a return to innocence

the other night one of the local channels showed the breakfast club. for those of you not of my generation, it's a movie that came out in the 80s about a group of high school kids (all played by actors who were probably in their late 20s) who have to come in to school on saturday for detention. a character study. for those of you who are of my generation, it is probable that, as it is was for me, it was one of the defining movies of your teenage years.

the thing that struck me about watching it now, though (aside from the fact that i still have pretty much every line memorized), is how different it is from teen movies today. no nudity. no sex, really. lots of bad language, yeah. but the themes were all about peer pressure and getting along with your parents. it's all so...innocent in a way. no one is fucking any pies. all the kids have two parents as far as we know. eugene levy is nowhere in sight.

watching the movie here, i'm also given to wonder how much people who grew up outside the states could identify with movies like the breakfast club. i know american movies are popular outside the US, but it would seem that at least some of the nuance (tongue planted firmly in cheek) has to be lost.

despite the fact that it supported the questionable notion that molly ringwald was hot, it's still a great movie with an awesome (ahem) soundtrack. now if they would only show spies like us....