I just got a complaint on one of my fics that having an aromantic character love their family and want them to not die horribly at the hands of the villain is "amatonormativity" and I am BEGGING people to just learn to say, "I don't like it" rather than co-opt words pertaining to important concepts in the aro community. Not wanting your family to die is not a sign the author is beholden to the amatonormative agenda. It just means that your brother owes you 10 bucks so that asshole can't die yet and Mom hasn't told you the secret to her homecooked chicken yet so we can't let her go and fuck it, Dad's good at fixing stuff, let's not have him die, either, while we're at it.
--
READ ONLY IF YOU WATCHED THE MOVIE.
If you’re a fan of the movie, grab a snack, this is gonna take a while…
Can some people please take a minute to remember this movie was released in 1985, so that was 37 years ago. The attitude was different back then, literally everything was different, even people’s mindset. So when you want to judge a film, think about the time of release, and how life used to be at that time. I’m so glad this movie was released before social media. Also, some people in the comments section are talking like these characters were meant to be perfect, which is the exact opposite of the idea behind the film, remember they are just kids! It’s all about the struggles of teenagers, not adults.
The Breakfast Club’s confession scene is one of the movie’s most pivotal and revealing, and it was also surprisingly UNSCRIPTED by the film’s cast. How powerful and amazing is that. The Director John Hughes left the confession scene largely unscripted, aiming for authenticity that was less likely to occur naturally if the actors simply delivered lines. While other small parts of the film (such as Bender’s unfinished “blonde woman” joke, and the “I forgot my pencil’’ line) were also improvised, it is incredible that the actors were able to successfully ad-lib such an important scene. Even the ICONIC one where Bender puts his fist up into the air as he walks across a football field with the quintessential Simple Minds’ track “Don’t You Forget About Me” blaring offscreen, originally, Hughes wanted Judd Nelson to walk across the field while the sunset showed brilliant behind him. Without Hughes’ direction, Nelson thrusted his fist into the air, and everybody, including Hughes, marveled at this stunningly natural improvised and fitting character choice. The ending has since become a beloved and unforgettable piece of moviemaking that is often referenced in pop culture, films, and television shows. It truly gives me chills every single time.
I wanna get real deep into my favorite of the bunch; John Bender (Played by Judd Nelson), who despite having conflicts with his own abusive father and even the school’s strict principal, is a fearless leader who’s willing to stop at nothing until things are settled just the way he imagined them. In a way they looked to him as the leader sometimes later in the film. He carries a knife because he’s scared that at any point anyone could be a threat and he has to keep up his guard. Also, The scene in the closet with Vernon shows his vulnerability. Vernon locks bender in and threatens to hurt him physically is such a raw and emotional scene for me, because it showcases that bender clearly isn’t the person he’s trying to be, but that it’s rather a front to avoid getting hurt. in that scene, Vernon has severely misjudged bender’s character and confronts him with violence, just like bender’s father. bender doesn’t fight back, because he’s in a position of weakness. Vernon is a grown adult, towering over him and using his power to push bender down. again, just like bender’s father. His whole life he’s been at the mercy of an abusive father so he feels the need to protect himself. Judd Nelson in describing Bender’s character he said “He’s always angry and bitter for the way he was treated in school and at home his entire life, that’s why he spends most of his time trying to pull the other people down to his level, this level where he feels they’ve put him.”
Bender was in detention for pulling a false fire alarm, it feels like he wanted to get the detention. I feel like the reason Bender kept getting Saturdays was because it meant less time at home with his father. It was an escape. I don’t agree with his attitude of course, and I’m not justifying any of his actions, but I can understand his trauma and what all of his manners are coming from. After all, he’s a powerful character.
I really loved the scene where he gets himself caught by Vernon in order to get the rest detainees from getting in more trouble kinda proves he’s more that an arrogant kid with a devil may care attitude. He was a selfless guy who was willing to take the proverbial bullet for others. Remember the part when Claire told Allison and Brian if they came up to her in school she would ignore them, Bender was so angry and told her “You know how shitty this is to do to someone.” Also. when he told her that “you can’t stand up to your friends and tell them that you’re gonna like who you wanna like.” That was great point, that popular kids only cares about people’s opinion. He hated that. Behind his hoody, bad boy persona, he cares about friendship, and i think there’s more to him than his exterior.
