Thirty years ago The Breakfast Club was released in cinemas and the youth movement was thriving in 1980’s American cinema with stars like Demi Moore, Emilio Esteves and Matthew Broderick all making a name for themselves on the silver screen. However fast forward to the present and 21st century cinema has moved in a completely different direction compared to the 1980s.
High octane blockbuster hits such as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World are the new type of films that dominate the modern market, while coming of age movies have become a reminder of the distant past, but don’t hold the same popularity as they once did before. The current youth movies that have been produced in the last decade are often rude and insensitive therefore won’t be able to appeal to a mainstream audience.
Superbad is a prime example of youth films that have become tainted with explicit content that does not correspond well with individuals above a certain age. If inappropriate material remains a recurring theme, then newly released youth films will never attract a large number of potential viewers with its offensive rhetoric. The genre has to return back to the main principles that were established in the past.
Coming of age films must always represent the rebellious behaviour of youth combined with light hearted fun and energy but should never move away from the innocence and excitement that makes this genre so prolific. The Breakfast Club was a landmark film that helped catapult this genre to great heights but its influence on youth cinema and its ability to become a fan favourite amongst both the young and the old should never be forgotten.
#Peace.Love.TheBreakfastClub
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