The Breakfast Club at 40: Mental Health, High School Roles, and Gen X Reflections

It’s been 40 years since The Breakfast Club first brought the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the princess, and the criminal together — and we’re diving deep into what still resonates today. 

In this episode of Wicked Psychotherapists, Tanya and Erin explore the emotional layers of this 80s classic through a psychotherapist’s lens.

From high school identity traps to generational wounds, from laughter to suicidal ideation, and from cliques to compassion — this conversation peels back the stereotypes and shines a light on the shared human experience behind each archetype. 

Plus, we're talking Gen X feels, 80s nostalgia, and how social roles evolve (or don’t) across time.

Whether you're a longtime fan or watching it for the first time, join us for a heartfelt, insightful, and sometimes hilarious exploration of The Breakfast Club — and what it still teaches us about connection, mental health, and being seen.

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Transcript

0:08

You are listening to Wicked Psychotherapists, a podcast where two psychotherapists show you that taking care of and learning about mental health doesn't have to be wicked hat. Hi everyone, this is Tanya. Hi, this is Erin and welcome to Wicked Psychotherapist. Yes, welcome. So, today we are going to be talking about an eighties cult favorite, something that all you, gen Xers and probably some late millennials will love, the Breakfast Club. we, thought this would be really cool to talk about in terms, mental health and all the different roles that are in this movie, as well as just some aspects of high school. I think it would be good, just going back to the eighties is always fun for us, I don't know why in my head. At first I was thinking it was early nineties, late eighties, but I think it was like 1985. Yeah, it was, I think it was mid, yeah, 19 85, 19 86 or something. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, it's a classic. I mean, it's one that when people are from that era, they usually know it. You either know it or you don't kind of thing. So I know that this was a big movie in my house growing up. One of my sisters was like, is still obsessed with it. and just the, all the different characters that are in it. All the people that are famous. In it that are, you know, actors and everything. it's really interesting to kind of take a look at it in terms of mental health because It certainly is something I think we can all relate to. Or we can at least relate to one character, if not multiple ones in there. But I did wanna ask, you know, first, how do you feel about the movie? What's your take on it? Like, when did you first watch it? Any memories of watching it? I think I probably first saw it. I don't think I saw it in the movie theater because I would have been, I would've been in sixth grade, no, not even sixth grade. I definitely remember, I think I was only about three when this movie came out, so I definitely, I know I saw it like on tv, probably on a tape or something, but I just remember whenever it came on, it was always something that my. Oldest sister, probably my two older sisters, like just loved. And so I just watched it again and again, you know, by default. And I just remember thinking like, wow, high school is, is gonna be weird, you know? And there's just so like, I wonder which one I am. Dive into that thinking. Not to say that those don't exist because they definitely do, but I think they're kind of more blended together. That depends on what high school you went to, your experience, things like that. You know, I kind of felt like I related to the Brian, I think his name was the nerd. It related to him a little bit and then the basket case. Just because she just kind of felt like invisible. She was just kind of there and was like weird, just being weird. They kinda related to those two, the most, a little bit the criminal too, just because, you know, we're up in a dysfunctional family and just kind of, you know, I, I definitely could see which way it was he was going, his logic, you know. did you relate to any of the characters? Yeah, I think probably when I watched it, I probably did relate more to like the basket case and. The criminal of the two. And I think probably similar to, you know, like, no, dad, what about you? You know, like that part is like, oh yeah, I've seen that, I've seen that in my household, and that seems very familiar. And the basket case did recognize myself. I mean, I'm not making, I wasn't making, sugar sandwiches or anything, but I do. The, the feeling of being ignored or not seen or just trying to, I was gonna say get attention, but just be noticed. Yeah, yeah, for sure. That, that's, she's a, she's one that I think not many people, you know, really related to. I think she just kind of came off as weird and people, like when it was being discussed in my house, it was just, she's weird and, I don't know, just kind of strange. But, I definitely leaned towards her. I didn't make the pixie sticks. Sandwiches