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John Hughes, R.I.P.

By Michael Scherer | @michaelscherer | August 7, 2009 | +

If you read anything today about the great American writer and director, who has died at the age of 59, read this.

And then watch this.

And no one asked, but if I were to offer Hughes an epitaph, it would be this line from David Bowie, used in The Breakfast Club, a stanza that pretty much summarizes a brilliant lifetime of work.

And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through.

Also, Richard Corliss, TIME’s movie critic, has written a fine remembrance here.

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  • Tom in The Swamp

    Eh. Speaking as someone who knew Mike Hall long before Sixteen Candles, John Hughes always struck me pretty much a talented hack whose particular style of hackishness happened to be in tune with the teen-age sensibility of his most productive years.

    Looking at his activities in this century, he seemed to have resigned himself to the job of “fixer”, usually under the pseudonym of Edmond Dantes. Was it because the magic was gone?

    At any rate, it’s very sad to lose him so young.

  • grape_crush

    ..a stanza that pretty much summarizes a brilliant lifetime of work.

    No, it doesn’t. Some of Hughes’ earlier work highlighted teen angst, but his lifetime of work was more of a mostly-comedic take on the human condition.

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    Thanks for the link.
    it was certainly a more fitting tribute than the others we’ll see in the days ahead.

  • http://ktheintz.wordpress.com/ kth

    Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was his best film. But surely he’ll be remembered for the ones about the teenagers (including Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), as those are the ones that affected people the most deeply.

  • deconstructiva

    Thanks, Michael, for the short and sweet tribute. I admire Hughes’ writing the most. He could set up normal people in *slightly* abnormal but still realistic situations – and even break the fourth wall – and get away with it.

  • coville

    Michael – as someone who makes his living writing for young people, I have to deal with fan mail. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. This was a lovely and moving reminder of why answering those letters matters. Thank you for posting it.

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