2. He's Overly-Dramatic
Did you ever stop and think how many whiners exist in the standard John Hughes teen film. The one that comes to mind for me is Andie from Pretty in Pink. Can you actually believe this girl? "I don't want you to see where I live alright!"
Really!? Because....you're so poor right? How can you be poor and still have a nice house, a job, a car, a scholarship to college, and apparently enough money to have a unique sense of style. I call bull crap Andie. I wish at some point in the film Andie's car would have broken down in the ghetto from National Lampoon's Vacation so she could perhaps get a little view of what real poverty is. And then there is Cameron from Ferris Bullers Day Off. Remember his great little speech at the end of the movie. How did it go?
"I am not going to sit on my A*% as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life. I'm going to take a stand. I'm going to defend it. Right or wrong, I'm going to defend it."
Nice monologue there Olivier. Not to sell the youth of the world short but I'm pretty sure that speech is something that would never be spoken by a teenager even in a fantasy type movie like Ferris Buller. Unless of course that teenager is an overly dramatic drama queen. What exactly were you going to take a stand against my friend? You stole your Dad's car and took a joy ride around Chicago on a ditch day from school. You better hope you're not taking a stand in juvenile detention center or jail. If Cameron really wanted to make a stand then why didn't he take a stand against Ferris when he bullied him into committing grand theft auto? Or would that have been too hard. Spare me your over written speeches Cameron and stand up to the person who is really taking advantage of you: Ferris "stinking" Buller. The kids on the Breakfast Club aren't any better either. They're even more pathetic than Cameron actually. Of course, as you read in point one, they have a penchant for blaming their parents for the stupid decisions they make themselves. Andrew (the jock played by Emilo Estevez) went on a nice little diatribe in the film about how much his dad has made his life miserable. Save me your tears Mr. Jock. Your dad may be a harsh taskmaster but I'm pretty sure he didn't instruct you to tape a boys buns together. If you wanted to cut loose so badly you could have pulled a fire alarm or stuck a potato in a teachers tail pipe. But taping a boys buns together and pull out the hair... I'm sorry man that's all you. The monologue was nice and Emilio gave a good performance but it was still just a kid still blaming his parents over something he just really wanted to do. Boo Hoo. Don't even get me started on the basketcase. I like the spontaneity of the character and thought Ally Sheedy did a fine job but she lost me with the whole "When you grow up your heart dies" crap. Aren't we going a little overboard there kid. As John Bender so aptly stated following her grand summation of adult life "who cares!" And please spare me the whole my parents ignore me crap. If my kid acted as crazy as her I'd be apt to do a little ignoring myself. Perhaps if she were to access her un-crazy side a little bit then maybe her parents wouldn't avoid her like the plague. Just a thought. Claire could also can take her first world problems and go somewhere as well. You ditched and got caught. Next time don't get caught. Bender didn't grate me so much. He actually had a legitimate reason to complain about his plight. The Brain's story is actually one I can stomach because the group came to the right conclusion about it. Laughing. Not taking things so dang seriously or worse, blaming someone else. Perhaps if they all stopped and looked at their situations with a bit of levity, maturity and a bit less self-centeredness they would all be better off. I'm not saying teens don't deal with hard issues, but to think that is all there is to being a teenager is drama, drama, drama, isn't right either. Sadly that seems to be about all John Hughes thinks teen life is. Even when he manages to bring a little joy into the proceedings as in Ferris Buller's Day off there is still that dark underrcurrent of teen angst that must be dealt with in one way or another. That's why I still think one of Hughes best films is Weird Science. No long overly dramatic speeches or meanderings about growing up. Just two guys creating a big huge fun mess and then owning up and taking responsibility for it.