John Hughes, 1950-2009
Acclaimed filmmaker John Hughes passed away suddenly of a heart attack August 6th, leaving behind a legacy as cinema's perhaps most astute observer of the American teenager.
Well, at least middle-class teenagers from Illinois and thereabouts (I was one at the time, so I can speak from experience). But hey, youth is universal. Just ask Erik Eriksen.
Already a *huge* fan of Mr. Mom, I sat up and took real notice upon seeing The Breakfast Club (I'd missed the theatrical run of Sixteen Candles and would have to wait some months for it to come out on The Movie Channel). I was awestruck at how accurately and poignantly Hughes captured the unique personalities and challenges of what in other hands would be mere caricatures of youth.
It was my great good fortune to ride the Hughes wave just a few years clear of the angst-ridden, yearning-overcome existences of his main characters (the Ferris Bueller crew included). Three years of college had created the perfect distance, resulting in an acute remembrance of that period without an actual miserable reliving of it.
I even happen to have an actual memento of those heady times. During the fanfare days of The Breakfast Club and Weird Science, J&D and I were at The Bonham Exchange, our customary hangout given it was then the only decent alternative music dance club in San Antonio (they have a web site now, but the default music is so loud it's obnoxious, I'm not including it...).
So passing the time in the upstairs lounge, we heard tell that "Anthony Michael Hall and some other people" were on the premises, enjoying a break from nearby filming of the upcoming Johnny Be Good. I never spotted Anthony Michael Hall, but wouldn't you know it, I looked up and there was one of the "other people."
My Breakfast Club Heyday Souvenir
Always one for memorializing the rare and precious moment, I grabbed the nearest cocktail napkin and humbly requested an autograph. Happily for me, he obliged, even though he seemed a bit dour. I even expressed genuine appreciation for his work in Trading Places in an effort to demonstrate that I actually knew who he was apart from the Brat Pack, but oh well. Maybe he was just staying in character... ;)
I've long since grown up and put away my childish autograph-hound ways, but this was a fun one and I'm glad I have it, especially now.
I don't think of kids as a lower form of the human species. ~ John Hughes
For More Information: Check out Culture Warrior: The Triumph of John Hughes ~ Landon Palmer's excellent retrospective of Hughes' contribution and what makes it so significant.
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