Goodbye, John

Out of all of the many celebrity deaths that have occurred this year, none have really upset me the way the death of John Hughes has. When his death was announced on August 6th, I was kind of in disbelief. It just seemed too weird to be true. I started to have the urge to do an update on here about it but it just didn't feel right at the time.

In a bizarre twist, I had been thinking about Hughes a lot that week before his death was announced. We had been filming scenes for Bags and Boards Episode IV a few days earlier and I had worked in a few lines of dialogue into the script about The Breakfast Club. Before we filmed the scene, we all sat around the store and talked about how much we loved that film and just how awesome it was, no matter how dated it had become over the years.

A month before that, a similar conversation had been sparked during the filming of a scene in Episode III when Steven does a fist pump similar to John Bender's iconic fist pump at the end of the aforementioned film. As we filmed the scene, my brother Austin (playing the character of Bruce) started to do a Breakfast Club inspired dance in the background of the shot (though you can't really make it out in the final cut). We all then started to sing Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" in between takes.

Also during the week of Hughes' death, I had been re-watching Donnie Darko for the first time in years. I watched the theatrical cut and then watched the Director's Cut with the commentary by Richard Kelly and Kevin Smith. In that commentary track, they talk about Hughes' influence (because there's obviously a lot of it in Donnie Darko with it's 1980's setting) and what it would be like for him to come out of retirement and just make one more movie like he used to. It was a stirring thought. What if Hughes did come out of retirement? Could he make movies like he used to?

After thinking about this, I realized that for some odd reason I didn't own Breakfast Club on DVD. I made a mental note that I needed to go out and buy it. That same day, I got online to see that Hughes had just suddenly passed away.

Even though I was not born until 1987, I grew up watching John Hughes movies because of my parents. Because of that, I associate Hughes and his films with my childhood and teenage years. I grew up on Weird Science, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck and the Hughes produced / scribed Home Alone. These films are all a huge part of what I consider my life. Even though Hughes was not an incredibly stylistic or artistic director, he was able to do something that most directors cannot even think about doing. He captured a time period. For me and many others, John Hughes and his films represent the 1980's. They represent the 1980's style, look and emotions. His films are all special in their own way and I can honestly see myself watching them for the rest of my life.

A few days after the announcement of Hughes' death, I went out and finally purchased The Breakfast Club on DVD. It had been years since I had seen the movie. Re-watching it, I saw that the movie was in fact dated (though in a charming way) and, at times, melodramatic. With that said, I still think it's a pretty brilliant film. Out of all of Hughes' films, it's definitely his most personal and emotional. I was taken back by just how raw the film could be, even after all the years that had passed since it was made. The scene where most of the characters explain why they are in detention is one of the most emotionally charged scenes I've probably seen in a movie period. The entire film has energy to it that most films wish they could achieve. Everything feels legitimate and nothing feels forced. Even though there are moments of silliness that take away from the film at times, it still stands up today as just a great film experience.

When I exited the store today after a few hours of filming, I had a surprise waiting on me. My friend (and actor) Blossom had gone to run a few errands and, when he came back, he presented a Breakfast Club poster he had gotten for me. I'm big on collecting and framing film posters for my dorm room. I am proud to say that this poster will be displayed on my wall along with many other classic film posters.

I realize that this article has been very rambling and loose in its structure. But all of this is just how I feel right now about Hughes' death. It's really sad that he has had to go at such a young age, especially with the thought that he could have had a comeback to filmmaking that could have easy surpassed his valiant run in the 1980's. In the end, his death is truly tragic and I hate it but I'm happy that we will have his films forever and they will never go away.

In closing, I leave you all with my favorite scene from Planes, Trains and Automobiles. The brilliance of this scene is the fact that the F-word has not been uttered for the entire movie until this scene. After this scene passes, the F-word is not delivered again. This movie received an R-rating for this one scene alone. It could have easily been cut. In fact, if it had, the movie would have gotten a PG-13 rating and would have probably made more money. However, Hughes was ballsy and true to his vision and left it in there. And it works beautifully. I cannot help but admire the man for that.

Goobye, John. Thanks for all the movies.