I humbly submit that we wouldn't have been quite so aware of what we were going through without the genius of John Hughes, who died in New York this morning at the age of 59. He provided a voice for the generation just before mine and every generation that came after it. While MTV and Disney pander to passing fads, movies like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off still have resonance for the youth of today.
We salute you, sir.
(On a lighter note, I have no idea why clips from Uncle Buck and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles are in a montage to "Teenage Wasteland," but it's still a cool video nonetheless.)
ETA: Incredible blog post from a woman who was pen pals with Hughes in the late 80s.
Re Uncle Buck and Planes, Trains:
ReplyDeleteBecause, honestly, those characters are no different than teenagers. They have stereotypical ideas and conceits about the world. One of Uncle Buck's primary stories is about the teenage niece, in fact, and probably THE most important story in the movie, but it is very much tied to the fact that Buck is himself an irresponsible sort of person very similar to her. Much of the point of that movie is about both of them growing up, not just her. In Planes, Trains, Steve Martin's character in particular is very much the idealistic teen with ideas of how the world works and deviations from it, people with their own notions and ideas and habits and traditions (or lack thereof) are untrustworthy and dismissable. What happens to him in accepting Candy's character is no different than what happens to the Breakfast Club characters in accepting each other. To me, it makes complete sense that those clips are included.
It's been a long time since I've seen Uncle Buck, but looking back, you're absolutely right. (Never seen Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Must rectify that immediately.)
ReplyDeleteUncle Buck is just a great movie. Terribly underviewed.
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