Everything I needed to know in life I learned from The Breakfast Club

Anyone who knows me has probably heard me carry on about how incredible a movie The Breakfast Club is.  I’ve gone on about it on this very site and I might have watched it at least fifty times.  No other movie I’ve seen repeatedly comes close (although Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is coming close.  I think more than any other movie (except maybe WarGames) it affected me to the point that it changed how I looked at the world when I was in high school.  And even though it’s <gulp> twenty-six years old, it’s themes still hold true.  In fact, I’d venture to say that everything I needed to know in life I learned from watching it.  Oh, you wanna know why?  <In my best John Bender voice>… It’s real easy:

15.  Opposites do, in fact, attract.  (John Bender and Claire Standish)

14.  The more annoying the bully/asshole is, the worse their home life/childhood/upbringing was.

13.  …and despite the tough exterior that his/her persona seems to convey, they remember every painful word that you say about them.  (“I could just disappear… I don’t even count…)

12.  “Screws fall out all the time… the world’s an imperfect place.”

11.  “When you get old, your heart dies.”

10.  Don’t judge someone before you know a little bit about their situation in life.

9.  Good girls are attracted to bad guys.  That’s just the way it is.

8.  …and no matter how hard you try to fight to do what you think is “defending her honor,” she’s gonna end up with the likeable thug anyway.

7.  You should never shun the nerd/geek/smart kid.  He just might be your ticket out of a bad situation.

6.  Take some time to get to know the person responsible for cleaning or maintaining your work area.  They are much more aware than you might think they are.

5.  Adults do their best to make kids think they have all the answers.  But the truth is that they barely have the answers to the questions of their own lives – much less the lives of children.

4.  Even the most maniacal serial-killer-in-training could have the course of their life changed with just a little bit of attention or something as simple as a makeover.

3.  Kids in high school are often under some of the most intense and immense pressure to succeed – all while still trying to figure out who they really are.

2.  The most life changing experiences happen in situations where often you didn’t even want to be present.

…and finally…

1.  Lock five strangers in a room for a few hours and amazing things can happen.