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Breakfast club personality types


Characters - The breakfast club

Characters 

Claire Standish
by Elaine Nguyen and Victoria Ta

Claire Standish is a typical “popular girl”. She has looks, wealth, status, and a feisty personality. At the beginning of the film, she seems like a privileged, spoiled, and conceited person. From the beginning of the film it is obvious –especially with her in contrast  to the rest of the group- that she belongs to the upper division of a high school hierarchy.

“I can't believe you can't get me out of this...I mean it's so absurd I have to be here on a Saturday! It's not like I'm a defective or anything.... Excuse me, sir?  I think there's been a mistake.  I know it's detention, but...um...I don't think I belong in here...” At the beginning of the film, before Claire becomes comfortable with the other members of The Breakfast Club, she reinforces the recurring subject of alienation within social subcultures by implying the others are “defective”. When e is made to stay, she refuses to speak to anyone except Andrew, who is from the same social circle as she.

Claire’s entire outfit is from Ralph Lauren, a brand famous for being expensive and of good quality. Expensive clothes are often seen as a sign of wealth and status, and Claire seems to have the most expensive clothes out of the students in detention. In addition to her diamond earrings, she wears a watch and two rings. She is possibly the most accessorized character in the film. This adds to the spoiled, rich girl stereotype that Claire represents. Stereotypically, girls of Claire’s social position rely solely on their looks and wealth to get them anywhere. This fits and reinforces the stereotype the audience pigeonholes her as. Claire wears nice, new, expensive looking clothes. This adds to the audience’s initial perception of her- that she is luckier than the others and that her life is easier than theirs. Claire’s clothes serve as a reminder throughout the film that her family is wealthier than the other students'.

“Your friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us... I'm not saying that to be conceited! I hate it! I hate having to go along with everything my friends say!” By having Claire say this, it shows how she is very aware of her social status within the school and of her reputation she feels she must uphold. While she feels comfortable enough to be herself around The Breakfast Club, she still feels the need to impress her peers and alter her personality in public. 

Claire’s parents are relatively similar to Allison’s parents, as they too, do not really show love towards both their daughters. “I mean, I don't think either one of them gives a shit about me...it's like they use me just to get back at each other.”  She obviously does not feel like her parents love or appreciate her enough. This is likely a reason for her dependence on her peers’ acceptance and approval, which, in turn, is the likely the reason she feels the need to belong in the popular group. This shows just how caught up she is in the web of social stereotypes.

Claire ends up in the Saturday detention because she ditched school to go shopping and evidently, was caught. While it may or may not be something her friends pressured her into doing, it gives an insight to what sort of lifestyle she leads. Does she really want this life? Probably. Unlike the other detentionees, the only thing Claire really wants to be free from is herself.

“Why didn't you want me to know you were a virgin?” “Because it's personal business, it's my personal, private business.” “I think it's okay for a guy to be a virgin...” “You do?” Claire smiles and nods. 
Not only do Claire and Brian reach out to each through one of their shared problems, this exchange discusses how any subculture of teens may cave to the pressures of their peers. Claire accepts and supports Brian because she knows from experience what this sort of peer pressure feels like.  

Allison Reynolds
by Saskia Gregson 

Allison Reynolds is an interesting character. She is stereotyped as a “basket case”. For the first part of the film, she does not talk. She is silent, apart from the occasional squeak or defensive remark.
Unlike the other students, she is in Saturday detention by choice. “I have nothing better to do”, she says. Allison is ignored at home and has no friends at school, which may be why she decided to join the other students in detention.

“My parents ignore me.” The way she says this quote shows the audience that she takes it very personally and is very upset about the lack of attention from her parents. The lack of attention from her parents and people in general appears to be her major problem. Many aspects of her life, from the way she dresses to the way she acts, are dont to get attention.

Allison dresses in black from head to toe with heavy, black eye make-up and messy hair. She may dress this way draw attention to herself to make up for the lack of care she receives at home. Her clothing and the way she wears her hair and does her makeup is a big part of her character. Even though she does not say much, her clothing says it all. 

When all of the characters have lunch, it symbolises their personality traits and family life. In Allison’s case, she has a sandwich with cereal and two sugar sticks. She throws the meat from her sandwich over her shoulder and onto the statue, which may represent her seemingly uncaring attitude. 