About the way he was a jerk to Claire (especially the confession scene), I hated it but it’s pretty obvious that he liked her from the start. He was mean to her, but in the film they’re showing how Bender is a vulnerable 16 years old kid who’s afraid of rejection, that’s why he’s taking this method with a girl he’s assuming he would never get. He is used to being treated as worthless, that he rejects everyone before they can reject him, that’s why through bitterness and rudeness according to him, he’s protecting himself. He’s rude especially to Claire because he cares about being rejected by her, it’s possible that to him even having then hate him is better than having then not think of him at all. He’s not justified, but maybe understood. He describes himself as “A freak” when he was talking to Claire, it’s in the deleted scenes of the movie, and that’s probably why deep down all he wanted to be accepted. Don’t forget he’s a victim of abuse, he just needed someone to believe in him, and that was obvious in the closet scene when Vernon he wanted him to become violent, even threatened him, John looked paralyzed and scared, he was reminded of his father, beating him, burning him with his cigar… the realization in his eyes that there’s no escaping from the abuse was sad. The movie wanted to show the damaged, abused, scared kid, a typical teen who just wanted to be accepted, and how he would deal with everything and everyone around him. All I know is this movie is really deep.
I always like to analysis any characters that I like before giving my judgment. I remember as a teenager I liked Bender as the rebellious, bad boy, and sarcastic guy! But growing up, and when you get old enough, after watching the movie over and over again, my idea of this character changed to see him on a deeper level. You realize that Bender is the most important character. He’s the one that broke the conformity and he made them all see each other for who they really are.
Judd Nelson made an iconic character, despite his flaws. People still dress up as John Bender for Halloween, to this day. He might’ve invented the ‘bad boy/young criminal’ character in Hollywood. I read a comment once, and i couldn’t get it out of my head, it says “If Judd Nelson had died after making this film, he would have been regarded as a modern day James Dean.” I couldn’t agree more.
The Breakfast Club is a timeless masterpiece. It’s the one movie they could never remake. Great decade. Best music. Best movies.
I think I wrote an essay, mainly about Bender, because he was the most complicated, important, and damaged character. Sorry, that was really long, but I was re-watching this iconic movie, and i wanted to share my opinion. All of this, just my personal opinion, and my own point of view.
Check this interview with Judd, you’ll be surprised of how intelligent, charismatic, witty and well-spoken he is:
—> Behind the scenes with Judd Nelson https://youtu.be/gsrGzXrmyU8
Props to Michael Sheen for doing such a brilliant acting job that I actually believed he didn’t absolutely love being kissed by David Tennant
Hey guys!
So my family just bought property in Arizona, it's in the middle of nowhere, dozens of miles from people. And while I grew up in the forest and knew the typical customs (dont step in fairy rings, avert your gaze from the glowing eyes in the woods, thank the trees) I have no idea of desert customs when it comes to ghosts and fae and the supernatural. I've never really visited the desert, so any advice would be nice!
Films That Feel Like Bad Dreams
The Nightmare Artist
Fear of Big Things Underwater
Control, Anatomy, and the Legacy of the Haunted House
House of Leaves: The Horror Of Fiction
Monsters in the Closet: A History of LGBT Representation in Horror Cinema
The History of Insane Asylums and Horror Movies
The Saddest Horror Movie You’ve Never Seen
Fear of Forgetting
Slender Man: Misunderstanding Ten Years Of The Internet
The Real Reason The Thing (1982) is Better than The Thing (2011)
The Bizarre Clown Painting No One Fully Understands
The Little Book of Cosmic Horrors
The Disturbing Art of A.I.
Fear of Depths
Goya’s Witches
David Lynch: The Treachery of Language
The True History That Created Folk Horror
The Existential Horror of David Cronenberg’s Camera
Keep reading
all i know is that if noel and mischa got married, noel would take mischa's surname. mischa would be like "no, no, i want to make sure that you know how you’re an equal partner in this relationship” blah blah blah and noel just takes mischa’s face into his hands and says “my whole life, i’ve had to bear the name of my father who abandoned me. to exchange it for the title of the man i love is the greatest perceivable honour” and like also he does it so mischa can keep any possible tie to his homeland from which he was ripped. but mischa doesn’t need to know that. on the inside mischa is a wounded child wandering through the forest, but he now has a guiding light in his husband.
i didnt realise ao3 was started in response to lj deleting account relating to p//edophi|ia and they explicitly support the posting of such works yikes
my favorite part of Crowley’s confession scene is how an immortal being with no need to have a body or breathe somehow managed to work himself into a very respectable level of hyperventilating
oh my fucking god THANK YOU! these are literally my exact thoughts?! do you have any idea how hard it is to find fanfic that doesn't bash ron but is anti hermione? i don't hat her either and can sometimes enjoy her character but i get tired of the same thing over and over where ron is an evil bastard and hermione is everything good and pure in the world.
percy is the best hp character full stop.
I have several posts about my issues with the twins but it mostly boils down to them almost killing a classmate for a stupid reason and send him into catatonia.
love this post!
What harry potter characters do you love but have no problem with people bashing? and what characters can you not stand being bashed?
Hello anon!
