Deviance In The Breakfast Club

"The Breakfast Club," produced by John Hughes in 1985, remains a cult classic to this day. The film's enduring media presence can be attributed to its youthful charm and accurate depiction of adolescent life; the film portrays the unpredictable nature of growing up within a socio-cultural context. Five students with distinctive cliques and widespread assumptions join the library of Jermers High School at 7 a.m. for Saturday detention. As time passes, the teens become more restless, ensuing various conflicts and other expulsions of annoyance. These conflicts are most commonly instigated by John Bender, a well-known face in Saturday detention; they revolve around each individual's designated role. Despite these arguments and ill-aimed jokes,

Each society has a certain set of goals and a means of achieving them; however, when an individual is unable to achieve them, they may resort to deviance (Haskings-Winner, Collishaw, Kritzer, & Warecki, 2011). The subtypes of deviance that are an extension of the members of "The Breakfast Club," include conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion Claire adheres to societal norms and aspirations to preserve her friendships and reputation, which are founded on superficial attributes such as physical attractiveness and popularity; "I Hate Having To Go Along With Everything My Friends Say." Claire's neglect of personal wants and joys is all to fit within the status quo; conformity serves as both protection and acceptance in her social life. Andrew has an advantage over his peers due to his physical strength. He is innovative, which builds both respect and admiration, allowing him to toy with the limits regardless of consequences, as being courageous overrides modesty. As evidenced by quotes such as "Sometimes, I wish my knee would give and I wouldn't be able to wrestle anymore, and He might forget about me," Andrew is burdened by the pretense of failure instilled by his father, who taught him that he serves no purpose without athletic achievement, and he builds further complexes of deviant innovation to rise above the others. Brian follows what has been laid before him, basing his goals and self-worth on others' quantification of his academic success and intelligence. Brian exhibits ritualism despite his profound emotional dependence on grade value; he does so not for a specific purpose but rather to gain validation from those he loves the most, his parents; thus, receiving an F in shop class leads to an attempted suicide, which is thwarted due to obtaining a flare gun rather than the intended handgun. "Like,