The Breakfast Club. Alongside being “selected for preservation” in the United States National Film Registry and winning the MTV Movie Silver Bucket of Excellence Award (a true honor for Music Television), this classic film was one of the biggest hits of the '80s, cementing careers for many of its rising stars. The film was originally lauded as being a unique and accurate depiction of adolescent life amongst an extremely varied group of teenagers, and is still recently considered to be one of the "movies from the '80s that we couldn't live without."

In recent years the depiction and treatment of the female characters has come under fire for its “misogynistic” interactions between characters. Even stars Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy have criticized the film as "troubling." In the wake of this controversy, here are several opposing arguments that detail The Breakfast Club’s forays into feminism or misogyny, depending on which critical lens it's viewed through.

In a world based on appearances, it’s difficult to avoid being pigeonholed into a certain stereotypical box. It’s especially difficult for young women, who bear most of the brunt of being banished to the “wrong” box. Yet even for characters who would originally be typecast as vain, selfish or erratic, The Breakfast Club shows a humanity that surpasses all notions of traditional gender norms with its willingness to listen to the problems, experiences, and fears of young women.

An image of (Claire) looking off into the distance and smiling amidst a plate of sushi, as part of a scene from The Breakfast Club.
Universal Pictures

Claire could have been represented as a spoiled airhead, or Allison depicted as scandalously promiscuous due to her self-destructive tendencies (as is often the case when it comes to media showcasing the inner-lives of teenage girls), but the film chooses to reflect these characters as real women who experience legitimate problems irrespective of their status or social standing. They don’t have to be “The Princess” or “The Basket Case,” even if that’s how they are perceived by the outside world, because the outside world is more often than not wrong. For a film created nearly forty years ago, the notion of three-dimensional, deep young women is a powerful pro-women message, especially when depicting it continues to be a struggle for screenwriters to this day.

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"I'm In The Math Club, The Latin Club, and The Physics Club." (Gender Stereotypes)

While it’s true that The Breakfast Club accurately depicts some actual problems that real young women experience, it would be pleasant, albeit rare, to witness the success of a female character equivalent of Brian, rather than a conventionally pretty girl or a hidden troubled soul. Again, it would be nice to see a female character who isn’t inadvertently pushed into traditional femininity by the end of the film.

It would be possible to argue that, due to the commentary on gender roles (especially in correlation with class consciousness), the characters were designed to represent different facets of modern society. This is a justified claim - but, similarly, while the story focuses on realistic women’s stories, it would be nice to expand the criteria of women who audiences are willing to listen to; those without prettiness, or money, or the emotional damage that the media likes to capitalize on to signify maturity. The female characters should be allowed to mature on their own terms without pushing them toward a different identity, the same way characters like Brian are allowed to be endearing without being prodded into becoming like Bender or Andrew toward the end of the film.

"You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried." (Bender's Transgressions)

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Universal Pictures

In somewhat of a standard tradition of '80s coming-of-age films, there’s usually a sexual transgression (or a whole slew) made against a female character. Whether it’s rape by deception in Revenge of the Nerds, or the non-consensual voyeurism depicted in Porky’s, sex crimes are depicted as a way for young, impassioned teenage boys to “have a little fun” at the expense of their good-looking female counterparts. Unfortunately, The Breakfast Club is no exception to this disturbing theme.

During the course of the film, Claire is repeatedly harassed, shamed, and even sexually violated by her main love interest, Bender, who seems to have no qualms about taking advantage of Claire (especially considering that Bender is never expected to apologize or admit fault as part of the group’s “personal growth” arc). While it may be easy to be charmed by the rugged appeal of Bender and even empathize with the difficulties involved in his upbringing, it’s distinctly misogynistic that female characters are expected to step around the sexual misdeeds of men, especially when the female characters are only sixteen years old.

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"If You Say You Haven't, You're A Prude. If You Say You Have, You're a Slut." (Critique of Sexist Rhetoric)

While the film does detail some pretty overtly misogynistic sexual behavior, it also offers up some insight into the way men and women (especially young men and women) interact. In the midst of a group conversation surrounding why each individual came to be present during the Saturday morning detention, the topic quickly shifts towards sex, causing Allison to state, “If you say you haven’t, you’re a prude. If you say you have, you’re a slut. It’s a trap.”

Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club
Universal Pictures

The Breakfast Club chooses to make a commentary on the pressures of adolescence, especially in relation to the way that young women are judged based on their sexual choices irrespective of what their sexual choices may be. Claire tries to conceal her virginity in hopes of not being mocked for desiring love and respect, and Allison lies about rampant sexual encounters in order to receive the attention she doesn’t experience at home. The notion of “prude / slut-shaming” is an especially pressing topic within modern day feminist discourse, and as such, The Breakfast Club was one of the most influential films from the '80s that discussed the unfair sexual pressures placed upon women (despite the mild hypocrisies involved in the plot’s overlooking inappropriate sexual behavior).

"We're All Pretty Bizarre. Some of Us Are Just Better at Hiding It." (Allison's Makeover).

If there’s one resounding comment that seems to infiltrate the conversation every time The Breakfast Club is mentioned, it’s this: “Allison looked prettier before the makeover.” But why did she have to have one in the first place? In order to appease the gods of cinematographic romance, they didn’t douse mega-jock Andrew Clark in black eyeliner and nail polish (nor did they confiscate his supply of anti-dandruff shampoo). He was the same old letterman-jacket-wearing athlete as in the beginning of the film. Yet, in spite of all the main characters’ monologues about acceptance and friendship outside of cliques, Allison still needed to slap on some blush and pin her hair back for Andrew to look at her twice.

Why? Even in one of the most infamously male-driven makeover scenes in cinema history, Danny from Grease at least had the decency to chuck on a cardigan and go for a run around the track in order to even the scales ahead of Sandy’s “bad girl” transformation. Why was Allison’s defensiveness portrayed as a weakness to be stripped away, yet Andrew’s ultra-macho bullying trait was deemed decent enough to survive the end of the movie? "I didn't like that," actor Ally Sheedy succinctly said about the scene.

Overall, like many films that were wildly popular forty years ago, The Breakfast Club is complicated and inconsistent, much like its characters. While it may not be the prime advocacy for a politically correct piece of feminist media, the material depicted in the film has to be witnessed, though not condoned, as the product of a different era. Perhaps if John Hughes had created this film in 2022 it would have been undertaken from a more diplomatic position, but there are lessons to be learned throughout history, and as such… Don’t You Forget About [The Modern Need for Feminism].