Social Influence In John Locke's The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club is a thought-provoking film about teenage adolescents that are trying to find out who they are regardless of the labels that society has already marked them with. One of the main ideals from The Enlightenment is autonomy which is the “freedom from external control or influence” this plays a large role in these teenager’s lives since their society greatly lacks individualism. John Locke believed that each human being is born with a blank mind or a “clean slate” that prevents them from starting out good or bad. Locke also thought of the family as the first social organization, you are born into this without consent. “My God, are we gonna be like our parents?” there was a long pause, the thought of this happening horrified each kid in the movie. The concern children have throughout their lives that they will end up like the people they resent most causes them to make themselves as different from their creators as they can. …show more content…
At the beginning of the movie that’s all they see each other as and most of the shots that are fired are relative to the social class that they are known as. Automatically the jock and popular girl team up, because it isn’t considered social suicide for them to be seen talking to each other. The outsider lounges in the back of the room, they don’t notice her for the most part. The dork tries to share his opinion but no one seems to care what he says, especially when he tries to convince the others of his far from perfect life. The rebel is judged and hate quickly by the rest but he couldn’t care less, or he at least tries to make it seem that way. Throughout the movie all of these personas bond and learn more about each other, the most important thing being their similarities. Regardless of their parents expectations and the way everyone else sees them, they are much more alike than it