and I didn't use, put dandruff in paintings and stuff, or I hope not. Yeah. You know, show up at detention just for fun. I certainly didn't do that. But, you know, and definitely didn't come from a well to do family who just, you know, they just neglected me kind of thing. But it was just, I don't know. I think she was a very relatable character and the fact that she was like, I don't know what to do with myself. Like, nobody really sees me and I don't know how to be seen and like. I'm just weird. Kind of, that's the way I relate it to her. Mm-hmm. But you know, I am kind of curious, you know, we didn't really say anything about the jock or the princess with Claire and what was the Jock's name? Emilio. Esteves. I can't remember his name. Andy or something. Yeah, Andrew. Yeah. I, that was not very relatable to me when I watched it, when the first time. What about you? Did you relate to the Andrew person at all or. I think not on the surface. I didn't relate to, I didn't relate to Claire at all, but I definitely, I think with Andrew, I think he was trying to meet his dad's expectations. Yeah. He like, you know, kind of, you know, gave the Brian's friend a wedgie, like he ended up in detention because he gave him like a, an atomic wedge or did something. He ended up taping his butt together. I don't know if he used tape or something, but he ended up causing some like bodily harm to him. I think too, I think like with Anne character, I related to him more like he seemed kinder at the end, you know, like, and Claire still pretty much annoyed me, even though supposedly everyone changed at the end. I felt like she is still, was still in a different socioeconomical class and just really difficult. Just even how everyone else has, has like their bag lunch and she has a whole presentation with her sushi. Sushi, yes. With like the little mat, the wooden, the bamboo mat Yeah. And everything. Yeah. I, I didn't really, quite really, I mean, I just, socioeconomic status and like having money and just kind of focusing on that. I guess just because that's the only thing that she can hide behind, you know? Let that, you can kind of see her humanity in that. Then with Andrew, I think his father was a bully, and so he needed to prove to him, Hey, I need attention because I'm really like this, the same type of per you are. You know, that's kind of how you can see Andrew, the jock. And he, you can tell he felt really bad about what he did, that he didn't even wanna do it, but he felt compelled to do it to kind of make this image for his father that he's just, one of the guys, one of the jocks. Yeah, and who knows what else was going on at home where maybe his dad is like, okay, well, you know, this is what defines you as, you know, an athlete or as my son, or you know, it's, yeah. And he didn't seem really upset that he was in detention, just that he didn't want it to affect the meet the following week and his potential scholarship. But Andrew himself was like, I hate it. Like I hate, you know, he just kind of hates everything about this, this role that he's been given. And you know, I think similarly with Claire, I think she's, well, you know, this is kind of what I have and I can't let anybody. See behind it kind of thing, which was why it was such a big deal when she did the whole lipstick trick. It was like a vulnerability of her showing, some side of her that maybe, would've looked uncouth or whatever, in a different light. And so it was really interesting to me because I don't think I could relate to them when I was. Growing up at all, but actually looking back, I can see that they were all just kind of hiding behind what they were given, you know? It was kind of like Claire and Andy were the two that were given the most power, seemingly in the school, but they didn't even like the roles that they had, and they really didn't have much else because they didn't fit in anywhere else. Mm-hmm. And so I can kind of see from that now looking back, you know? Yeah. But I think when I was, you know, younger and in high school I was just like, oh, they just need to shut up, you know? Yeah. Kind of thing. I don't think I could really, you know Yeah. Understand that. But yeah. and the Brian Anthony, Michael Hall's character, you know, even though he is a little dorky and you know, his reason for being in detention was, you know, he is gonna try to, he was trying to kill himself and it was, you know, it's really. You know,'cause he was struggling with, you know, he got an F in a class and he brought a flare gun and the flare gun went off and everything. But he, when they talk about the clubs, when they're asking like, what do you know, what type of things do you do? You know, when they're asking about like different involvement. He actually seemed the happiest about all the clubs. He's like, I'm in physics club, math club, this, you know, and he actually. And then Claire is like, no, she didn't really Social clubs. Yeah. She was like, oh no, they need to be social clubs. He is like, you know, but he's probably thinking like, but these are my friends. These are