Thank you John Hughes
Unlike so many '80s movies, they can’t remake John Hughes.
John Hughes - the cinematic voice of Gen X - was born on February 18th, 1950. He would have been 74 years old this week, but sadly he passed away at the age of 59 in 2009.
It could be argued that no one had a bigger influence on '80s cinema and '80s pop culture than Hughes did. His list of movies from the '80s, shows just how prolific and influential he was:
Mr. Mom
Vacation
Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
European Vacation
Weird Science
Pretty in Pink
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Some Kind of Wonderful
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
She's Having a Baby
The Great Outdoors
Uncle Buck
Christmas Vacation
Home Alone (1990)
Prolific indeed and his movies continue to inspire the newest generations today. Probably because the characters were so relatable. All of us knew an athletel, a criminal, a brain, a princess and a basketcase. Some of us were one of them. Some of us were all of them.
We all knew a Cameron Frye - or two - and most of us hoped that we had just a tiny bit of Ferris Buller in us. Many felt the struggles of a Farmer Ted, Ducky and Samantha Baker while most of us wanted to either be Jake Ryan or date him. And who didn't want an Uncle like Uncle Buck!
And although Chet may have been a one of kind big brother, a lot of us had someone in our life that gave us a hard time no matter the circumstance. We can only hope that they got a similar comeuppance.
As we moved into adulthood, we went from loathing Principal Vernon to at least understanding his approach particularly when it came to Bender. For those that had kids, the struggles of Clark Griswold became all too real.
And although he still made us laugh, we now viewed Del Griffith with compassion and understanding. In my opinion, Del Griffith was Hughes's greatest achievement and John Candy's greatest role because of the true humanity that both brought to the character.
John Hughes was an amazing talent and the lessons we can learn from the dialogue he wrote are endless. Case in point is when Andrew - the athlete in The Breakfast Club - said this:
“We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.”
We are all different. We are all weird. We are all a little bizarre. And that is the awesomeness of us. Always be kind. Always be you.
Unlike so many 80s movies, they can’t remake John Hughes.
Thank you Mr. Hughes for everything.