I suppose he was to white Chicago suburbanites what Spike Lee is to black Brooklyn, Woody Allen is to Manhattan and Barry Levinson is to the "Tribe" in B-more. I never cared for the Home Alone flicks. Ferris Bueller was stupid to me then and now. Nothing with the late John Candy was my cup of tea, either. But The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles were as iconic 80s as Reagan and pop-synth of Flock of Seagulls. "Long Duck Dong" is mourning you. RIP, son of Winnetka...
8 comments:
"I suppose he was to white Chicago suburbanites what Spike Lee is to black Brooklyn, Woody Allen is to Manhattan and Barry Levinson is to the "Tribe" in B-more."
Good lines, Chambers, good lines. I wish the trained monkeys writing reviews for most mags would check this out.
I mined this from facebook comments. Anyone have any comment on this quote below?
"Oddly enough, I could relate more closely to John Hughes' films as a youth than Spike Lee's. I think Spike Lee's sensibility was so uniquely New York urban, that many black folk were just pretending to relate to him."
It depends on your upbringing.
SoCal 82Tigers:
Anon & CC: The legacy of a film director’s work is in how well it holds up over time. Changing times and fashions seem to make some (most?) films seem quaint and calculated when viewed later in time. JH might never have won an Oscar or even a Thalborg but that did not detract him from making the movies he wanted to make, and his ability to tell a compelling story about young people facing real issues of growing up (white or otherwise)!
Hughes’ legacy is that legions of young people of all colors and class relate just as well toady to 16 Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, and (Now Calm Down Chris) Career Opportunities as we did back in the day! People half my age and my cousins a third of my age ALL know his movies and love them! My wife considers Planes Trains and Automobiles a Thanksgiving Classic. She and her daughter’s make a point almost every November to it watch along with Home for the Holiday’s…
In addition JH movies spawned a flood of film imitators to please almost every color and socio-economic group. I could argue that movies as diverse as House Party – Friday – Less Than Zero – Boyz In The Hood – School Ties – Kids – A Christmas Story – Risky Business (and scores more if I had the time) all in part pay a form of tribute to the John Hughes Teen Coming Of Age Movie… An additional discussion might also be to speculate how John Hughes’ legacy pays tribute to the seminal work of the young George Lucas – American Graffiti….
Condescending or dismissive thoughts that he was only young white urbanites director is a disservice to JH, his movies, and his numerous fans from EVERY color and socio-economic group All in all Chris still a great post and a good diversion from the media banter from the last few weeks!!!
I disagree. i think this is dependent on many things. Certainly most minorities who grew up in the 80s and in the suburbs would find some things entertaining or interesting. I did, but even with The Breakfast Club I did not say "Hey that's me." I knew people like that, but their angst or comedy wasn't mine. Still, as the minority it's up to you to adjust, not them. I think that's the key.
SoCal here's my disagreement with Nat Turner. Hughes isn't like Spike or Barry Levinson or Woody Allen. Those three are minorities and they are trying to show the majority, represented for better or worse by John Hughes' mostyly comedy, a different world. They have the burden of showing something different but hoping the majority will find something entertaining or interesting (or disturbing). I think Hughes represents what America thought of itself then and now, and Spike and the others were the outsiders. So I disagree with Nat.
SoCal 82Tiger
Re : NabilaJ - I appreciate your challenge to my and Nat’s thoughts, BUT I think your critique is talking around a very interesting point about American Cinema. I have always argued that the story of the “America Experience” in films share commonality regardless of what group’s story is being told… I see the universal characteristics shared in a host of diverse “American” movies. For Example watching films like Avalon & Diner; Mi Familia or America Me; Soul Food or Boys In The Hood; Joy Luck Club or Grand Torino; and A Bronx Tale or The Godfather shows me that each group has personal struggles and obstacles unique to their American experience… BUT, each group also shares common dreams, hopes, fears, joys and disappoints which, for me at least, is what makes the film experience so rewarding. I know I can never walk in another groups shoes but the film experience as related by such people as Hughes, or Coppola, or Allen, or Lee is all good because I see the same in all of us at the same time I see the differences!
"Adventures in Babysitting" is on now
Oh please John Hughes sucked HUGE donkey balls!! He always did the same CRAP over and over and people of color were nothing more than props and streotypes to this prick. Good riddance.
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