Don't you (forget about me.) John Hughes' enduring influence

Los Angeles Times

The king of 1980s comedy, Hughes now qualifies as something of a Howard Hughes-style recluse -- he doesn't have an agent, doesn't give interviews and lives far away, somewhere in Chicago's sprawling North Shore suburbs where most of his films were set.

But he has an entire generation of fans in the industry who grew up infatuated with his films, especially a string of soulful mid-1980s teen comedies that helped capture the eternal drama of modern teenage existence. They include "Sixteen Candles," "Pretty in Pink," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "The Breakfast Club"...

The payoff:

Brian Johnson: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...
Andrew Clark: ...and an athlete...
Allison Reynolds: ...and a basket case...
Claire Standish: ...a princess...
John Bender: ...and a criminal...
Brian Johnson: Does that answer your question?... Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.

I was 23 years old when that movie was released. How about you? Any particular memories that go with it? I remember singing along to Simple Minds "Don't you..." in the car that summer and busting the steering wheel in my Rabbit as I beat the drum riff out--hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Video stores had mushroomed up all over the suburbs, mostly mom-and-pops, and some like Erols, that had more ambition. So much new (and old) stuff suddenly available; a wonderland compared to cable. A million movie buffs birthed overnite and some, like Tarantino, were walking on sunshine.

In no time I had to spring for a premium membership because a limit of 2, then 3, rentals at once was torture. I needed six-at-time because, well, who cares about sleep when you can watch Vanishing Point, Electra Glide in Blue and Sullivan's Travels then dip into stuff you probably missed the first go-round, like Solaris or All that Jazz or They All Laughed.

Or, Some Kind of Wonderful, Pretty in Pink. And Bueller.

I think I saw maybe three Hughes movies in a theatre: Mr. Mom, Planes-trains, and Vacation. The rest, the "teen stuff," all on VHS first. I was too chicken, too "old," to buy the ticket, but not for the feeling. That's my sense of it today anyway. That Hughes has chosen the camouflage of suburban Chicago, however upscale his coordinates seems, well, perfect pitch.