The Breakfast Club: Youth Identity and Generational Conflict in the Golden Age of Teen Film

The Breakfast Club is often classified as a quintessential teen film. The film spoke to the generation coming of age at during the 1980s with a story that got to the heart of the conflict between adults and young adults, that understood both the camaraderie and the pressures of peer groups, and that unabashedly dealt with teenagers as real people with real problems. With writer and director John Hughes’ particular voice at the helm, the film capitalized on a culture already targeting the youth market, but by telling its tale from a youth perspective, was able to leave a lasting impression on both contemporary and present-day audiences.