When I heard the news (on Twitter) that legendary writer and director John Hughes had died I immediately went on YouTube to watch clips and montages from the enormous amount of movies he is responsible for making.
I laughed as I watched them and I began to realize the impact his creative genius has had on my life from a young age – Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Pretty in Pink- and on through adulthood — Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Mr. Mom, She’s Having a Baby. Hughes’ list of classic movies is as long as your brother’s mullet in high school, and each is, if this is even possible, even more entertaining.
Starting with the perilous and often nauseating genre of teen movies, he was able to show us everything that was right about being a teenager. Everything that was fun, painful, weird, but ultimately good. Ultimately hopeful. His movies made us feel it was OK to be who we were because we saw a little bit of ourselves and our friends in his characters.
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, and an athlete, and a basket case,a princess, and a criminal.
Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours,
The Breakfast Club.
Now, looking back on the spectrum of his work, I feel a surprising loss personally , but I also feel a great gratitude to have been the generation he shined his brilliant, hopeful light on.
We won’t forget about you, John Hughes.
Other things out there written about John Hughes:
“We’ll know when we get there” wrote “Sincerely, John Hughes.”
Dan Taylor wrote this on his blog.
This is a quick montage of his movies: John Hughes “Teenage Wasteland.”
Music critic Ben Wener about his impact on pop.
*sigh*
No one could capture the sentiment of an entire generation the way Hughes could.
So young. Farewell.
Such a loss. RIP John.
So well said. I, too, had no idea how much of an impact he and his films had on me during those years until now. He spoke to us like no one else could at the time. A big thank you to him–and thanks to you for writing about it.
I have been out of touch. John Hughes died?!I didn’t know until I read it here. John Hughes movies are the standard of my (our) generation. The music, the characters, the plots, the fashions. I still love to watch them and reminisce. I still listen to my “Pretty in Pink” sound track.
I am so out of touch…had no idea. YES, he made an impact on my growing up days with all those fab movies.
What a great tribute, Suz. His movies made such an impact on me. My friends and I still quote some of the lines from his films to this day.
So true, I really didn’t have any idea all of the amazing movies that he had made.
You already know how sad THIS newsflash made me… 🙁
GAH .. Kevin Bacon never ages
Oh yes, he definitely had an impact on my youth, too, with those movies. Ah pretty in pink and Molly Ringwald. I wanted to be her! 🙂
If you haven’t read this, you should:
http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html
Oh, how sad, he was such an amazing creative person.