people that are like me. And even though, you know, he did seem a little dorky and he was struggling emotionally for his reason for being in detention, he actually seems like he is trying to connect with people in school in a different way. Yeah. he has a, Different outlook on it than, the Princess Claire, and the fact that you hear that he's really under a lot of pressure to be something specific too, that he really cannot, you know, his one kind of claim to fame or his one role in high school is feeling like, oh, I get good grades. You know, I maintain this. I'm smart. And the insecurity of like, say maybe the jock. You know, or other people looking on that may pick on them is that, oh, you think you know so much, it's so easy for you. you kind of know it all, even though there's this huge struggle that he has, you know, with kind of feeling like I need to get all A's. And you know, nobody really sees that part. And to the point where he has suicidal ideations, basically. He, he's, you know, kind of thinking about like, I just want it to all end. He brings like a flare gun, I think, Yeah. To school. and so it's kind of these desperate, you see behind a lot of these masks that, they kind of see day in and day out in high school. But also, if you apply that to the greater kind of society, you kind of wonder and say like, is there something to other people? That they're struggling with. But I think nowadays with TikTok and like, I think there's almost an oversaturation of what's behind our thinking, kind of thing. I almost think it's kind of gone the opposite way. Since that point where we don't really talk about mental health. And now not to say that we talk about mental health too much, but almost like we are trying to figure ourselves out at this meta level, I think. And it's put out on, you know, taking social media to the point where. I feel like you can almost understand someone too much and it's, you know, kind of really almost inundated with it, which I'm not making a judgment one way or the other, but it's not a very, it's not something like, you know, if somebody said, oh, I'm struggling and I feel this way, I think back then in around, you know, the mid eighties people would've been like, oh, boohoo, you have such a, you know, kind of tough life. Right? Whereas now I'd be like, oh, you might wanna go talk to someone, kind of thing. You know? Like they would recognize someone. Well, one thing, I was actually impressed when I re-watched the movie, I. When he was talking about like, you know, this is why I ended up in detention, because I got this FI planned on doing this to myself. but the flare gun went off, you know, but at first everybody's really listening. You could see their faces changed and they seemed very physically upset and just really concerned for him and concerned that he would do this and. This is a virtual stranger. They just met him, like a couple hours before and they realize that he's human and you know, they, you could tell like, you know, all these tough ex series all of a sudden just soften. And then he talks about, oh, well, the flare gun goes off. And then they, you know, one of'em starts giggling because it's funny, you know, the flare gun, he brought a flare gun to school and then they all start laughing and it just lightens it up, you know. but I was impressed that they all, had compassion towards him. Yeah, that was pretty amazing considering that they carry these roles around and they kind of had to lead them and put them down and kind of see each other for who they were behind those everyday masks, and to be able to kind of validate it and say like, okay, this is actually tough for this person. This is actually about everybody's kind of struggle in general in high school and in finding yourself and maybe in life kind of. Mm-hmm. All the way through. do you feel like there were any misrepresentations or things that maybe weren't really well represented in terms of the, either the roles, the characters or something in the movie itself, or something kind of like ridiculous. Like I think it was kind of stupid the way the detention was set up and they were like climbing up in the ceiling and they were locked into, well, nowadays I guess they would not be able to lock kids into a building and how, almost violent the principal was towards. Mm-hmm. Like he really got incited by the criminal. and maybe back in the mid eighties that probably. Was not all that unrealistic, But I guess it's kind of more in terms of like nowadays that would not happen. No. that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen all around. Well, it's also, there probably are a lot of things, like if you're in a Saturday detention. Of course the teacher doesn't probably wanna stay there too. It's like, I don't, I'm not in detention. Why do I have to be stuck with these idiots? But they, you would think that there would be some oversight and that was kind of, you know, you can't sit here, you know, you're just sitting here, you can't get up. It's, but not having the principal in there. Or why does the principal have to be the one