As Speedbump pointed out,
My childhood is dying. My pop icon. My president and now the guy behind my favorite movies.
This year has not been kind to our cultural landmarks. That's a difficult thing, especially for people like me, who are driven by their pop culture. I didn't even think much of Farrah Fawcett, nor did I think Michael Jackson would bother me.
I was wrong.
John Hughes has stepped away from Hollywood for some time now. Although his work continued, for the most part, we didn't care for the collection of Beethoven and Home Alone movies. Those were not written by the John Hughes we loved. And let's pretend IMDb is lying to us and that he didn't really write Maid In Manhattan.
He was part of the driving force behind The Brat Pack, and without him we would never have understood that the geek, the rebel and the basketcase were better than the princess and the jock. Most teen movies (and The CW -- formerly The WB and UPN, ABC Family), today possibly would not exist (Kevin Smith's work, for one, has always been influenced by John Hughes -- including Jay and Silent Bob's decision to go to Shermer, Illinois for the women).
So the man's work lives on.
John Hughes gave us the perfect Jake Ryan, the evil Steff, and the five members of The Breakfast Club. He gave us Eric Stoltz as a romantic lead. He gave us Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall to personify teenage angst. His work was like a blueprint for adolescence, and for people of my generation, his work was like our bible.
The New York Times currently has an interactive feature showing some of Hughes' work in a collection of favorite quotes in his more known movies. You can see it here.
Now, personally, for clip number six, most outstanding for me is the end of the clip, when Allison says "I'm not a nymphomaniac. I'm a compulsive liar." Because of the simple fact that Ally Sheedy is tons better than Molly Ringwald.
Now, Allison's makeover: character evolution or a step back for all basketcases? Discuss.
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