When the phrase teen movies are brought into conversation, movies from the 1980s are bound to come to mind. One may think of films such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Risky Business. Those films helped define a generation of teenagers and inspire the generations to follow. However, while these films certainly played their part in making the teen comedy what it is today, it was truly revolutionized by writer and director John Hughes.
His six high school centered films shaped the teen genre into something studios and audiences alike had not seen before. His films found their place in pop culture and cemented themselves there for almost 40 years. They have stayed with us through memorable lines, iconic scenes, and frequent inspiration for new teen comedies.
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The concept of the teenager was only just beginning to be understood in the 1950s. Prior to that, people did not quite grasp that there is a stage of adolescence between young childhood and early adulthood. It was during the 1950s that teen dramas and comedies made their debut. Both memorable and forgettable films such as Rebel Without a Cause, Gidget, The Wild One, and A Summer Place were some of the earliest entries into the teen genre.
The 1960s followed up with many beach-themed entries that took the comedic route unlike their predecessors. Beach Party, Bikini Beach, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini are just a few examples of silly portrayals of teenagers spending their time just partying at the beach.
By the 1970s, the teen genre started to branch out and merge with other genres, such as horror and musicals. This is most notably seen in Carrie, American Graffiti, and Grease. When the 1980s rolled around, studios began to approach the teen audience in a new way. The teen genre started to solidify itself, especially within comedy, and acquire the characteristics and tropes that we see today.
Character Tropes Hughes Introduced Us To
Universal Pictures
John Hughes introduced us to the common character types, characteristics, and tropes that have been seen in teen comedies for four decades. Although it is probably more notable in 1985’s The Breakfast Club, Hughes actually introduced audiences to these character types and tropes with his first film, Sixteen Candles, released in 1984. At the end of The Breakfast Club, the five main characters sign a letter to the principal stating that they are each a brain, a basket case, an athlete, a princess, and a criminal. Since that iconic ending, many teen films have followed this format of having a popular girl, a jock, an outcast, a geek, and a rebel.
However, those character types were first present in Sixteen Candles. Samantha (Molly Ringwald) is figuring out where she fits in and crushing on the school’s most popular jock, all while her family forgot her sixteenth birthday. The film also features a popular girl who is dating said jock, as well as a group of geeks desperate to get the attention of any girl. These character types are present in all of his high school movies. His films also centered around common themes found in teen films today, such as class struggle, fitting in, true friends, finding yourself, family, and romance.
Appreciating Teens, Not Condescending to Them
Paramount Pictures
Part of the reason Hughes’ films worked so well with audiences for decades is that he focused on organic dialogue that actually resonated with the youth of America at the time. Hughes always gave his teenage protagonists the respect they deserved that normally they would not receive from adults. Whether the problems his characters are facing would be considered serious or not, they are treated as important because they are to his characters.
In order to delve into the different aspects of the viewpoint of American teenagers, Hughes used vastly different protagonists in each of his films. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off focuses on Ferris challenging the rules set by school and his parents so that he can enjoy a day gallivanting through Chicago with his friends.
Many of his films feature the hierarchy of high school, which Hughes had a keen eye for. Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles both feature a girl longing for a boy that she seemingly cannot have due to either an age gap or a barrier in social classes. These are plots that do not appear to have depth on the surface, but the characters and worlds Hughes created are so fleshed out and full of opinionated friends and family that it resonates with experiences real teenagers have. His appreciation for teenage problems and the different ways in which kids present themselves in high school is exaggerated for the sake of movie-making, but it has always been in-tune with actual teenage experiences.
The success of Hughes’ films, both critically and with audiences, inspired the teen comedies of the remainder of the ’80s and each decade that followed. Teen and coming of age comedies such as Say Anything, Can’t Buy Me Love, and St. Elmo’s Fire were associated (and still are) with John Hughes, despite not being projects of Hughes, because these films followed the same unique blend of comedy and drama that Hughes created.
The comedy that Hughes was able to present to audiences was completely his own and set his films apart from the other teen comedies of the time. It was both ridiculous and intelligent. The dialogue in his films was that of his own creation and was incorporated into the vernacular of real American teenagers.
Hughes Movies Have Cemented Themselves in Pop Culture
Even Hughes’ music choices for his films were inspiration for the genre. He was a fan of British New-Wave pop and chose to use songs such as Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” or OMD’s “If You Leave” rather than use songs by mainstream artists. So many scenes from his films have become cemented into pop culture and have been parodied many times. In 2001’s Not Another Teen Movie, there is almost a word-for-word reenactment of the scene where Bender argues with the principal and earns himself several more Saturdays in detention.
Easy A also drew inspiration from many John Hughes’ films and films of the genre. Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) mentions her love of ’80s teen comedies throughout the movie and even expresses her distaste for her life not being like a movie directed by John Hughes. The ending scene of the movie is an amalgamation of iconic moments from various Hughes’ filmography.
John Hughes revolutionized the way both Hollywood and the public view teenagers and the youth of America. Through his unique dramatic and comedic lens, he was able to help people recognize that teenagers’ problems mattered and were worth looking at. Through his films, he taught audiences that socioeconomic differences are issues that teenagers do face, and it effects their relationships. He showed us that even everyday problems such as popularity and fitting in truly matter to teenagers.
He demonstrated that the stage between childhood and adulthood is challenging to navigate and that sometimes we need to let loose. John Hughes created a formula for the teen genre that showed Hollywood and audiences alike that intelligent, funny, serious movies that do not condescend to young audiences are worth making.