to watch them? Why isn't it another teacher or someone else that, just that, that seemed a little unrealistic to me. Like, why would the principal be the person who oversees Saturday detention? and the fact that their, their characters are so defined. They're in these like very extreme categories. Like there is the nerd, the princess, the criminal mm-hmm. The basket case. Yeah. You know, and I just think it's very much nowadays it feels like it's more kind of blended, although I still think there is definitely cliquey rules mm-hmm. Oh, yeah. I mean, I think there's always going to be cliques. I think there always has been cliques. I think there always will be. I mean there, it's just kind of how people think. And you know, like even going back to like the movie Grease or even before that, like there's always been people who different, you know, like You like this type of music, I like this type of music. You like. That, you know, you're in the same team of sports as I am, you know, whatever. It's very, and that people are kind of drawn to, attracts like, instead of venturing off. It's kind of scary sometimes for people to be friends with someone who might like something different than them, or their friends might not be in the same group as. so I think this movie tried to show, okay, well you could bridge that gap of you don't have to stay in your little cliques all the time. And which, I mean, it is so extreme. It's like even with the little uniform, like, okay, well I'm wearing my wrestling jacket, I'm looking like a princess. I am, dressed. Very, you know, criminal ish. And it does seem like the Jud Nelson character, well, probably all of'em were really just wanting some sort of notif, I was gonna say notoriety, but just wanting to be noticed by someone. Yeah. Yeah. And that's really evident, I think, even in their final essay that they decide to write together. I mean, they have Brian, the nerd, or whatever, they have him write, write it. But I think it's about, you know, kind of saying like, you only see us in these roles. Kind of thing. Mm-hmm. But we have seen beyond that, you know, kind of thing. Yeah. So even in the expectations from adults and people on the outside and kind of this, you know, social identity, how you define yourself, but saying like, is that really all that we are, you know? Mm-hmm. and is this what we kind of live off of? do we start to see beyond that? Yeah. You know, and it's really interesting because if you've ever been to a high school reunion, you know, I think nowadays you can see on, social media, if you're friends with anybody, you can see there's big differences in how people used to be versus. You know who they are because I think they were able to explore themselves. You know, maybe in college or after high school, whatever they decided to do. Hopefully they've been able to explore different parts of themselves and realize, oh, I'm not just a jock. Oh, I'm not just this. I'm not just that. Right. You know, and to be able to diversify that and to say, Hey, I'm actually like, kind of complex and I'm made up of things, you know, that are more than just one category or a couple of categories. I do still know of people that still do define, like if I see them from high school or if I happen, they happen to message me on, you know, I don't know Facebook, which I don't even use anymore, but if they do, they still think of me as high school, Tanya. they really don't wanna know me beyond that. And it just kind of more points to the fact that they maybe haven't grown outside of that. it's unfortunate. I think it's a little strange because I'm two decades out from high school and hopefully you would, feel that there's some change, some growth, it's weird, because it's like, oh wait, they just see me as this person I was, or how I might have acted You know, like senior year or even a little bit after, and it's like hopefully, I mean, I'm still, you know, part of that personality is still there. But I hope I've matured and I hope that I've changed and I've learned to embrace different parts of myself and I. Yeah, I'm glad I'm not the same as I was in high school. Oh, me too. Yeah. I mean, you're not under the same circumstances that you were, you know, like you're not in your home environment. You were able to mm-hmm. Get out there and choose, you know, a life for yourself. And even though, you may have had some of this stuff from your childhood you had to deal with, you're able to go in a different direction hopefully, you know? Right. In terms of most people. But yeah, there is definitely a. I definitely know at least a few people that, I mean, they, they just are stuck in that You know, they kind of think like that's the way people, that's the way they are, and anything outside of that is fake. And it's just really, it's strange to me. It's very bizarre. Yeah. Or I grew, I grew up in a small town, so it's some people who stay there just kind of get stuck in that mentality too. Mm-hmm. Okay, well, they had that role and that's pretty much who they are, who they evolved to. I'm not saying everyone who's a townie