Subjective point of view in the Breakfast Club (1985)

John Hughes’ the Breakfast Club (1985), a personal all-time favorite of mine, is set in 1984 at fictional Shermer high school located in Shermer, IL. The film focuses on five teenagers that belong to different social cliques. The way each teenager sees the next is told through the eyes of the camera. The camera’s way of moving, positioning and angling tells its own unique story, and what it sees depends on which character the camera is playing in that moment and how he or she is feeling. Each student has a different perception of the next one, and the events that are taking place within the detention session also affect the character’s viewpoint, as told by the camera. Corrigan & White (2009) defines “point of view” in the quote: “In cinematographic terms, point of view refers to the position from which a person, an event, or an object is seen (or filmed)” (104). (Picture above is from washingtonpost.com).

The course text lists a couple types of these points of views, one being subjective and the other objective. The subjective point of view, basically, is the point of view in which a character sees people or events from their personal perspectives, which is what I was just speaking about earlier. Corrigan & White (2009) explains this concept as follows: “[…] a subjective point of view re-creates the perspective of a character through camera placement […]” (104). Some examples of subjective point of view in the Breakfast Club (1985) includes an amusing scene where the gang is following John Bender (played by Judd Nelson) down the hall when they, instead, should be in the library bored out of their minds for their detention session (Nelson, Judd).  (Picture above is from hubpages.com)

As the gang walk, they spot their principal Richard Vernon (played by Paul Gleason) casually strolling about. We know this because the camera shows the group looking in one direction, Richard Vernon is shown walking, and so as the camera darts back on the students they are running with shock in the opposite, (except Allison who moves at her own pace) trying to make it back to the library alive. I also would like to note that while the gang runs for their lives, a memorable, energetic and fun 1980s tune is playing, which I know not by name, but it adds to the anxious, yet humorous and energetic atmosphere of the scene (Nelson, Judd). (Picture above is from theboxset.com)

 



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  Another scene where subjective point of view occurs is rooted in the emotional and irresistible love story between the handsome, athletic, and competitive jock Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez) and the odd but beautiful Allison (Ally Sheedy). In the scene where Bender goes off to “blaze up” (AKA get high off of Marijuana) and everyone else follows, the camera shows Allison as she is admiring Andrew with his back turned from afar.  The camera goes back on Andrew getting up from his seat, and walking away and out of the library to join the other potheads. The camera goes back to Allison as her gaze (and head) follows Andrew while he is walking out, and not noticing Allison’s stares (Nelson, Judd).



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Another example of subjective point of view occurs in the scene when the gang is sitting in the library bored, fooling around. Allison is drawing a snow covered cabin with help from her hair's flakes, Andrew is pulling on his hoodie strings, Bender is, not surprisingly, playing with fire, and Claire (Molly Ringwald), who appears to be so bored she dazes off in her own world, is staring at Brian (Michael Anthony Hall) who is embarrassingly looking back.

The camera goes back and forth between Claire staring with her mouth open, to Brian looking back with an embarrassing look on his face. He is so self-conscious he places his hat on his lap to hide the erection Claire has given him due to her staring so much at him. This is funny because Ringwald and Hall started dating shortly after filming had ended; must have been some effect (Nelson, Judd). (Picture above is from chicagonow.com)

Works Cited:

Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. Film Experience: an Introduction. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.

Nelson, Judd, Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Anthony M. Hall, and Ally Sheedy, perf. The Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes. Universal Studios, 1985. Film.