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Group Stereotypes In The Breakfast Club

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As human beings we like to do things that require minimal amounts of thought and effort. When it comes to identifying groups of people, we like to lump everyone together. This process is known as stereotyping. A stereotype is a set of characteristics attributed to all members of a specific group. The concern with stereotyping a group is that we assume that each person acts the same, ultimately resulting in the loss of each person’s individuality. As depicted in the movie The Breakfast Club, five students from different social groups are forced to spend an afternoon of detention together. As the movie progresses, the kids learn more about each other and themselves, realizing that the labels given to them by society do not define who they are as people. Each character in the movie is subjected to stereotypes. Instead of taking the time out to get to know one another, the students identify each other by the groups they belong to. Clair is seen as a princess, Brian a nerd, Allison a basket case, John a …show more content…

No matter who we are we are subjected to stereotypes. Group stereotypes exist when we label all members of the group equally. All members of the group have the same characteristics and are expected to act and behave in the same manner. When we group stereotype we take away a person’s individuality. This is a concern because not all members of the group act the same. Group stereotypes may also add unwanted pressure to us well. Having to act and behave a certain way can cause unwanted strain on us both mentally and physically. As individuals we want to belong to something but at the same time we want to keep our individuality in tact. As depicted in The Breakfast Club, five different high school students from different social groups are paired together. During their interaction with one another they begin to learn more about one another, realizing that they have more in common than what there labels

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John Hughes’s film The Breakfast Club (1985) resonates with certain modern-day stereotypes of high school students. The film also reflects on how much damage that social status and labels have on people, especially during adolescence. Hughes’s film breaks down the emotional barriers between ordinary high school students of different backgrounds through typecasting. As the actors take on the general roles of students that can be found in most high schools, the narrative of the story begins to drastically change as the characters are revealing their backgrounds with each other. As a result of using this technique, the film reveals the external and internal struggles that most adolescent children deal with in their lives.

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Stereotypes are in the world all around us, in film, TV, literature and in everyday life. “A Stereotype is a conventional, formulaic and oversimplified conception, opinion, image or conforming to a set image or type” (Dictionary.com). Stereotype happens on an everyday basis, similar groups of people are categorized by such factors as race, color, what they wear, and their behavior. Stereotype are used to categorized people by such factors as race, color, what they wear and their behavior. Stereotypes chose one aspect of a person or group and link them all together.

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In the novel, The Outsiders by S.E Hinton the readers are presented with many life lessons in the book. One of which, is how group identity is so powerful that it can overshadow individual identity. The characters are put into the category of Socs or Greasers and their friends and upbringings are how they are recognized in society. This lesson is crucial for kids today because it will help kids comprehend that they do not have to re-identify themselves to fit into a group. It will also remind kids today that they have an identity of their own that is unique, and that groups do not define them as a person.

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The students of The Breakfast Club failed to realize what they had in common because they judged one another based on how they appeared on the outside. Even the principal, Mr. Vernon viewed the students based on their actions but not their inner self. At the start of detention, he explained that he wanted each student to write an essay within eight hours explaining who they thought they were. Mr. Vernon already had his impressions of each student based on the way they performed at school. In Mr. Vernon’s mind, Andy is an athlete, Claire is a princess, John is a criminal, Allison is a basket case, and Brian is a brain.

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