wildyams

Last week I was discussing a line from "Vanilla Sky" with my co-workers in which Kurt Russell said something to the effect of "I'm a guy who as a kid, my favorite Beattle was John, but as I've gotten older, its now Paul." I know what it means, of course, about how a person's values grow and change as they get older, from being somewhat wild and rebellious as a kid into a more stable, calmer person when they're older; but the line kinda struck me as something that most people would generally not say to one another. I mean, people who knew each other to be hugely into music might, but in this case neither Kurt Russell's character nor Tom Cruise's character had really shown (at least to each other) that this was the case, Cruise playing a millionaire playboy-type who owned a magazine, and Russell playing a psychologist (just for Kuros: "I'm real." lol).

At another point during the week Matt commented that "The Breakfast Club" was a movie that he really thought was good growing up, but that having watched it lately didn't think it stood up as much, and that was why he wouldn't consider it John Hughes' best film (he went with "Sixteen Candles"). So this weekend as I was lounging around, I got curious and put "The Breakfast Club" in and watched it. I disagree with Matt, I do think it still stands up, and I still enjoy it quite a bit. Sure some of the musical montages seem a bit dated now, but that was the standard fare back in the day. But I will say that I noticed something that was very different for me watching it now as opposed to when I was younger: I identified with different characters. Much in the same way that Kurt Russell's favorite Beattle changed over time, evidently my favorite character from "The Breakfast Club" has changed over time.

When I was in high school and I watched the movie, I identified partially with Judd Nelson's character, and partially with Anthony Michael Hall's character (the rebel and the nerd, basically). I certainly dressed most like Judd Nelson's character, and had many of his thoughts and feelings about a lot of the real socialite members of my class. I certainly was never anywhere near as charismatic or quick-witted as his character, but what the hell, his character wasn't real (just like Kurt Russell's lol). Still, Judd Nelson's John Bender was kind of my mojo back then, you know? I thought he was awesome. Yet at the same time, I've always been somewhat nerdy or dorky or whatever, so I couldn't help but identify with Anthony Michael Hall's character, Brian Johnson. While John Bender got picked on by the socialites, he dished it right back, and ended up pretty much breaking them down completely; Brian got picked on and was totally unable to defend himself at all. He just took the embarrassing jibes and tried in vain to come across as cool. Its hard to not identify with that in some way, especially when you're a kid (certainly we all got picked on at one time or another I'm sure). So back then I felt somewhat like a combination of John Bender and Brian Johnson, and certainly looked up most to John Bender. But that isn't the case for me anymore, evidently.

This weekend when I watched it, I found myself most identifying with Ally Sheedy's character, Alison Reynolds. I thought Alison ruled. She's great, she seems to be the one who is on the outside looking in, watching this little scenario play out before her with a wry smile on her face. Of all the people there, she's the true individual, the one truly taking the road less travelled, which is something I respect immensely, mainly because I know I'm not bold enough to do it, and neither is almost everyone else. While I now look at John Bender and see a guy who's covering up for his insecurities with his bold presence just as much as the others are putting up their own facades, Alison seems to really be the one who is just being herself, in spite of the ridicule and questioning she gets from her peers. Of course she still has her insecurities, but everyone does, and it makes her a more real character. So anyway, just like in high school I wasn't exactly like John Bender, I just looked up to him; now I look up to Alison Reynolds, even though I'm not exactly like her either.

So I suppose for even bringing up something as frivolous and trivial as this, I'm no better than Kurt Russell's psychiatrist for making this weird correllation between some piece of pop art and real life, but then again I'm a movie guy, just like Cameron Crowe (who wrote that dialogue in "Vanilla Sky") is a music guy. Anyway, I had to write about something, right? lol

Ok, here's a quiz for you: see if you can name the reasons that all 5 members of "The Breakfast Club" were in detention that Saturday :-)