Iconic Teen Flicks Dominated The '80s

"Bueller, Bueller?"

"I can't believe my grandmother actually felt me up."

"Blane? Blane? That's a major appliance, that's not a name!"

"You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed."

For those of us who consider ourselves children of the 1980s, John Hughes' coming-of-age teen films were the soundtrack to our junior high, high school and college lives.

Sadly, the director of such generation-defining films as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink Ferris Bueller 's Day Off, died suddenly on Thursday of an apparent heart attack. He was 59.

Even if your high school didn't have the same cast of jocks, prom princesses and outcasts depicted in The Breakfast Club, you identified with them and their adolescent angst, though your acting out involved a much less advanced vocabulary; probably something more along the lines of "Whatever!" accompanied by a put upon eye roll (which you were careful to do when your parents weren't looking).

High school sucked in a way that Happy Days never knew and Hughes was like your older siblings cool best friend who would let you hang out with them sometimes and not give you a wedgie. How did he know all that stuff, and get it so right?

And who didn't covet Andie's thrifty chic wardrobe in Pretty in Pink and desperately want her to end up with lovable loser Duckie instead of pretty boy Blane? Sigh.

"I was stunned and incredibly sad to hear about the death of John Hughes," said Molly Ringwald, "He was and will always be such an important part of my life."

He also scripted the phenomenally popular Home Alone, which made little-known Macaulay Culkin a sensation as the burgler-bashing kid accidentally abandoned by his vacationing family, and wrote or directed such hits as National Lampoon's
Vacation, Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Uncle Buck.

Another actor Hughes made famous, Matthew Broderick, said, "I am truly shocked and saddened by the news about my old friend John Hughes."

You should rent one of his movies this weekend. You'll be glad you did. Unless you choose Only the Lonely or Curley Sue. Then you'll be asking for your money back...

By Paige Muller

Paige Muller, Gossip & Hollywood Hijinx
		About the author:
		Paige Muller is a gossip gal with an appreciation – some would say obsession – for Hollywood hijinx, celebrity style and the latest fashion trends.  From who hooked up, who's knocked up and "WTF are they wearing?", Paige offers all the dish, with a side of snark. When not pondering Jennifer Aniston's perplexing post-breakup PR strategy, Paige is a published writer and communications professional who has worked with brands like Dove, L'Oreal, More magazine, Gap and WE: Woman's Entertainment.
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