John Hughes Wikipedia (Producer of Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Vacation, Home Alone, etc)
John Hughes really spoke to me in my youth. He was a teenage poet of America in the 80’s. He seemed to understand what we were interested in and how our minds worked. He reached out to us without blowing things up and making E.T. type movies and space cowboys and sexy Porky's type movies which seemed rather prevalent before him. His movies seemed real. He talked about the kids that were middle class who seemingly should have everything they needed, but he showed they had problems and had real suffering and he did it in a believable manner.
Do you remember Ben Stein?
A lawyer, game show host, economics expert,... but he will always be remembered for saying these lines - "Bueller......Bueller...." That Ben Stein is funny - but I digress, this is about John Hughes. Anyway, Ben Stein said about JH that he made a connection with young people better than anyone had before, and better than anyone will since. He is probably right.
I don't know how you all feel about his movies but for me I think they are some of the better shows I saw in my youth. I remember seeing these things over and over and quoting them over and over. They were not just funny, but they really had some greatness to them. I know movie critics hated a lot of what he did, and many think it is cheesy. But for me, they have some wonder to them. He was a great writer and director, and from the sounds of it, he was a great person as well.
Ben Stein points out these quotes from Ferris Bueller, showing how John's insight was brilliant.
“Life goes by pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
"I do have a test today, that wasn't @#%. It's on European socialism. I mean, really, what's the point? I'm not European. I don't plan on being European. So who gives a crap if they're socialists?”
Two of my favorites of his were probably some of his least popular. I loved Some Kind of Wonderful. First of all, I fell in love with Mary Stuart Masterson. Her hair was so cool, she played the drums, she was feisty and witty, and so dang cute. She played that part in the show so well. Do you remember the part where she was teaching the guy she was totally in love with how to kiss?
After the kiss (audio clip)
What a great show.
I also thought Uncle Buck was wonderful. I love John Candy and he was fun to watch and the show had some real touching moments.
Anyway, there are a lot of John Hughes tributes and stuff on youtube, but I liked this one. I want you to pay attention to Mary Stuart Masterson at around 3:18. You can really see the pain she experiences as she looks upon the guy she loves as he is with another girl. This, by the way, is exactly how I felt every day of high school as I looked upon all the girls I loved and saw my friends all kiss them. I was Michael Anthony Hall, Duckie, Mary Stuart Masterson, Cameron, - all rolled into one character. See....high school was tough and John Hughes captured it.
R.I.P. Johnny.
-PagerStalker
8 comments:
Love JH!... how could I have missed this? I can quote Pretty in Pink word for word to this day (not ashamed, not ashamed). Some Kind of Wonderful also lays close to my heart. Some of my favorite scenes from JH...
Some Kind of Wonderful:
"This is not true. It can't be. This has got to be the most hilarious rumor ever floated. Right?
What are you talking about?
Last night, I hear everybody talking about how Keith has asked this girl out.
No way.
Check it out. This girl is popular, she's beautiful... and obviously in the middle of some emotional shootout to consent to date the human tater tot. What did you do to her, Keith? Threaten her life?
I just asked her out.
Well, her boyfriend's a man, for Heaven's sake. He's extensively easy on the eyes, he's a total buck, and you're - you're... Keith.
Is she nice?
Mother, the girl *is* sex.
For G*d's sake, I'm eating!
Glad you got time to think about the girls. Between the girls and your art kick, you have no time for anything important. You'll be dead and buried before you get off your butt and apply to a college.
Ease up, Dad. Any fool can get into a college. Only a precious few may say the same about Amanda Jones. Am I wrong?"
Pretty in Pink:
"We don't have none of this stuff in the boy's room! Wait a minute! We don't got none of this... we don't got doors on the stalls in the boy's room, we don't have, what is this? What's this? We don't have a candy machine in the boy's room!"
(I still love Duckie to this day).
"Does he have... strong lips?
How can you tell?
Did you feel it in your knees?
I felt it everywhere.
Strong lips."
The Breakfast Club:
Though not a quote.. the dance scene in the library, love it.
"Saturday, March 24,1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed"
Thanks for the morning stroll down my own memories and emotions I felt when I watched these films.
R.I.P. John Hughes... and thank you.
I loved his movies too. Bueller, bueller....
I watched Ferris Beuller, Breakfast Club, and Weird Science at least a million times each. I never realized all of these awesome movies were created by the same mind.
I really hope VH1 or some other channel will do a tribute like they did for MJ. SO many great movies!!!
I didn't know that this conglomeration of awesomeness all emerged from the same mind until I read this. He really is a beacon of Americana in the 80's & 90's.
I LOVE Some Kind of Wonderful. Breakfast Club will always be one of the banners of my youth. I remember feeling very liberated when I watched it with my dad because it was rated R. Still use a few lines from that movie too (rather than asking what someone wants to drink I am known to say "name your poison" and I sometimes say my middle name is a "fat girl's name"). Plus there was the time I duct taped someone's butt cheeks together. Just kidding. I would never...
I think the perfect summation of his work was displayed in a David Bowie song (these lyrics were also highlighted in Breakfast Club):
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES!!!
Ohhh, I need to watch that movie again.
RIP, John Hughes.
This is a must read for all JH fans. I admit, I got a little teary while reading it. http://tinyurl.com/ngg2tn
"Watts" was the coolest person invented when I was in High School too. I loved that flick. RIP John Hughes.
PS, didn't you learn anything from these movies? You should not have sat back and watched all your friends kiss the girls you wanted to be kissing - you should have just gone for it.
Ferris Bueller is still one of my favorite movies - the movie theater I saw it in is no longer, so sad - and possibly my first crush. It is time to revisit all of these awesome shows.
I believe there are things in life you naturally can relate to and feel like, damn thats exactly how I feel. Thats one of the remarkable things John Hughes was able to capture, is real life experiences that majority of us could relate to and that could be an enormous source of his success. Just about every one of his movies, even though they are 20 years old by now, still have relevant messages that would apply in todays society. John work will forever be his trademark and will leave not only life long memories inside us of quotes from his movies but something we should pass onto and share with younger generations.
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