stays that way, but it does seem like a lot of people tend to, or a lot of people I've known tend to or have the potential to stay in that, those roles and. I think for myself, moving far away from my home where I grew up, forced me to reevaluate things and to almost embrace who I maybe was when I was younger and who I am comfortable being now, But I think a lot of feeling like the basket case and the criminal was probably stemmed from where I had to live, like where I was living. Mm-hmm. I didn't really have much say of that, during high school and middle school That was pretty predetermined. It's very much like you're handed something and you can kind of do a little bit within that box, but then hopefully after that when you leave home, you're able to kind of say, oh wait, that's not me. Or, I remember, that took me a while to kind of. get away from that and to say, wait a minute, that's not even me. that's really not even, and when people would say things like, oh, but you're this or you're that. even a few years after, I would be like, says who, you don't know if that was a mechanism that I was using to just get by. I had a lot of different mechanisms I used to get by and survive, it might have defined a moment of me, but it doesn't define 20, 30 years later, it's not who I am. It would be a very strange, and I'm glad I'm not in that spot. I'm really happy to be away from that, but I wouldn't even recognize that person. Like sometimes, like I think it was a few years back, somebody said something to me, a person that I, you know, maybe was sort of friends with in high school, and they said something about, you know, well. I think you're someone who, who would just be nice to someone because you know, you're a very nice person. And I was like, I mean, I don't know, I think I was just kind of quiet. You don't really know if I was nice. You know, like it's not really, you could have been, you could have been thinking pretty crappy things about them, you know, in your head you could have been quietly ploting like, oh, I really can't stand this person. I wasn't at all, weren't, you probably were nice. I'm sure you were. I liked this person. it wasn't them, but they were just kind of defining me right in front of me. And I was like, you know, that's not like there was a reason for why I was so quiet. There was a reason for this. And I realized that this dynamic was very much, with this particular friend, they kind of just needed someone to be kind of a nice person who was laid back and to kind. Be with them. And so I was, we just don't, you know, we don't really jive that well. And some people have gotten upset with me, think that mm-hmm. Like, I'm changed or, and I'm like, well, yeah, I, of course I have. You know, like, why haven't you? Yeah. That's kind of bizarre to me. And you don't need to, I mean, you're part of you is still there, you know, today, but you don't need to. Have those same roles and to be that same person. And yeah, it's interesting. I do kind of wish when I was younger, maybe I had a little bit of all of that, like all of the different characters in the Breakfast Club. I wish, you know, like I always have the, oh, I wish my parents would've done this. But I do wish that there might've been a little bit, more encouragement for like maybe ace for when I was little, or more encouragement in school or, whatever. I wish there would've been a little bit of each little thing for me as child me or high school me or whatever. Yeah, I can see that kind of like a bit of a little bit of each of them kind of makes someone who's well-rounded sort of thing. Mm-hmm. Because they are in the extremes. And yeah, I mean, it, it definitely, I think, kind of puts you behind the curtain to, saying, okay, what role do you play? I think it's, a little different now with social media. I think you can add in more aspects of your personality. more things are kind of talked about just by virtue of more things are out there, right? But I do definitely think, kids are always going to struggle and people are going to struggle on, how to socially identify where to go, how to do it. I think this movie just gives a little bit of hope of Oh, peeking behind the curtain of, oh, this person might actually, you know, really just be hurting. Yeah. And their persona is really, An entire defense mechanism Against this. Yeah. I mean, you never know. And which is so true then and now, even as adults, you know, we never know what other people are going through, what other people are struggling with or what's happening at home. Or how they're raised, which, you know, it's, it does make you pause just even for a moment to be like, okay, well maybe their interaction with me may not be because of me. Right. Yeah. It's, you know, kind of, I think maybe being able to see outside of the social identity and kind of, you just feel so much in that struggle when you're around that age and maybe a little bit beyond that even. Maybe even, you know, all throughout your life you kind of struggle as to like, where do I fit in? This is kind of the first place that you see, but it