John Hughes
When Ferris Bueller’s companions surrender to the day and let themselves float down his wild river of experiences, they end up better for it.
Home Alone 2 does offer holiday charm, cheekiness, and sass that makes you love your family even when you wish you never belonged with them on Christmas Eve.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation isn’t the finest Xmas movie you’ll ever see, but it’s disarmingly heartfelt at times.
Sometimes used to satirize social deviance or anxiety over women’s emergent political power, the Tiny Guy, Huge Girl trope can tell us a lot about the sexual politics of the era.
There’s a strange dichotomy surrounding the films of John Hughes, both written and directed. In one sense, there have been few directors that have so understood the angst of the teenage experience. Yet, conversely, Hughes’ depiction of both race and gender are entirely at odds with his apparent insight into the teen condition.
Accurately reflecting teenage experience in film is no mean feat, and there aren’t many filmmakers to achieve it like John Hughes. Born in Michigan in 1950, Hughes described himself as a “quiet kid” who loved The Beatles. Aged 12, he and his family moved to the Chicago suburb Northbrook in Illinois.
John Hughes had the innate ability of tapping into the voice of a generation unlike any other director I’ve seen. His movies continue to make a lasting impact on the film industry – and it’s easy to see why. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink and a plethora of other “teen” films that redefined the genre, gave thousands of hearts and minds a voice – something coveted if you were an angsty teen growing up in the mid-eighties.