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No one, I repeat, NO ONE could ever capture the essence of teen angst better than the late great John Hughes.  1985 wasn’t just a great year for Bowling for Soup.  Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off were also made right around that time.  John Hughes not only wrote like a teenager, he understood every aspect of teenage life and didn’t hide a single dirty detail.  He admitted that the cool kids don’t talk to the nerds, even after a Saturday school they’d never forget.  He showed us how a true friend really wants what’s best for you, despite what he has to give up in return.  And most memorably, he taught us that skipping school is really fun, especially when you live near Chicago.

While a lot of movies nowadays take us out of our lives for a short while, these 80s movies (as well as most of his others) put us back into those moments that every teenager can relate to.  He does it in a way that keeps the realism, but still lets you have the happy ending.  He has deep insights, but communicates them through relatable dialogue and clever situations.  In short, John Hughes gives us our teenage years back, but in much better shape.

And it doesn’t stop there.  Before we were old enough to fully appreciate the gravity of his first few films, we saw those that were made during our childhood.  The Home Alone movies, Dennis the Menace, Flubber, 101 Dalmatians, and Drillbit Taylor were all penned by this masterful screenwriter.  Look at the scope of generations he influenced.  From the 1980s all the way to those born in the late nineties, his movies entertained, informed, and inspired us to go ahead and be that daring kid or not let the bully win.  In a way, we owe John Hughes big time for all that he’s contributed to our childhood.  My hat is off to you, John…if only I had one.