doesn't have to be defined by that. you don't have to stick to being, someone who is living up to your father's expectations or your parents' expectations and grades or, being the same type of vapid personality, like the princess or, struggling to just even be a person because you don't get that at home. You know? Like figuring out how to define yourself and how you do wanna be seen. That's a really big statement, isn't it? How to be and how to, be a person and figuring that out. Because some families, you're not encouraged, individualization, you're encouraged. Okay, well just follow what I'm doing, follow the steps that we do, stay quiet or join this or do that without really choice There. Sometimes the lack of choice can really affect a person too, and not really remembering that they're a person. I think it's the system of it, the system of a family, the system of school and social identities. I mean, I know that personally, with my family, I was kind of not considered unless I was someone who was very nice or very helpful. And I still struggle with that a lot. You know, nowadays, and it is still is very much like, oh, you don't support me blindly, or you don't, you know, do this then. You're a jerk, you know, kind of thing. I definitely felt like in my family I had to have a few different roles, and I sometimes think about it when I was younger, but in order to be seen or to, you know, I felt like I had to be the one to fix stuff, then had to be noisy or had to be the criminal to get attention Stay quiet and hide in my room. I did that. Like, I felt like I did that for quite a few years just to avoid the family. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But then, then also it's like, why didn't they notice? But you know, that's, that's the whole system was Yeah. Is messed up. I mean, it's just, you know, they're not, there's a lot of things going on mean you and I both grew up with a lot of siblings, so Yeah. Yeah. A lot of siblings and alcoholism in my family. I mean, like. Yeah. A lot of, things can, I think that can apply to, you know, high school or, or just society, right. You know, that depending on where you see yourself or how you've been treated, you'll start to project that onto the world. And it's about, you know, maybe noticing that, Hey, I don't have to be this, or maybe this isn't me, but maybe this served a purpose for this system. Yeah. You know, like high school or your family and saying, this is not actually me. It served a purpose. It helped protect you. Yeah, absolutely. I realize why I, you know, elective mutism. Why I, I couldn't say anything. If I said anything, and it was out of line with. people that needed to hear particular things or needed me to not say anything. It just, it, it became almost like I just got this message that, you know, it's just better to say nothing. absolutely nothing because anything will get you into this point of being a bad person or being labeled as, I don't know, just, yeah, these very negative things. I absolutely feared and it was completely, when I would try to bring that up, it was just completely invalidated. It still is to this day, so I Just don't say anything. Yeah. With regards to that. It is interesting how other people's perceptions or what they view as reality is so much different than the person who lived it. And like, just as you were saying that, I remember like so often, like when, whatever chaos or whatever was happening in my household, just hiding in my room with my big golden retriever and like one or two of my cats and just staying there and just, you know, just because there weren't people always that I felt like I could talk to or notice me. And that's, I think that's again being drawn to that basket case, for lack of a better word for that person. Yeah. But it is, it's hard. It's hard when. There's chaos and again, in the high school environment, you know, like that movie is in all kids. It's not every single kid's job to be like, oh wait, is there dysfunction happening at your house? Me too. Like, let's, right, right. Sometimes it does find, I mean, I know I did have quite a few friends that had similar family and similar experience, but it wasn't like we did a job interview. It just happened that, I don't know, maybe drawn to each other or noticed the, the sadness or the whatever it was. It's just something, something. Do you have the markings? Yes. You don't get talked to at home or everything gets piling you and then they say like, don't talk. Yeah. Yeah. Or, yeah. When you do wanna, when you do finally yell or scream at home, it's like, whoa, what's that? You know, like, you're crazy. You must be crazy. Yeah. Wow. Slow down. You're, you must have a lot of anger issues. It's like, well, it's 15 years of, you know, like whatever age you're at, you know, it's like, I gotta let it out somehow. It's gonna come out in a very odd, bizarre way. Mm-hmm. You know, to, again, it's not knowing, it's not knowing each other's context. You know, and that's what really, I feel like that's what is really important in mental health is understanding people's