Ok, I didn’t wear the shoes (although I’m quite certain I owned some very similar at some point), and i can’t say I had all the fashion sense, but the character of Duckie cut way too close to the bone for me. (I did wear a bolo tie with my tux to Sr. prom-see pic below….) I really wanted to be Ferris Bueller.
The truth of the matter was that I really didn’t have the best high school experience. I was from a tiny town in NW Kansas. I wasn’t into sports. I had allergies and didn’t do well on the farm or in the field. I liked to sing. I liked to read. I played piano and liked synthesizers and Depeche Mode and Erasure more than Whitesnake or Cinderella. I was skinny. I cared how my hair looked. You can go ahead and guess the label I got stuck with.
Of course, what the hayseeds didn’t realize is that I have always liked girls. I know that most boys hit this stage in their development where girls are suddenly very interesting and not so gross anymore. I never hit that stage because I’ve always liked girls. While other boys were wrestling in the dirt and learning baseball stats, I was getting about a 6 year head start at figuring out how to spend time with girls.
Weirdly, I have always romanticized high school; even when I was in it and it wasn’t the best. John Hughes gave me stories to hook my ideas into. Like I said, I was Duckie. I liked to think I was a little bit the nerd in Breakfast Club (without the drivenness and i would never take shop anyway…) who had the brains and reflection to give words to others’ feelings. I was Keith in Some Kind of Wonderful, who could show the girl what she was missing if she’d give me a chance.
Anyway, thank you, John Hughes. It’s silly, but your movies always make my favorites list.
Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club
shacknotes.com 