The films of John Hughes say different things to different people. Indeed, his magnum opus, The Breakfast Club, acts almost as a Durban Conference of American middle class youth cultures. Those mourning his loss the greatest, however, are the unpopular, unaccepted and misunderstood for whom le cinema du Hughes acted as an oasis of triumph in an adolescence of anxiety.
In few other filmmakers' oeuvre do we see the recurring theme of the Loser-turned-Winner. And we don't mean a "Rocky" type loser. We mean a nail biting, Albuterol using, gym class evading, perpetually stuck in the "friend zone" loser.
To that end, we celebrate the Totally Awesome Losers of John Hughes. But keep in mind: Ducky isn't on the list. Hughes was a marksman when writing for an audience. Pretty in Pink (and certainly Some Kind of Wonderful) weren't meant for us - they were meant for our older sisters. Let them write their own features.
