When I was 14 I read J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. It became my favourite book of all time and still is. Despite being written some 30 years before I got my hands on it, it spoke to me. Never before had I read something that portrayed the young male under glass in such a real and relevant way. At the same time, movies played a huge role in my life. Particularly, current movies. And none were more real and relevant than John Hughes' movies. When I heard of Hughes' death yesterday, I was instantly transported back into the '80's, when I was in high school, but more importantly, I again literally FELT the mix of teen angst, uncertainty, and exuberance that only could be felt when one is actually a teenager.
It caught me off guard. I knew this was an important death, yet I hadn't thought of the significance of John Hughes until now. And now that so many of us are in positions of significance professionally, combined with the current era of social networking, the ripples of Hughes' death will be felt over and over, stronger and stronger, from yesterday onwards.
I was curious and a bit sad when Michael Jackson died, my generation's Elvis. But his music didn't embody my high school years. I didn't identify with MJ. I identified with the Breakfast Club. I danced to Oingo Boingo at school dances. I quoted from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and still do to this day. The legacy of John Hughes, his characters, his stories, his soundtracks, his images, really gives me and my generation reason to pause, and consider how valuable these contributions were to making us into the people we are today. Hughes' movies genuinely tried to present the world of the teenager and young adult, and did so in a timeless way.
The impact of these movies, released at the precise point and time that we as teenagers were not only susceptible to their messages, we desperately needed them. That is me on screen. I know the geek, the heartthrob, and the girl trying to come into her own from Sixteen Candles. I know the jock, the freak, and the princess from Breakfast Club. I often wrestled with issues of class, just as Pretty in Pink did. I had an annoying friend with his heart in the right place, just as Planes Trains and Automobiles did. To know that someone out there recognized it and put it up on screen for the world to see and identify with was comforting to say the least.
John Hughes became quite a recluse in his last years, much like Salinger did. The parallels are obvious, but isn't as obvious is the effect John Hughes had on my generation and for generations to come who rediscover his classic films. This isn't the same as John Lennon dying, or JFK, or Princess Diana. But I think this one caught more than a few of us by surprise on how genuinely saddened we are by this news. Collectively, how often can the news of the death of one person transport so many of us back to such a precious time in our lives in a meaningful way?
