Communication is vital in connecting people in today’s world. Most people do not know how to communicate effectively. They believe that it is not something that needs work and are usually unaware of what it takes to deliver a clear idea or message. However, communication is a skill that can be improved on by practicing and learning to master it so that a person is able to clearly express their thoughts. In The Breakfast Club, a film production by John Hughes, the characters of the film did not communicate, which led them to make assumptions about one another that turned out to be false.
Every person believed that his or her problems were the worst. Throughout the day in detention, the teenagers opened up in a way they never thought was possible. Each character thought that they were different, but they all had something in common, being a teenager. Whether it be the pressure of academics and doing well in school, the imagine you portray yourself to your peers, or the relationship you have with your parents, its all the hardships of being teenagers that ultimately made them the same.
The main character of the film, John Bender, was the average bad boy. It is evident that he craved social attention, which led him to create a false world for himself. This could be due to the fact that he came from a home of neglect and abuse. His body language, such as rolling his eyes when people were trying to talk to him, gave off the impression that he did not care. Bender’s attitude on the situation prevented him from reaching a certain level of comfort and trust with the other teenagers.
When he spoke, his hand gestures and posture are considered non-verbal communication. This type of communication can give off a strong impression, whether positive or negative. However, for Bender’s case, it gave off a negative one in the beginning. From when Claire first met him to when they walked out at the end of detention, her perception changed. He went from being the typical high school rebel to someone she trusted and opened up to. By the end of the film, Benders’ Johari Window evolved. It started off with a small open area and a very large hidden area.
After developing a little trust in his peers, he gradually increased his open area and slowly decreased his unknown area. Claire Standish was the typical popular girl. On the outside, she was perceived to be a rich daddy’s girl that got everything in life handed to her on a silver platter. It turned out that she was unhappy with her family dynamics and social status. This led Claire to be timid and feel insecure when revealing information about her. It all changed once Claire learned the hardships of the other kids.
In the beginning of the film, Claire did not communicate well. It is evident that she thought she was superior to the rest of the students. Her tone of voice when she communicated with the others made it sound like she talked down to them. Out of all the characters, I think Claire’s Johari Window evolved the most throughout the film. In the beginning of the film, Claire had a very tiny open and unknown area. The biggest part of her window was the hidden area. She was always self-conscience of what her peer’s thought of her; hence why she kept to herself.
By the end of the film Claire reached such a deep level within each herself that her open area became her biggest square and she greatly reduced the size of her hidden and unknown area. “Why are you being so nice to me”, Allison asked Claire while she was doing her makeup. This showed that before detention, being nice to Allison was something Claire would of never done. Claire learned how to communicate better with peers she originally was not comfortable with. Andrew Clark was the star wrestler, that had everything going for him, but his downfall was his father.
Andrew starts off his day in detention by feeling superior to the other students. This is exemplified when he says, “If I lose my temper you’re totaled, man” to Bender. Just from his tone of voice and body language towards Bender you could tell he was trying to be tough. Although Bender and Andrew did not share the same values and never seemed to get along, they wind up having respect for each other. Andrew’s Johari Window unfolded throughout the film. He started off with a small open area, trying to only keep the image his peers saw him as, which was a jock.
At the end of detention, Andrew came to the realization that they’re not so different after all. This is exemplified when he revealed his crush on Allison. Normally, that relationship would not have happened. Being the geek of the school, Brian Johnson came into detention with no confidence. He was the type of kid who was heading in the right path, but suffered with the constant stress of his parents, who expected him to be a perfect child. Brian relied on his grades to heavily, which resulted in his downfall when he received an F in a class.
He thought that his only option was to end his life. However, the other four teenagers showed him he was not alone, they all had issues with their parents and lives too. Once the teenagers started opening up to one other, Brian’s perceptions on the situation changed. He gained self-confidence and evolved his Joharis window. His open area box was much bigger at the end of the film then it was in the beginning. Allison Reynolds was the strangest and quietest of them all. She did not have friends or a good relationship with her parents. She said how she felt lonely and was desperate to be heard.
The scene where she dumped her pocketbook on the couch was an example of a cry out for attention and to be heard. In the beginning of the film she lacked communication skills in every aspect. Her body language would be hard to read because she would always just sit there and cover her face, giving off the impression she was either shy or socially awkward. She had no verbal communication with anyone in the beginning. That was until the other four teenagers broke open her shell. She then gave off the impression that she was a compulsive liar, which was another cry out for attention.
It wasn’t until Claire did her make up and Andrew flirted with her that she realized she was just like them and began to open up who she really was. Allison’s Joharis window definitely had the smallest open area of them all. By the end of the film it wasn’t much bigger but she definitely opened up way more than she would of if she did not go to detention. Personally, I can relate to this movie in many ways. When I was in high school I was judged for being an athlete. There was always the reputation that an athlete isn’t smart or friendly.
Looking back at my high school career, I have realized that being on a sports team made me exclusive. I felt as if I did not need to hangout with anyone besides my teammates. In college, I have worked harder to become friends with kids not on sports teams and to really expand my horizons. Most of the time, the judgments people make about you are correct and that is because of the way you present yourself. In high school, I would only work with my sports friends in all of my classes and sit at the same lunch table with all the athletes. It is evident now that I made a bad impression of myself.
The Breakfast Club relates to my oral communication class in numerous ways. This movie consists of all the main concepts discussed in class and uses these concepts to get important messages across throughout the movie. Values, perception, non-verbal and verbal language, and the Johari window are just a few of the concepts that are greatly demonstrated in the film. These concepts are portrayed through the characters and without them one would not be able to understand the messages in the movie and the lesson behind it all; everyone has a hidden side that cannot be seen from the outside.
