Aps- Breakfast Club

THE BREAKFAST CLUB

Jennifer Yeung Feb 07, 2007

1. During the detention session in the library, daily roles the student play during the school week are abandoned and new roles are taken. For instance, the “criminal” takes on a greater role among the others and leads the group. The “athlete” becomes a much more compassionate person when he tried to talk to the “basket case” about her personal problems. Moreover, the “brain”, even though he appears to be fine, admits about his personal problems like trying to suicide because of an “F”. 2. The status of each character prior to the detention session was dependent on what kind of person each of them was. At the top of the hierarchy lie the “athlete” and the “princess”. Both of them are known to be popular and snobbish at school and hang out with the “cool” kids. Next in line is the “brain”. He is the geek who enjoys going to academic clubs and getting perfect marks. The “basket case” comes after the “brain”. She is a very unusual person and is a social outcast. The last to come in line would be the “criminal” as he is the one where nobody cares about. As the “athlete” says, it wouldn’t make any difference if he disappeared. It proves that the “criminal”, who looks for trouble and other bad things to do, is not viewed as an important person compared to the “princess” and the “athlete”. However, during the detention session, their roles differentiate from the usual ones, as the “criminal” becomes the steering wheel of the group where he leads and helps open up the characters. He is also the one who creates most of the interactions between people. But since each of them talk about the same family issues, it serves as a common ground to bring everyone together. So each of the characters become more or likely the same. 3. Being confined in the same location contributes to the group’s cohesiveness. Since they all have to endure 8 hours in the library for detention, they eventually interact with each other. Also, the group realizes that each of them have similar family issues at home so they build a certain bond and understand what each of them are going through. Besides having the same problems, the desire to draw a line between them and the adults also contributes to the group’s cohesiveness. 4. Stereotyping played a very important role in this movie as each of the character is a stereotype. For instance, they all thought – especially the “criminal” – that the “princess” ever

cares about are her looks, shopping, and her father’s BMW. But in truth, the “princess” had much more problems than it seemed like have issues with peer pressure. The “brain” is a stereotype of the geeks and people who ace all tests and assignments. But his stereotype is broken when he reveals that he fails one assignment causing him to end up with a B. Other stereotypes include the “basket case”, and a “jock/athlete”. The “basket case” hid her emotions and did very unusual things. In reality, her parents often ignored her. The “athlete” seemed to be a very successful student who excels in sports but in reality, the force behind him is his dad who forces him to become a person he doesn’t want to be. Before revealing the darker sides of them, the 5 are exact stereotypes that everyone would make. 5. I agree that openness and honesty will make a person happy, healthy, and wise because it helps relieves the matters that bother him/her. Being open – even with strangers – might be a good thing because when you reveal something you want to hide, others will start to appreciate and understand you more. Being honest to others will help you deal with problems as others can talk about it with you, adding their own insights. If you hide everything and build a wall between yourself and the world, problems that arise may bottle up and the conclusion may become a serious matter like how the “brain” tried to commit suicide. Without people to discuss and share problems with, you wouldn’t be as healthy and wise. 6. I think the members of the Breakfast Club will remain friends. However, I don’t think they will necessarily be hanging out with each other during school. Instead, they will have a certain kind of understanding, which will bring them together. They will continue to hang out with the same friends but I think when they see each other in the hallways, they will smile and exchange friendly glances.