History Film / TheBreakfastClub

*** Arguable FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you realise that's the point. She's stuck in a room with four other kids who're also stuck there for the day, so she can essentially make them pay attention to her, unlike her parents. Also becomes a case of HarsherInHindsight when she actually makes her presence known vocally and she's just told to shut up by Claire.

* ThrowItIn: John Hughes told Judd Nelson to make up something off the top of his head for when he was in the air vent. Naked blonde walks into a bar...

* EnforcedMethodActing: Judd Nelson remained in-character between shooting, and frequently taunted MollyRingwald to the point of tears. Creator/JohnHughes was on the verge of firing him, when Paul Gleason, ironically playing Principal Vernon, intervened on his behalf.

* DawsonCasting: Judd Nelson was 24 at the time, and Ally Sheedy and Emilio Estevez were both 22. Averted with Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, both 16 at the time.

* HumansAreBastards

* GirlfriendInCanada: Brian claims to have a girlfriend living up in Niagara Falls.

* MakeMeWannaShout: Bender does this in one scene, breaking one door's glass panel in the process.

* CrapsackWorld: Where do we begin? AbusiveParents are everywhere, the cliques at Shermer High are at each others throats, the faculty is implied to be corrupt and apathetic... the list goes on.

--> '''Andrew:''' (imitating his dad): "Andrew, you've got to be NUMBER ONE! I won't tolerate any losers in this family! WIN, WIN, WIN!" (cries)

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The parents of the Club are downright bad people, but the Club themselves operate in lighter shades. Bender is a protagonist and sympathetic character, but also a relentless bully who steals, vandalizes, and harasses the other students, but also deliberately gets himself in trouble to save everyone else from it. Andrew physically assaulted a nerd and Claire belittles and looks down on other people.

* BlackComedy: It's not as overwhelmingly doom and gloom as the works of Creator/ToddSolondz or as delightfully wicked as {{Film/Heathers}}, but the film does mix unpleasant subject matter with standard Hughes hijinks.

* AdultsAreUseless: Played extremely cynically. They're either apathetic, horrifically selfish, or borderline sadists, with the exception of the janitor.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The parents of the Club are downright bad people, but the Club themselves operate in lighter shades. Bender is a protagonist and sympathetic character, but also a relentless bully who steals, vandalizes, and harasses the other students, but also deliberately gets himself in trouble to save everyone else from it. Andrew physically assaulted a nerd and Claire belittles and looks down on other people.

* CrapsackWorld: At the very least, you would ''not'' want to be a teen growing up in Shermer.

** At the beginning of the movie, Andy and Bender can't stand each other, but Andy still cracks up when Bender asks Vernon "Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?"

* SheCleansUpNicely: Brian's reaction to Allison's makeover.

** The parents. At the very least, the ones we see are very, very selfish people who could care less what they do to their own kids in pursuit of their wants.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Deeply, deeply cynical.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Zigzagged throughout the film. It paints a very cynical portrayal of teen life, as the film's version of Shermer is strongly implied to be a WretchedHive, given all the child abuse. However, some have interpreted the ending as having the kids finding some measure of inner peace and self-awareness, learning to make the most of their harsh environments.

* AlphaBitch: Deconstructed with Claire, who both covets and resents the attention she gets and feels extremely burdened by it either way.

* BottleEpisode: Every single hijink that the kids partake in is permanently set within Sherman High.

''The Breakfast Club'' was a 1985 film written and directed by the late Creator/JohnHughes, a legend in the teen genre. The five principal actors in the film (MollyRingwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez, JuddNelson and Ally Sheedy) became part of the "Creator/BratPack", a group of actors whose careers in the 1980s revolved around playing teens in popular movies with each other. This group also included Rob Lowe, Andrew [=McCarthy=] and DemiMoore.

* MoralEventHorizon: Richard Venom pretty much crosses repeatedly, especially bullying John Bender, who a victim of child abuse.