Reinforcing the Status Quo.

Popular Culture claims to reinforce the status quo and stereotypes. There are so many examples of that in movies and television today. I enjoy watching 80's movies and one film in particular that centers around stereotypes and the status quo is The Break Fast Club. This movie boomed into an instant classic grossing $45,875,171. It got me thinking what exactly about this movie made it so popular and iconic?

Ideology states that cultural groups perceptions determine the way things are and what they ought to be. I think the Breakfast Club played on the perceptions of popular culture. In the movie they have a group of different stereotypical teenagers come in for detention which is in accordance with rhetorical argument which challenges the taken-for-granted behavior about what is appropriate or inappropriate. It wasn't appropriate for this group of people from different social stereotypes to become friends and find things in common but they did. They challenged the status quo but in the conclusion of the film the viewer is left understanding they only broke it for the one day. The characters would go back to what popular culture created for them.

This picture is of the character John Bender at the end of the movie raising his fist up in triumph because for one day they broke the status quo. For one day he was able to get that popular girl. I think this show was popular because we all can recognize the the stereotypes and all have imagined breaking them. I think this is an example of Marxism as well because the students rise up above the advisor and stereotypes pre set for them upon entering school. 

Here is the ending of the Breakfast Club which I think so eloquently sums up popular culture and reinforcement of stereotypes.