History YMMV / TheBreakfastClub

** Vernon's bullying of the students, especially locking Bender into a closet, is meant to show his DeanBitterman side. Nowadays it would be taken as a sign that he's a ''sociopath'' who has no business teaching at a high school, and would be fired on the spot -- assuming he didn't to get away with it by using the "your word against mine" excuse, especially against a kid with a bad reputation like Bender.

* UnnecessaryMakeover: Allison provides the page image. Many people just find her cuter as the "Basket Case". It's one of the most famous examples in movies, but it's also a rather misunderstood element — in the film, Allison is a closet AttentionWhore, whose behaviors and manner of dress is meant to draw attention to herself without having to ask for it or acknowledge that she's lonely. She's a loner with no friends, not a Goth or Emo kid who dresses as a way of self-expression or identifying with people like her. Her makeover is partially about accepting affection and kindness from another person (the AlphaBitch Claire, in this case), and partially about openly acknowledging that she wants attention and human interaction by tucking back her hair and changing her concealing make-up and clothing. A lot of it comes down to the fact that, all attempts at symbolism aside, the attempted SheCleansUpNicely just looks flat-out bad compared to her original look. Ally Sheedy herself disliked the idea, and later said she fought the director over it:
--> “They wanted to take the ugly duckling and make her into a swan. I didn’t want anyone to be putting makeup on my face, so I tried to negotiate with John that it would be about taking stuff off, or Allison taking down this wall that she had put up to keep people at arm’s length.”

* {{Esoteric Happy Ending}}: Andrew still has a {{jerk jock}} father who encourages him to be {{the bully}}. Bender still has {{abusive parents}} and is poised to spend inordinate amounts of time in Saturday Detentions for acting out because of it. Brian planned to kill himself and there’s no guarantee he won’t revert into suicidality again. While Vernon, who bullies and threatens students, is still the principal. And it’s supposed to be a happy ending because?

** Vernon might have overstepped his authority when he threatened to beat up Bender, but considering the crap he pulled throughout the movie (bringing weed to school, destroying school property, and threatening his classmates with bodily harm on more than one occasion), it's not hard to take his side.

* ParodyDisplacement: [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bart Simpson]]'s famous CatchPhrase, "Eat my shorts!", was originally a ShoutOut to one of Bender's lines in this film. Now, it's commonly believed to have originated on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. [[note]]Fun fact: Nelson Muntz from the same show, and Bender Rodriguez from Creator/MattGroening's [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} other show]], were respectively named in tribute to ''The Breakfast Club'''s Creator/JuddNelson and his character Bender. Yeah, it's safe to say Groening likes this movie.[[/note]]

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: When the film first came out, its use of the DeconstructedCharacterArchetype for each of the main characters was seen as innovative and influential. Now, with the many deconstructions of the characters being used in many movies, books, shows, and games, the use of the same deconstructions here may cause the film to seem not as special to some viewers.

* {{Esoteric Happy Ending}}:Andrew still has a {{jerk jock}} father who encourages him to be {{the bully}}. Bender still has {{abusive parents}} and is poised to spend inordinate amounts of time in Saturday Detentions for acting out because of it. Brian planned to kill himself and there’s no guarantee he won’t revert into suicidality again. While Vernon, who bullies and threatens students, is still the principal. And it’s supposed to be a happy ending because?

* {{Esoteric Happy Ending}}:Andrew still has a {{jerk jock}} father who encourages him to be {{the bully}}. Bender still has {{abusive parents}} and is poised to spend inordinate amounts of time in Saturday Detentions for acting out because of it. Brian planned to kill himself and there’s no guarantee he won’t revert into suicidality again and Claire lost her virginity to someone who spent an entire movie sexually harassing her. While Vernon, who bullies and threatens students, is still the principal. And it’s supposed to be a happy ending because?

* {{Anvilicious}}: GrowingUpSucks and AdultsAreUseless. The movie pulls no punches in shoving it in your face.
* AwardSnub: Despite being one of the most celebrated songs of TheEighties, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" was never nominated for Best Original Song at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s. The song also never got nominated for any UsefulNotes/{{Grammy Award}}s.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdqoNKCCt7A "Don't You (Forget About Me)"]], the theme song performed by Music/SimpleMinds.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Bender. You either love him for being a JerkassWoobie with HiddenDepths, or think he's an insufferable prick who got together with a girl he doesn't deserve and harassed horribly.

* UnnecessaryMakeover: Allison provides the page image. Many people just find her cuter as the "Basket Case". It's one of the most famous examples in movies, but it's also a rather misunderstood element — in the film, Allison is a closet AttentionWhore, whose behaviors and manner of dress is meant to draw attention to herself without having to ask for it or acknowledge that she's lonely. She's a loner with no friends, not a Goth or Emo kid who dresses as a way of self-expression or identifying with people like her. Her makeover is partially about accepting affection and kindness from another person (the AlphaBitch Claire, in this case), and partially about openly acknowledging that she wants attention and human interaction by tucking back her hair and changing her concealing make-up and clothing. Ally Sheedy herself disliked the idea, and later said she fought the director over it:

** Brian's want to attempt suicide is treated as little more than just an explanation of why he had the flare gun in his locker and isn't really focused on, or taken that seriously, especially compared to most of the other teens, who have less problems overall than him, minus Bender. This would not only be focused on more if the film were made today with the others more than likely reacting more to the mention that he was suicidal, but Brian would most likely be put in therapy for depression rather than detention. Plus probably in more trouble for bringing a gun, flare or otherwise, to school.

** The film also provides an early example of addressing toxic masculinity, even predating the term. Andy’s father has incredibly warped views about manhood, and encourages him to be a bully just like he was in school. Andy absolutely HATES him for this, and acknowledges that being a JerkJock is both bad for others AND his own well-being.
** The movie talks about the DoubleStandard girls have to experience with regards to sex, how it can often be a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation ("if you say you haven't, you're a prude, if you say you have then you're a slut"). And on the flipside, Claire has a PetTheDog moment where she tells Brian there's nothing wrong with still being a virgin.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: At first, The Breakfast Club sounds like a fun movie about the misadventures of teens in high school, but it actually contains drug and sexual references and tons of swearing, including words that are [[ValuesDissonance considered homophobic slurs today]]. It doesn't help that the film was spoofed by many kids' shows, so parents may be misled into thinking it's a kids' film, despite the fact that the film is rated R.