Don't You Forget About John Hughes

I watched an interesting documentary the other day about a group of filmmakers making a film about John Hughes' filmmaking. It was called, Don't You Forget About Me 

As a writer for teens and a lover of John Hughes, I took away some insight from the interviews they did with people in the industry and especially from the teenagers. I didn't much care for their "journey" to get an interview with Mr. Hughes--it didn't really mesh with me and I think it was because I never invested in their group. The scenes with the filmmakers themselves seemed petty and disorganized. If they were going to feature themselves, I think the audience should have gotten to know them better instead of scenes of arguments about how to do things they should have likely already have planned before they got that far. I just wasn't invested in their personal journey.

However, the interviews were great. I really liked the normal, everyday, very smart kids they talked to who complained that they relate to practically nothing about Hollywood teen movies anymore. Movie teens are nothing like real teenagers.

I also loved learning that John Hughes basically sequestered the actors of Breakfast Club in a cheesy hotel in Chicago  during the filming. Not only did he understand the toxicity of Hollywood's influence on his movie set--but I think he cared about his actors. You don't see that anymore. There are some talented beautiful kids going into Los Angeles--but as soon as it can, it seems like the Hollywood Machine scrubs them clean of whatever made them interesting and turns them into Actorbots.

I am, of course, a huge fan of John Hughes and his writing. The poignancy of this movie being filmed before he died does not escape you--especially near the end. I think the point of it all was that when he stopped making films, he left this huge gaping maw that nobody can fill. But more than that, I think nobody is even TRYING to fill. It's sad, really. Teens are some of the smartest people out there. It would be nice to honor that once in awhile.