Aight, let’s get to work:
Harry Potter himself:
He can be painfully stupid a lot of the times, but gets bursts of intelligence every once in a while cause of plot reasons, can be quite insensitive, and can be pretty arrogant.
Hermione Granger:
She acts morally superior just because she reads more than others, she’s judgemental, close-minded, bitchy, and can do some EXTREMELY fucked up things. I think of her as completely grey when her character gets looked at objectively, because—unfortunately due to Harry being Mr. POV and Hermione being Rowling’s self-insert—many horrifying things she’s done get glossed over.
Draco Malfoy:
I do love him (he’s my 2nd favourite HP character) but there’s no denying that he was a blood-prejudiced bully who deserved a punch in the face, and I 100% understand why people dislike/hate him. I only like anti Draco content when it’s from Snape fans, other fans can be too much sometimes.
Ginny Weasley:
She was an absolute bitch in HBP! The way she treated Ron and Fleur made me wanna throat-punch her. Throughout HBP, she was horrible to him about both his insecurities with Quidditch and his insecurities with relationship experience—even when Ron was being overprotective when he saw her making out with Dean, he definitely did not deserve that.
Remus Lupin:
Remus and I… we have an odd relationship. I love Remus. I do… I really really do… but the things he does sometimes make me want to go “NYAHHHHHHHHHHHH” every time I reread the series. Most of his fans overlook his flaws, which is incredibly disappointing because I find his complexity and flaws extremely fascinating… that’s literally why I loved him in the first place. Even when criticising him, his fans still tend to gloss over the negative aspect(s) of his character. Unfortunately, I’m on the anti side when it comes to him, I only interact with his fans if they’re Remadora (and a lot of the times Prongsfoot) shippers.
I’m not gonna bash him or explain anymore cause it’s actually his birthday today and I only just remembered it a few minutes ago. I was actually planning on making an anti post about him today but then I remembered it was his birthday today and I just can’t do it. I love him too much to do that.😭😭 So yeah, you guys are gonna have to wait a few more days until I make an anti post about Remus, sorry not sorry.
Fred and George:
They were cruel bullies a lot of the times. Their flaws get overlooked by a majority of this fandom and they’re seen as harmless pranksters, which is rather irritating. They tried to lock Percy in cursed pyramid, which I’m pretty sure can count as attempted murder, and they gave Ron arachnophobia. The twins show a blatant disregard for people’s safety and well-being a lot of the times.
I’m gonna stop here and just say that: I’m alright with almost all HP characters being criticised and sometimes bashed. Every single HP character is problematic—besides Luna and Neville. There’s nothing wrong with pointing out their flaws. Over exaggerating their flaws? Yes, that’s wrong. But merely pointing them out? Nope.
Ron Weasley:
Most of the things he did that he gets bashed for are completely normal for a teenager. I mean… making an ass of yourself during a party, getting mad at your friend(s) over silly things, dating someone you aren’t really interested in because you like the attention, getting jealous, saying mindless things without thinking it through etc etc. Those are teenage mistakes. That’s common teenage boy idiocy. This fandom excuses Draco and the Marauders’ heinous acts by claiming that “they were just teenagers🥺” but when Ron does things that are 100% normal and are done many times in real life, he gets demonised for it. Make it make sense people!
Percy Weasley:
How. Fucking. DARE. YOU. What did he even do?? His family (besides Molly) was horrible to him! He never bothered anyone and no one in his family gave a shit about him except when Gred and Feorge (not a mistake) treated him like crap. He deeply cared about Ginny and Ron, and Arthur didn’t even try to make things better despite them literally working at the same place. Let’s not forget that no one besides Molly bothered contacting him for years… and when there was a war going on. Upsetting Molly is literally the ONLY bad thing he ever did, other than that he never did nothing wrong.
Tom Riddle Sr:
He. Literally. Did. Nothing. Wrong. You guys are demonising him… because he “abandoned” his RAPIST? His R-A-P-I-S-T? Is this fandom fucking ill? He had every right to leave his son and Merope, he was raped… repeatedly… for months. The victim can never be blamed for not wanting to face the reminder of their trauma for the rest of their lives. He was kind to Cecelia and comforted her when she was shocked by Morfin’s dead snake. And the only people he was ever rude to were the Gaunts and they were pretty much insane. One called him “filthy” and one hexed him.
Have a nice day, anon!
Something something Crowley running away from problems but always facing his feelings head on and Aziraphale always facing problems head on but always running away from his feelings
A Place where I dump all my thoughts on Books, Movies, Tv shows and any Fandom I end up involved in along the way. Favorite Characters include: Percy Weasley, Regulus Black, Dionysus, Mycroft Holmes, the 12th Doctor, Bruce Banner and many More.
273 posts