Cole Quarnstrom
Movie Critique
10/13/14
English elective

Part 1: Five teenagers who don't' know each other spend a Saturday in detention at the suburban school library. At first they squirm, fret and pick on each other. Then after sampling some marijuana, a real encounter session gets underway. The stresses and strains of adolescence have turned their inner lives into a minefield of disappointment, anger and despair.

Part 2: In The Breakfast Club the most important/significant/memorable thing is the characters. The characters are the most important because of the stereotypical personalities they have.

Part 3:
Brian is subjected to stereotypes throughout the movie. For example, he has a balanced nutritional lunch and Bender associates this with him being a perfect nerdy child who has a loving mother who still packs his lunch for him. It was also simply assumed that because he was the “brain” that he would write everyone’s essay. Brian was also subjected to peer pressure. Peer pressure is social pressure by members of one’s peer group to take part in a certain action, adopt certain values, or otherwise conform in order to be accepted. He was subjected to peer pressure when he decided to take part in smoking marijuana with the rest of the group.
Claire’s personality can be explained by reciprocal determinism. Claire’s parents are divorced and she is often used as a weapon by each of them to get back at the other. The way she is treated at home affects her thoughts and feelings about her self-worth which leads to her seeking approval from others. In the movie, Brian describes her behavior as conceited because she is a “popular” and looks down on those “under” her on the social hierarchy. This shows that her behavior, internal thoughts, and her environment are all contributing factors to her personality.
In the movie, Bender falls victim to the fundamental attribution error. Bender’s personality is described by most as freeloading, aggressive, and disrespectful. At home, Bender is treated badly. He is constantly being verbally and physically abused and has to fend for himself. In Bender’s case, everyone attributed his actions to his personal disposition and did not take into account his home situation.
Allison’s reason for being in detention was not actually a reason at all. She was there simply because she had nothing better to do. One of the needs on Maslow’s hierarchy is the need to belong. In Maslow’s hierarchy, physiological needs comes first, followed by safety needs, and then the need to belong and feel loved. Allison had met the first two needs on the hierarchy and the next step was to fulfill the need to belong and feel loved. At home, Allison was ignored by