The Breakfast Club/St Elmo’s Fire (1985)
You can pretty much choose any John Hughes movie and it’ll appeal to a certain sector of Gen X. We’re picking The Breakfast Club to start, and Joel Shumacher’s St. Elmo’s Fire to follow because they have a nice continuity to them. The Breakfast Club sees five pupils on weekend detention bond over defying expectations foisted upon them by society. It’s got Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall in it, who are John Hughes regulars, but it also stars Ally Sheedy (basket case), Judd Nelson (criminal) and Emilio Estevez (jock). Then St. Elmo’s Fire also features these three in a story which focuses on older characters, a group of pals just out of college (even though both films were released in 1985). Demi Moore, Andrew McCarthy, Rob Lowe and Andie McDowell join the gang, struggling with young adulthood. It all looks terribly glamorous and grown up to youngster desperate to make a impact on the world.
See also: Pretty in Pink, 16 Candles, Some Kind of Wonderful, Say Anything and countless more. – RF
Heathers (1988)
Greetings and salutations! Michael Lehmann’s film is absolutely iconic for its four color-coordinated stars – three called Heather, and one Veronica, and for its snappy (quotable) dialogue, it’s both a satire of teenage angst and a legit exploration of it. Winona Ryder is Veronia, reluctant member of the bitchy A Group until the arrival of bad boy JD (Christian Slater) shakes things up by offing the popular kids, making it look like suicide and unwittingly giving them hidden depths they never had. It’s dark, it’s acerbic and it’s wonderful. Heather is Mean Girls before there was Mean Girls. – RF
Pump Up The Volume (1990)
A movie starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis about a rebel who causes uproar when he speaks the truth the grown ups don’t want to hear via his own pirate radio station, will probably look the most confusing and antiquated nonsense to Gen Z (listen kids, this is what we had before YouTube!), but in 1990 it was rad. Slater plays Mark, whose alter ego Happy Hard Hard-on exposes hypocrisies at the school he attends but after he gives a flippant response to a young man threatening suicide, Hard Harry attempts to be a voice for his generation. Inspiring and unifying for people without the internet. – RF
Dead Poets Society (1989)
‘Kid takes his own life because his dad won’t let him be in the school play’ might not have aged brilliantly but to a generation of young people (probably women let’s be honest) it was devastating and meaningful – our creativity must not be stifled! Robin Williams plays inspiring teacher John Keating who returns to the boys’ school he attended as a youth to teach English. There he finds spirited young men who he teaches to express themselves through poetry. It’s a period piece set in 1959, and is peppered with romance, tragedy and inspiration, including the well known “oh captain, my captain!” show of respect. Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke give moving performances as two of the young men, so while Peter Weir’s film may be shamelessly sentimental, Gen X was sobbing in the aisles. – RF
Reservoir Dogs (1992)/Pulp Fiction (1994)
Quentin Tarantino was SO COOL to Gen X in the early 90s, it was as if he had invented the concept of cool. These two movies with their ensemble casts, killer soundtracks, ever quotable dialogue and endless style became iconic almost immediately. Reservoir Dogs still stands up as a taught crime noir, full of violence, profanity and impressive performances. Pulp Fiction, with it’s multi-stranded narratives, sprawling plot, constant movie references and stand out set pieces became even more beloved, and Tarantino became a hero. To many he’s maintained his hero status and these films have crossed generations and belong to all of us, but there was special about ‘being there at the time’ for Gen X. – RF
