Patterico's Pontifications

8/17/2009

John Hughes (1950-2009)

Filed under: General — DRJ @ 5:36 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Filmmaker John Hughes died August 6, 2009, in New York City. He was 59.

Hughes’ filmography is well-known to pop culture fans of the past 30 years. In this PJTV obituary, Lionel Chetwynd explains why Hughes is more than just Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Home Alone:

“Part of a popular culture’s job, presumably, and part of an artist’s job, is to help a civilization and a society strengthen its immune system against the opportunistic diseases that would destroy it. Part of a civilization’s job is to pass on real values about who they are and what they should be.

And I think consistently Hughes looked at that, looked at those things, and presented in the most wonderfully entertaining way, in the most clever way, and in a light-hearted and whimsical way, but at the same time, by the time he was done, he had communicated values, ideas and thoughts. Of the directors of this generation, there are very few who can make that claim and so he is a loss.

Hughes was also a great storyteller. My condolences to his family.

H/T Instapundit.

— DRJ

16 Responses to “John Hughes (1950-2009)”

  1. Sincerely, John Hughes is a great read.

    Karl (ade276)

  2. What a terrific link, Karl. Like the characters in his films, Hughes seems like a good-hearted man who lived a meaningful life.

    DRJ (d8773e)

  3. Molly Ringwald and Edward McNally (one rumored inspiration for Ferris Bueller) also wrote interesting remembrances.

    Karl (ade276)

  4. no one is compared to him today really and in some ways I think that means he failed which is sad

    happyfeet (d8cd81)

  5. Saw Karl’s first link a few days ago and it’s indeed awesome – thanks for that and the other two links as well.

    Always thought someone had said to John Hughes at some point when he was an adolescent that he’d “never amount to anything” because adult characters yell that at the teen or young adult protagonists in at least 3 of his movies, I think.

    Thanks, DRJ, for the quote above. There’s one John Hughes movie that have thought for years was the quintessential example of what Chetwynd’s talking about, though I didn’t know someone said that about him: a way underrated, beautiful, moving (and just hilarious) tribute to marriage, fidelity and family life. Always meant to write and thank him for that one, and am sorry now that I didn’t.

    no one you know (1ebbb1)

  6. no one is compared to him today really and in some ways I think that means he failed which is sad

    Comment by happyfeet — 8/17/2009 @ 6:33 pm

    Well…I don’t think he failed. I just think that maybe not enough writers with his level of talent are trying to do what he did (write really entertaining movies with a moral core), and maybe that’s why not many can be compared to him right now.

    no one you know (1ebbb1)

  7. Shia LeBuffyBuff has never done a film that respected his peers is all I’m saying and I don’t think Mr. Hughes’ influence is as widely felt as his success suggests it should be. People what make movies mostly don’t act like they live in the world where John Hughes was groundbreakingly successful. It’s not cause of they have poor writing skills. They’re not even trying.

    happyfeet (d8cd81)

  8. You know who you can compare Mr. Hughes to? Mr. Whedon. It’s a very short list.

    happyfeet (d8cd81)

  9. jeez, enough with the hero worship. the guy made movies, no more and no less. good movies, sure, but just movies. movies that we paid $5 to watch, laughed for a bit and then went back to our lives, work and real family. For those who wanted to look beyond the laughs for ‘meaning’ and to see if the director ‘understood and spoke to us’, repeat after me, they are just movies.

    steve sturm (3811cf)

  10. Jeepers, Steve. Not Ferris Bueller. That’s a lifestyle.

    The guy just died.

    His work was light and human — in exactly the way Woody Allen’s wasn’t. He was an adult when he created terrific teen characters. That’s hard. My daughters see Breakfast Club and “get it.” I watch Breakfast Club, identify with the principal and still “get it.”

    Damn. Plains, Train and Automobiles. John Candy at his loveable-est.

    ukuleledave (4e6cbb)

  11. they are just movies, they are just movies, they are just movies
    Good uns, tho!

    Gazzer (6d46a4)

  12. they were just movies as opposed to all the other movies what were just movies but which these ones were not

    happyfeet (d8cd81)

  13. Karl, that was a great link. And noyk, have to agree. She’s Having a Baby was excellent. Hughes sounded like a good man, the choices he made… and mentoring that young pen pal. Time to pull out some DVDs soon, incl. Breakfast Club and T,P & Autos. Vintage memories.

    Vermont Neighbor (fd2bc3)

  14. My condolences to his family and fans. It’s sad to see someone pass away so early.

    That being said … I guess I was the only one who found Hughes’ movies filled with dummkopf kiddie-cereal commercial adults predictable and annoying, turned off Ferris Bueller once I saw the telegraphed scene with the car running in reverse, thought Weird Science was one of the biggest wastes of celluloid ever (even WITH Kelly LeBrock walking around half-clad), and can’t believe that Home Alone was once the third-highest grossing motion picture of all time and briefly made Macaulay Culkin the most ginormous movie star on the planet (now, he’s a punch line to Michael Jackson jokes).

    Although it almost certainly never would have been made had it not been for the teen-screen mania Hughes inspired in Hollywood, I enjoyed Phil Joanou’s Three O’Clock High more than anything Hughes himself actually made. So I guess I can thank him for that.

    L.N. Smithee (8ce8bd)

  15. I didn’t care for his big – money and high – profile ventures, but Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Uncle Buck I still find truly hilarious. Only Hughes understood Candy’s genius and awesome talent, which was mostly squandered by other directors.

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  16. True. Home Alone and Ferris Bueller were kind of kiddie movies, but with enough plot to interest the family. As a storyteller, does Brad Byrd come close? Not in relatable characters per se, but the skill in appealing to 2 different age groups in one story.

    John Hughes also used real people actors as opposed to the airbrushed idols we get now. I just really enjoyed Elizabeth McGovern as a struggling young wife and Kevin Bacon in the lead. Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy… Hughes used interesting, talented actors. Sixteen Candles still makes me laugh. Today it’s what, Megan Fox or vampire movies. His films were always light but with depth. And John Candy! That era’s pretty much in the vault now.

    Vermont Neighbor (5308da)


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