Within my fabulous seventeen years of life, I have watched The Breakfast Club a solid fifteen hundred times. Is that an over-exaggeration? Sure, but it also indicates that I know the movie so well that I often find myself reflecting on the common themes from the film and how I can apply them to my everyday life.
For instance, when I see the stereotypical jock as I make my way to the library to return my five overdue library books, I stop and reflect. I wonder what his story is and why I only ever see the one aspect of him that depicts the image of protein shakes and gym shoes. I understand there is more to who he is as a person, and yet there is so much that I won’t ever be able to fathom about his life and vice versa.
You see, when I first saw this specific movie I realized that Molly Ringwald was the most interesting and relatable personality I had seen yet on a screen. The more I observed, I pointed out the personality traits of her character and even attempted her red lipstick trick. Nonetheless, I knew from that moment on that if I ever had to choose who I wanted to be; a jock, geek, princess, criminal, or basketcase, I would indefinitely always choose to be the princess.
However, just because I adapted a tiara from that day on doesn’t mean that everyone else made the same choice as I did. Hence the purpose of social cliques and stereotypes.
These cliques were made to divide us all into separate minorities where we can surround ourselves with people who are ‘like us.’ Yet this behavior is a vicious cycle and The Breakfast Club proves that. This film demonstrates the importance and value behind breaking out of our comfortable ‘social genres’.
In order to better understand, coexist with, and nurture each other, we all have to act as a dedicated community. Currently, within my AP Lang class with the most intelligent teacher I’ve ever had, Mrs. Balanag, I have had an immense amount of time to reflect on the definition of community and why it is a necessity here at Grant.
Humans, in general, feel the need to be loved and validated through an ecosystem of open arms and tolerance. When these opportunities are provided for students, blossoming and growth perspires. This is pivotal to the success as a school because
as each of us produce this community for the four years of high school that we have, we need to strive to learn acceptance and empathy for each other. How do we do that? We act with kindness, integrity, and acceptance which creates a stronger sense of bonding among students and staff. The benefits of generating those relationships would be not only so we can coexist, but so we can thrive together in union.
As you open the rest of the Movie Genre Issue, I advise you to keep an open mind about all of the concepts you will explore. The different genres are representations that create a whole image of our ideas and more so our identity as a newspaper, but also as our own community.
Each and every author belongs to their own social clique, yet when we come together to produce The Bark, we achieve an issue so unique and diverse that it brings together everyone within our community. In my opinion, there’s nothing more beautiful or worth aspiring more for than that.