and was intent on going all the way. This sudden enthusiasm lor getting laid l'uelled the hat house humour ol’ National Lampoon‘s .‘lniniu/ Home. l’urky's and Cameron ('rowe's l‘il.\l 'I'inn's u! l\’ii/g('inonl High.
The rise ol' the inultiple\ in the mid-\‘(ls returned the teen ino\ ie to young people. a new generation sobered by the trauma ol‘ Ii'l‘s near death. l'rancis l‘iord ('oppola‘s The Outsiders. modestly described by the director as ‘.-\lbert (‘amus for kids‘. didn‘t do much l‘or kids or l’or Camus. But it did launch the Brat l’ack. l‘rcsh stars for a generation ol boys and girls. who just wanted to ha\e tun. although only one se\ could hayc it while watching Diriy' Hunting. (‘aintis was quickly l'orgotten. but .ludd Nelson‘s desire to meet 'a beautiful woman with a copy ol~ James Joy cek l 'lysscs‘ was w idely reported.
In 1985. John Hughes. like a quarterback in lose. dropped the ball. He l'ollowed 'l'lic Break/mi ('ln/i with silly comedies like l-k'rris
COPPOLA SAID THE FILM WAS ‘ALBERT CAMUS FOR KIDS'; IT DIDN'T DO MUCH FOR KIDS OR FOR CAMUS
[incl/wk buy ()[land Weird Science. then went ga-ga with ('nrly Sue and Baby's" [My ()nl. Without their puppet-master. the Brat Pack lurched through Ally Sheedy's encounter with comically-yoiced robot Johnny 5 in Shan ('in'nii. or Andrew McCarthy's authentically wooden .llunncqnin. The cycle sputtered out with the hesitant flames of Si Ii/nni's l’in'. in which Demi Moore and limilio listeye/ disayow their youth by turning away from the local pub ol‘ the title. claiming that the music is too loud.
:\.\ the Pack shattered. so did the teen moyie. which would neyer recapture the unilied appeal ol‘ 'I'ln' [freak/its! ('lub. Instead. teen l’licks splintered into a series of sub-genres. Take sport. for e\aniple. with any sell-respecting jock sure to remember ice hockey heroics for Rob Low e‘s lining/ilmnl. or listeye/ reprising his athlete role in The .llig/ny Ducks; Sex was a contact sport too. in the watered-down T-and-A of sex comedies .‘lHH'l'It'UN l’ii' or Road Trip.
Meanwhile. the warts-and-all sociological document still won't go away. Larry ('lark' delyes into teenage crime in Kids. Bully and Ken Park. Todd Solond/ offers a sarcastic lli'lt'unn' In the Doll/muse. Harmony Korine parades the domestic squabbles of Julian Dun/«(V Buy. But John Bender might prefer the stoner antics of Din/v. ll'lu'l‘t‘ is .U_\‘ (‘Ul'i’
Nenty years in the lives of teenagers (from left): Breakfast Club, Savedl, American Pie. Pretty in Pink. Cruel Intentions
Teen inoyies also haye their own art-house
darlings. and any basket case would relate to Solia (‘oppola‘s 'I'ln' l'irgin .S'nit'it/i's. They also have the classics. through adaptations ol' .lane Austen ((‘lin'lvs‘s ). or regular teen scribe William Shakespeare (Runnw (UNI .ln/ivi. It) 'I‘liings I llnn' About )im. 0). liqually enjoyable to anyone with a brain would he the cult. sensitiye stylings ol‘ sci-li teen l'lick's such as Uri/mic [Mr/m or issue-based dramas like ll'lnn's [fining (ii/ln'ri (Jill/uh" ()l' The Bus/\‘vI/m/l [Nil/"It's.
This month's Suva/f. a satire on the hypocritical morals ol' ['8 (‘hristian high schools. is produced by Michael Stipe ol' RliM. and oll'ers a strain ol‘ the stroppy indiyidualisin seen in l‘)8‘)'s HmI/n'rs. a smart anti—bullying l‘antasy about outsiders oyercoming a high- school clique. Macaulay (‘ulkin. once llughes' most popular star in llnnn’ xl/uni'. sends hiinsell tip as an acerbic wheelchair-bound pot smoker. The Hughes generation. .S'ui'ul.’ suggests. hasn‘t turned out so well.
So where did it all go wrong for Hughes'.’ The teen moyie master is now reduced to the shaggy dog antics of Beethoven 's’ 5th and Home xl/(Hlt‘ 4 beckons.
Why'.’ It you read the noyelisation ol' Pretty in Pink (and you should). based on Hughes‘ I‘MS script. you‘ll lind that the heroine (Ringwald) has a choice of two suitors: wimpy but nice l)uckie l)ale (John (‘ryerl or insincere but rich Blaine (Andrew McCarthy). Due to Ringwald‘s illness during test-audience reshoots. she couldn’t lilm at the same time as ('ryer. so Hughes changed the ending. to have her choosing Blaine instead. ('an you hear the sound of Hughes‘ soul beeping on the bar-code scanner and dropping into the Devil's reusable carrier bag'.’ He made a lilm with the exact opposite meaning to the one he believed.
Let‘s not l'ret too much about Macaulay ('ulk‘in. It you have to pray to save someone's soul. pray for John Hughes.
Saved! is on selected release from Fri 29 Oct. A new DVD edition of The Breakfast Club will be released in next year.
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