What are movies? Some view it as throwaway entertainment. Some see it as an art piece. And the group I’m in is the group who doesn’t care about either, who just want to enjoy it. Over this year I will be reviewing movies based on popularity, theme, or just for fun. This month I’m going to work on the best movies relating to school. There are a huge number of school movies out there, but to be honest, they’re all horrible. None of them commit to the idea of knowing what a student does; rather, they use general stereotypes, such as how all students are constantly on their phones, to categorize what they think is a student. However, there are 2 movies that are perfect: The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. 

The Breakfast Club is about one Saturday detention. The rebellious kid is John Bender, the rich bratty princess is Claire Standish, the loneliest, weirdest outcast is Alison Reynolds, the stuck-up nerd is Brian Johnson, and the somewhat humane jock is Andrew Clark. John Bender is the troubled kid and is abused at home, so he vents out in school by pulling fire alarms, fighting with every teacher, and, well, cracking some edgy jokes. Claire Standish is the rich, annoying, spoiled girl who takes everything for granted, yet she doesn’t know how to live by society’s norms. Brian Johnson is a nerd and is pressured by his parents to get all A’s so when he gets an F, he tries to kill himself. Andrew is the jock who by his friends and family has to conform to the typical stereotypes, going even as far as to public defame and harass other students. Finally Alison, well, she has no life, so she comes to every Saturday detention, because why not. All of the students are held down by the principal whose ego is built around subsequently “molding” the students  who don’t go by the school rules and to shape the “children” of tomorrow, but if something doesn’t go his way, he will go to any length in order to torture every student to his liking. The film explores the corner of each school stereotype and how, at certain times, just because someone is labeled as one thing does not mean that they cannot be something else, which can even relate to you, too. If you want to check out this movie (which I highly recommend), you can watch it now on Netflix or you can buy or rent it.

The other great movie about school is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It’s about a kid named Ferris Bueller and his mastermind plan to escape school for a day to go to the city of Chicago with his friend and girlfriend. He works with his school and classmates to fool the teachers into thinking that he is sick; however, the principal is not buying it, so he goes on a chase to track down the truth. This leads to the biggest gags in this movie. This movie is different than The Breakfast Club because it’s more humorous. While it still uses a school setting and the stereotypical student characters, it emphasizes the idea of having fun regardless of school and not being stressed. This is why at the time it released it was so popular. Every student appreciated the fact that school isn’t all about studying but also to have fun, at least in the 80s anyway. If you want to watch it, you can find it on Starz or buy/rent it.

This is why The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off are the best movies about school and why you should check them out. Next month I will be talking about more movies so I hope you enjoyed and are convinced to check out these movies.