

It was just an entertaining movie.

[Douglas Arthur]

I can agree you with you about that a bit. I re-invented myself several times over in College myself. But I was just commenting about my initial reaction when I saw the film in high school, which was the only time I saw it. So if some subtleties were lost on my 16 year old mind, I apologize. 24 years later, I am sure that my view of the film might be different. But at that moment in time, that was my reaction, and my ultimate disappointment with the film.

[Kristie]

Douglas Arthur-
You know, that story line addressed the fine line that girls have to walk during adolescence. In terms of image, it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out where you feel comfortable. The way I saw that story, the Ally Sheedy character was just beginning to explore her options and getting out of the strict image she had of herself. Maybe it's a girl thing. When I went to college I completely reinvented myself, in large part by what I wore and how I cut my hair. It may seem shallow, but for women, and maybe men, too, changing one's appearance can make a huge difference at that age. I'm just sayin'.

[don in tulsa]

i never really felt like i fit in with a particular group. i mostly hung with the geek/losers group by default but didn't feel like i belonged. it was by default because of where i lived. if you came from my neighborhood you had a stigma attached since it was the poor part of town. now it was true that you could belong to other groups if you were from my neighborhood but that really depended on looks/athletic ability of which i had neither. i was in the school plays but that wasn't a social group at our school. it was someplace that people from all groups could get along and fraternize without much of a problem. to a degree.

[Kristie]

Doi! Don't you people remember the parable of St. Anthony? He couldn't get the lamp to turn on when he pulled the trunk. And then he doubted the existence of God.

[Douglas Arthur]

I was everything and nothing all at once. I belonged to a lot of different groups, but never really felt a part of them.

I thought the Breakfast Club lost a lot of credibility when in the end it all boiled down to giving Ally Sheedy a makeover so the boys would like her, and she could feel good about herself. Totally lost it for me in the theater when I saw that. Would have been great if it had stayed on message and continued to be about accepting yourself and others for who they are and not what they appear to be. I think I was the only one of my friends to walk out of the theater cursing the film instead of singing its praises. Hypocrisy in film when dealing with your underlying theme is a cardinal sin in my boat.

But don't let me spoil it for the rest of you. :)

[Mike in Austin]

Church outside of Chicago? Wait a minute did Pastor Hudgins replace Reverend Wright?
"What Trickery is this Merlin?"

[specialk]

Me too Marissa!! I was lucky, I was different enough in school that I could go from group to group

[Marissa]

I walked away from The Breakfast Club realizing that I'm a brain, an athlete, a criminal, a basket case and a princess all rolled into one.

[specialk]

and if you need to add spice to a sandwich... just shake your head...

[Spears]

I thought it was an instructional video on how to put on lipstick using only your breasts.

[chase]

I thought it was abuot Saturday detention ...

[Rick]

Well, Steve, you have to admit that the track that has become synonymous with THE BREAKFAST CLUB does repeat that mantra -- "Don't you forget about me..." -- over and over.

Perhaps you know how much thought goes into making a movie, and the choice of music in particular, especially for a filmmaker like Hughes. So I would imagine that Hughes' choice of theme song might be a commentary on what the underlying theme was, in his eyes.

Perhaps Hughes' choice was to put a fine point on his message of cliques -- and why we join them, as well as chafe at them. Each of the characters self-identified with their clique at the outset, and it would seem, felt safer there because it gave them an immediate, if shallow, sense of significance.

So, maybe the pastor's not far off.