Yesterday, John Hughes passed away.
Maybe some of you don't know who he was, or why it mattered.
When I was young, his movies were events. Very funny, meaningful events, because his films in the early to mid 80s (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off) spoke to me and millions of other kids like me. For the first time, there was something in mass culture that didn't treat kids like idiots, that we had real emotions and stupid experiences. I would say my Grade 12 year has highly informed by the life example of Bueller, Bueller, Bueller. Somehow I graduated, but I was happy for the experience.
As I've gotten older, I forgot one of the best lines Hughes ever gave my generation.
"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
With his death, I had cause to remember that line again, and what it meant to me. Perhaps even more so now as an adult.
THIS is a wonderful story about Hughes, and pretty much sums up what his work meant to people like me.
What's awesome about Hughes' work is, despite its trappings, the themes and stories are universal and - I think - timeless. Ben Stein said in an interview yesterday that he saw Hughes as the Shakespeare of our times. Perhaps time will tell.
But there's one more gift Hughes gave us - spectacular soundtracks. His movies were filled with music that defined a cooler side of the 1980s - OMD, Simple Minds, New Order, The Smiths, Dream Academy, on and on.
Thanks, John.
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