Allison has her bag filled with “problems” that she tips out in front of Brian and Andrew, despite the fact they did not want to know what was inside her bag. 
Allison: You wanna see what's in my bag? 
Brian & Andrew: No! 
*she dumps the things inside her bag onto the couch.*
Andrew: Holy shit! What is all that stuff? 
Brian: Do you always carry this much shit in your bag? 
Allison: Yeah...I always carry this much shit .. .in my bag...You never know when you may have to jam.. 
Brian: Are you gonna be like a shopping bag lady? You know like, sit in alleyways and like talking to buildings and wearing men's shoes and that kinda thing? Allison: I'll do what I have to do. .. 
Brian: Why do you have to do anything?
Allison: My home life is un...satisfying...
From this part of the film Andrew believes she is just doing this for attention, but she is really showing them how much pain she is in. She hates the way her parents ignore her.

Allison is desperate to be heard by someone, so she does anything just to be heard by anyone. As the movie progresses, Claire gives Allison a make over, completely changing her whole look. She is dressed in white, with her hair off her face. It brightens Allison’s whole personality up. Andrew, the stereotyped Jock, is fascinated and impressed with the way Allison looks ending with both of them forming good chemistry between them and kissing.

Brian Johnson
by Saskia Gregson and Issy Zendler
Brian Johnson portrays the high school nerd and he belongs to the subcultural group of what his peers call “geeks”. Until his Saturday detention of eight hours he did not associate with John bender, Claire, Andrew and Alison the other typical stereotypes found in an everyday senior high. Brian strives for perfection, he is always getting the best grades, and has high expectations for the future not only from himself but his parents.

Brian Johnson is seen as an intelligent and happy individual to others. But in reality brain is not happy with his life. He is constantly pressured by his parent’s to do well in school and his expectation for the future soon become out of his reach. When Brian is overloaded with this constant pressure it backfires upon a bad grade he receives. Brains self-confidence is shattered as his dependable great marks have failed to give him motivation. Brian’s denial self refuses to accept his failure with his shop class project. He does not want to come to the realization that he did not succeed well in a project, and for Brian this is a first time failure. When the five students are finally coming out towards each other, and discussing their reasons for being in Saturday detention we soon find out that Brian is in detention for bringing a flare gun to school, with suicidal intent. The group find the news devastating that Brian would go to such extents

Brian: I don’t understand what? You think I don’t understand pressure, Claire? Well fuck you! Fuck you!
You know why I’m here today? Do you? I’m here because Mr. Ryan found a gun in the locker…
Andrew: Why’d you have a gun in you locker?
Brian: I tried. You pull the fuckin’ trunk on it and the light’s supposed to go on… and it didn’t go on, I mean, I…
Andrew: What was the gun for Brian?
Brian: Just forget it…
Andrew: You brought it up, man!
Brian:  I can’t have an F, I can’t have it and I know my parents can’t have it! Even if I aced the rest of the semester, I’m still only a B. And everything’s ruined for me

"Dear Mr. Vernon:
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal.
Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.

The letter is the focal point of the film, as it demonstrates and illustrates the changes the students undergo during the course of the day; their attitudes and perspectives have changed and are now completely different. When the detention first started they all despised each other, thinking they all had nothing in common. After revealing all their problems to one another they come to realize that all their problems are equally as bad as the person beside them and have more in common than they first suspected. Towards the end of the movie, john Bender and Andrew Clarke start to form a attraction towards Claire and Alison, In the finals senses Claire and John, share a moment on the lips, likewise with Andrew and Alison. These actions that took place demonstrate their characters stereotype, kissing a girl that you only met 8 hours earlier. In comparison to Brian stereotype “geek”, who during the final senses of the film is not falling in love with a girl, but falling in love with his essay.

John Bender 
By Nick Sgambelluri and Andrew Wharton

John Bender is the stereotypical “bad Boy” who is the part of the 5 main characters in the movie but his dominating personality gives him a more central role.  He is wild and thrives on his rebellious attitude.  He is labelled failure and criminal throughout the film.  He doesn’t care about his school life and his grades and is on the fast track to becoming a drop out

John Bender looks a lot older then all the other kids with his long hair, earrings, old grey coat, Denham jacket, cargo pants, filthy black boots with no laces, red flannel top with the sleeves ripped off, black gloves and his black glasses. 

Bender is proud about his status amongst his peers and others, you could say that he is up himself and feels there is no other path for him to go down.  

John Bender can be seen as the link between all the kids in detention and Richard Vernon. The things they say to bender they wouldn’t say to anyone else.