context. Not to make an excuse, but to understand how can I best represent this and what I wanna say, what I wanna communicate, who I wanna be. Yeah. And how I wanna show that, you know, and yeah. Or should I not engage in, in these things. And I think that is. That is a good takeaway from this movie. Yeah. To kind of say like, oh, you, you can see a common thread between all of these kids and all of people you know that are in this environment. Yeah. That where they're supposed to be defined. Mm-hmm. And take on these roles. Yeah. And I think that's also what was so interesting and almost shocking at that time, because. You look at them physically, they all look different. They all come from different places. They all have different friend groups, but after eight hours, they ended up managing to go deep and kind of cut all those layers and figure out like, oh wait. We all have this little level of dysfunction that we're dealing with. I. And this is how we process it at school, or this is why we overachieve or underachieve or we bully or we, you know, it, it is, it's interesting and I still think the movie held up. I ended up watching it this morning before our taping. But it's, it's still holds up. I mean, the music is great and I think that I've been singing the, don't you Forget About Me songs, don't you, for the past week. And I mean, it's still, I don't think I realized how. Old Chad Nelson looked in the movie. Oh yeah. until I'm watching it as adult. Because as a kid I remember watching I thinking like, oh, he's so dreamy. Again, we all know my experience with, I mean, come on, Nile's from Cream. but I remember thinking like, oh wow, he's so dreamy. But I also, I was kind of torn because I already had a big crush on Emilio Estevez because I loved outsiders. Yeah, so I, and I don't know if he had already been in young guns, but I already was like, swoon in over him. And then yeah. But then I remember like as a kid thinking like, oh, Jed Nelson is so, you know, cool. And, but then watching it, I. As an adult watching it, I was like, holy cow, he looks old and I had to Google it and he was 25, but Oh wow. Molly Ringle was 17 and Anthony Michael Hall was 17. And Ali Sheie. And Emilio Estevez were both like 20, 22 or 23, but he must have been a very, yeah, that sounds about right. But he looked like a very old 25, but also they didn't have as much filtering. As they do now. They probably didn't have like all the different lenses on while they're filming, and so everyone's airbrushed and Yeah, and they were probably trying to make him look kind of like trashy and everything. Yeah. When you go back, you almost kind of think, you know now, like if you say, if you were seeing it first time, now you might think, oh man, is this guy gonna end up being that he's not even going to high school? He's just a. A weird adult that's just kind of, it's, it's gonna schools. Yeah. Like 21 drum Street. Like sometimes when you looked at it, it's like Richard Greco looked like he was like 50. You know, like. Yep. Johnny Depp looked good though. He did. He did. He did. And yeah, it's funny. even then, they still look older. a lot of people now, you could tell they're not a lot younger. Just like, than they do at that age. What, like if you watch 9 0 2 1, oh, what is that? Yeah. He looked like he was like 30 like in a high school, you know? And he probably was. And so was Andrea or whatever. she was very much, yeah, she was 30 something. I think she was the oldest person and she, and she was like, but she, she kind of looked really old, but they also dressed her like a school marm Yeah. I, it's funny, I didn't notice this. Back then. But yeah, when I look back I'm like, oh my God. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't notice it either.'cause this is like, okay, well she's just kind of frumpy or he's just cool with this big, like Judd Elza with his big trench coat and his boots and did, but then it's like, oh my gosh. He, I wonder if it was hard for him to play like a 17 or 16-year-old kid. When he is like 26 or 25, He looked a lot old, like, look, watching it. I was like, holy cow. He looks so much older than everybody. So he'd be like in his sixties now. Yeah, I think he is. I think I don't, I don't know how old he is. The last time I saw him, he was on, he made a guest appearance on two and a Half Men with Charlie Sheen, Like in like wasn't he in like Enamel's fire or was that Rob Lowe? Maybe, I think that was Rob Lowe. He was in like, I think Charlie Sheen was in like platoon. Yeah. He was always kind of like a, you know, a scruffy, like, you know, badass kind of guy. Yeah. You know, that didn't follow the rules. And it's the same in two and a half men, Yeah, it was, that's the last time I saw him, just probably like 15 years ago. I don't even know what, what else he's been in. I was trying to see, I don't know. it's funny, I was listening, I was thinking this morning, I was like, oh yeah, yeah, okay. Jed Nelson. He did all of those movies with the kids being taken. I was thinking Liam Neeson, and I was like, what are you talking about with