640. Directorpiece Theatre: How To Make a Movie in One Location Interesting

I was directly in the crosshairs of this film’s demographic when it came out and it resonated strongly. Adam and Abe’s discussion has let me appreciate it on a new level and I think I may have to do a rewatch as I’ve never watched it with a truly critical eye. I’d like to think that Hughes—apart from his desire to say that all white kids could ultimately be happy middle class productive members of society after they got out their crazies—wanted to show kids that for all their differences, they all had a lot in common. Adults am I right?! I mean, Brian’s essay does say that explicitly. For me, I was a floater. A drowned corpse? A turd? No, I had friendly acquaintance across cliques but didn’t precisely belong to any of them. Internally, I imagine many people feel that way even if their external life didn’t reflect it. Now, I was never a princess (sigh) but I was on speaking terms with some. My high school experience was primarily from the perspective of Brian and Allison. I was in gifted/AP classes like Brian, but within that group I was “weird” where others assumed I might, say. eat a bug for attention—I would not, but such was my persona. Admittedly, bringing an axe to school and using red-dyed cauliflower brains probably helped foster that perception. Like Brian, I took a shop class and made an elephant planter instead of a lamp. But the trunk did break. I did not have suicidal ideations because of this tragedy. However, I had a bit of Andrew as I also lettered—in cross-country it is true, the least inherently social of any of the athletic pursuits. On the other hand, i had a dash of Bender when I was transferred out of classes for refusing to say the pledge and because I frightened another teacher (by just being me, apparently). Anywayyy, another aspect I appreciated from this discussion, is with Allison’s makeover. It’s fashionable now to bash the makeover, and understandably so, but I never liked it. I found her much more appealing in her original form—probably because I related to her and the transformation felt like a betrayal. However, Adam’s observation that, from a storytelling/character perspective, while her apparent “want” was to be left alone, what Allison needed (and what her actions demonstrated) was to connect to others. To be seen. Her physical contact with Claire and Andrew were the culmination of that need. Now, maybe it could have been done without changing her appearance and glossing over her psychological issues, but at least she had something. Poor Brian comes in his brain and a friendship with the janitor and leaves the same way.

Scriptmonkeys