When John Bender describes his relationship with his parents, it’s the first time you feel sorry for him.  He describes the abuse both verbal and physical from both his mother and father. He shows the others the scar from where his dad burnt him with a cigar.  His parents don’t care for him, they reject him and all 3 of them (John, his mother and his father) argue and argue with each other forming a hostile environment.  John Bender’s relationship with his parents  cant compare to any of the others. They form a new view of John after this. 

At the start of the film we form a view of bender as someone who is wild and crazy, the viewer is positioned not to like him. As the story progresses the viewers see Benders character in a deeper way, discovering his troubled life with his family. The reader begins to feel sympathetic for Bender as they form an understanding of why he is so troubled and aggressive.  

Bender’s hidden attraction to Claire is very unique, as they are completely opposite.  Their friends would irate each other and their parents would dislike each other. Claire, the wealthy popular princess, is socially the opposite of John Bender’s abusive everyday experience. She represents everything in life that he feels he is missing out on. Claire’s diamond earrings, fancy sushi lunch and her father’s BMW are all items that are effects of his rage. Bender who has no access to any of these luxuries.  They have a love hate relations throughout the movie, one minute they hate each other and the next they don’t.  As Bender says to Claire at the end, “you know how you were saying before how your parents use you to get back at each other, wouldn’t I be outstanding in that capacity”.  I think that sums up their relationship with each other and with their parents.

Andrew Clark
By Joel Antony and Vellen Pillay

Andrew Clarke is the second main character in this movie “the breakfast club. ” Andrew would be classified as a jock. He is the number 1 Athlete in their school. He is really popular because of all the sports he does. He ended up getting detention because he taped Larry Leister butt cheeks together. Larry was one of the nerdy kids who is usually gets bullied by the popular kids. Andrew never did anything like this before and that is why he was really annoyed about getting detention. Andrew despite his size he has a great appetite. We know this because in the movie the during lunch time he takes out 3 sandwiches, a big bag of crisps, cookies, a 1 litre carton of orange juice, an apple and a banana. This tells us how much his energy his body needs to live his daily life.

Andrew is a person that who is not afraid to stand up to people who either hunting him or his friend. He is uptight and constantly seeking approval from his father because he is seen by his father as a person that he does not want to be. But he sees him as such; therefore he tries to please him by acting as the person who they think he is.   Andrew is confident on the outside, but on the inside he wasn't sure who he was because he committed to stay as who he is right now, if he were to change then he would be disappointing his father. He is basically kind hearted, well mannered, and despite what seems like a lack of confidence will stand up for himself. He also knows that what he did to Larry Lester was wrong. Andrew's true compassion and good heart shows when he admits that he felt bad for doing, and ashamed because he knew that the nerdy boy would have to go home and face his father after the humiliation.

Andrew comes from a sporty family. His dad is always pushing him to make sure his son doesn’t end up becoming a loser. We know this because in the movie he said, "Wouldn’t tolerate any losers." We also know that his family would also eat as much as he does because all of them are sporty and would have an appetite similar to is or greater. Andrew sadly accepts the fact that he was always pushed around by his dad to not become a loser. He even did things he didn’t enjoy. Like at the moment he is doing wrestling, which he hates. But he is afraid of his dad so he does wrestling anyway so that his dad won’t do anything to him. By his fathers attitude we can tell that his dad was popular when he was in school and he wants his son to be just like him. This kind of meant that the reason his dad was pushing him was because he wanted his son to become just like him when Andrew is older.

The people that he always hangs out in school are his friend from the wrestling club.  The friends who he hangs out most of the time, most of them are idiots. They always cheer him when he’s doing something really wrong. For example when he taped Larry Lester butt cheek together. His friend was standing by side, watching him doing it, they just cheered for him. Andrew think that when he taped Larry butt together, he think that his friend is going to accept him more. But they are not. They are just using him as tool to gain more popularity. Also he is committed to this image because if he were to change then he would be disappointing and letting down his friends.

Andrew likes wearing blue coloured clothes a lot because in the movie he was wearing a blue jacket when he came into the library for detention. And when he took it of he was wearing a blue hoodie. Along with that after smoking marijuana when all of them were going crazy he took of his hoodie and under that he had a blue undershirt. This in a way tells us that his favourite colour was blue. Andrew wears branded sports clothes. This is probably to suit his Sporty personality. We know he wears branded sport clothes because his undershirt had a NIKE logo.  He is good looking and popular. We know that he is popular because in the movie he asked Claire is she wanted to go to the party at one of his friend’s house. This suggests that he goes to a lot of parties therefore is really popular. He has a muscular body. We know this because he does wrestling and was doing sport for most of his life. This means that his body would be in a really fit shape and all the girls would be after him.

 

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