the kids being taken? I was like, what is wrong with me? Because I was like, oh yeah, he had a really great film Career after Breakfast Club. I was like, oh yeah, Judd Nelson. And then I was thinking Liam Neeson's name was Judd Nelson. I had like a weird neeson Nelson. I just had like a weird brain flop this morning, but so age. He's 64 years old today. I mean, not today. His birthday is in November. But yeah, he's 64 years old. Wow. Jed Nelson, not Liam Neeson. I don't know how old he is. It's so strange to just kind of look back and just to know the ages of people that you thought were like 16, although apparently they were 25 even back then, you know? Yeah. And then you're already watching the movie. Like I, I think I was watching it in the early nineties, so that's even like seven years after. So he is in his thirties. By the time I was watching it, I'm thinking he's like 16, you know? Yeah. I, yeah. I must have watched it in,'cause I think it came out in 85. And so I, it was either eighth grade or freshman year was probably the first time I watched it. Yeah, I don't think so. That would be pretty inappropriate. It was probably on like whenever it came to tv. Yeah. I feel like things came to TV quicker, but maybe like, maybe they didn't, We didn't really go see things in theater too much. I mean, I remember seeing ET in the theater, but Yeah. But I don't know. All very, you know, all this, talk about mental health, the eighties and how old people were is just so Gen X. It isn't it very, we're very existential thought process of what was what could be what. yeah, it is very Gen X This is a really good, you should, you know what? We're not apologizing for this because you should be, you know? Yeah. They say other generations, it just the greatest generation, but you know, but enjoy it. We're trying to educate you on Yeah. Mental health topics that you might not be aware of. Yeah. Or no unique that given perspective of Gen X, that that's a purely, that's a Gen X movie if ever there was one. Oh yeah. That, yeah. It's that, and I don't know if I'll ever do it. The Better Off Dead movie kind of always was one of my favorites. I think that was a John Hughes movie too. Is it Matthew Broadway? Because like, I want my$2, like the guys like Chasing Him. Oh, I remember that. Yeah. Yeah, There's a lot good stuff. If you guys think we're gonna stay current, we're gonna always go back to the eighties or nineties every once in a while just to throw off the sun I have heard that a lot of people are going back to, oh, let's watch some of the class. You know, like in a lot of people are, because just like with music and stuff, it's important to know generations and different things. I think one generation after the next is a branch off of the other. It's a response from the other generation. So it's kind of good to know like where everything echoes and. I mean, it's history, so Yeah. You know, gen X get to know him. Yeah, that's true. Say hello to one if you work with them or, or if you are one. Yeah, it's good. I'm actually, I'm technically, I'm, maybe I'm a very late millennial, but I'm, we'll, we'll let you in. We will let you in. You like the golden girls and you understand? Yeah, I definitely grew up with a lot of Gen X. My oldest sisters, well, all your family were Gen X too, so you probably by default and Yeah. It's weird because the two oldest, or the three oldest, I guess. Very much Gen X. But yeah, me and my twin sisters, we were like early eighties, so we were kind of in between, I don't know, because you see some things, it's like, okay, I've seen some that say up to 88, then I see some that are like, Nope, 79. You know? It's really weird. Just by the feel though, I would say I can definitely relate to millennial culture to a degree, but I don't feel like that's what. Like, I feel like I'm kind of half in, half out. Yeah. But, you know, and don't really feel, I don't know, it's weird. I guess it depends on who you're around, maybe that you kind of feel that way. Yeah. the millennial generation is so long too. I mean, there's, so it seems like it goes like, what is that, like 15 years? It's like a long span. Oh, is it? Yeah. So maybe that's kind of part of it is that everybody kind of feels a little millennial maybe. Yeah. Because there's just so much that happened I think technologically and like with social media, so people probably, that changes a lot. Anyhow, we are getting off track, but which tends to happen. If you're still with us, if you're still listening, we really hope you enjoyed this talk on the Breakfast Club and Strolling Down eighties memory lane. Yeah. Gen X, all that good stuff. so we hope you enjoyed this little stroll, this, look at mental health and Visa, the Breakfast Club. Pretty cool characters. So don't forget to leave us comments. Let us know if you have suggestions for future episodes. We always love that. Yeah. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram. At Wicked psychotherapists. And on Facebook, we are the wicked psychotherapists. And subscribe. 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