EXTRA COMMENT OF THOUGHTS: 1) Use the code TREE for 40% off World Anvil with the link worldanvil.com/?c=mltt Or else try it out for free!! 2) So this video DEFINITELY could've been a lot longer but it's also the kind of premise for a video that I think should stay concise. I only loosely alluded to the implication that Allison "should" have to be attractive to Andrew and whatever people deemed "attractive" at the time...when she shouldn't have to. Suddenly getting with him after the transformation does carry those sort of connotations although, to be fair, it doesn't seem that was the direct intention behind the makeover. Also there is a certain irony that I think what bothers some people most about the makeover, isn't the idea Allison should conform to what will attract men, but the idea that they simply find the original Allison more attractive...which is then kind of the same thing, isn't it? "Allison should dress the way I think she looks best." Nope! She should dress however the hell she personally wants to. 3) You'll have to excuse the editing glitches. I've had so much copyright trouble with this video that everything else fell away slightly. 4) I tend to feel uncomfortable calling Allison "weird" when, really, I don't think she is. I guess it depends how you define weird. I use it more here because it keeps things brief and because that's exactly how it's all seen in the 80's, probably especially amongst kids who can be quite judgemental and lacking in curiosity. The character was written to represent "the weird ones" at school. Realistically, it'd be odd to chalk people off as "weird" like that but in terms of the film, it's what she's intended to represent. I'm not sure what the point is I was making here, I've forgotten 5) I suppose on the point of "weirdness" I get a lot of comments suggesting Allison is autistic. I did actually talk about this in the recording but edited it out because it was long winded and not totally relevant to the video. My opinion is this: it's certainly very plausible. I think if this movie was made today, the shots of the counsellor's office that are meant to represent Allison, would have hints of the counsellor considering that about her, rather than just doing a Rorschach test. I also quite like the idea of a film back in the 80s that would have an autistic character without having to make a big thing out of it. HOWEVER she also might not be. Accurately diagnosing someone is never as straight forward as we can sometimes imagine. The amount of teachers or parents I've known who have insisted whatever child is autistic or has ADHD (it's normally one of those two) when it turns out that they don't, when there are other possibilities. Sometimes I've loosely offered ideas of diagnoses in some of my videos but I always regret doing so. Not just because I might be wrong, there are a tonne of reasons it makes me uneasy and it's something I very much intend to devote a video to. 6) I'm also tempted to redo my Allison analysis one day. It talks very little about neglect, and more gets caught up in the stricter arc of the film: "kid who represents weirdness gets to break free and become one of the group" rather than truly looking at all the aspects of her character that go beyond that. I think it's why that video ends up sounding like it says all her weirdness is an act, when it's not. There are many motivations I just do not to discuss because the video is too concise and probably also because it was my first character analysis ever and I didn't quite know what I was doing in making the video. It's still a video I'm proud of, don't get me wrong... I just know I could do a lot better.
I would rather date her in the before mode. She was better looking IMO. And I know this is just a movie but, in real life this girl is mentally ill and a little makeup would not fix that.
Andy clearly liked Allison from the get go, since they appeared to be bonding long before the makeover even happened. Most notably, he points out that he likes being able to see her face, not "You look better than before", or "You don't look weird now." He had no reason to believe that she even reciprocated his feelings until she approached him, and he likely wouldn't have even cared had she got back to her previous look.
EXACTLY! He was digging on her from the moment she said, "HA!" When they went to get the drinks, he used reverse psychology by pointing at Claire to go with him, so Vernon picked Allison instead. Andy was the one who got her to spill her guts about her home life. The new look was just a bonus.
But, these no way he's act on it the next day if she shows up back to school with her prior look. Andrew doesn't have the fortitude to go against peer pressure and social norms.
It shows growth for Allison socially. She learns she can change if she wants, she doesn’t have to be outcasted and she can blend in with the rest of the Claires and that’s powerful to know about herself. She has something she wasn’t always aware of until she bonded with the others and with Claire. Claire genuinely validates her and this is also good for Claire but that’s a separate topic.
Alison's chief complaint about her parents is that they ignore her. She is not used to other people taking care of her, so she has to take care of herself. She can only count on herself. Alison is so used to taking care of herself that she may not know, in her core, that it's okay to let someone else take care of her. When Claire makes her over, she is showing care to Alison in the way that she knows how to. Claire probably does make up with other girls, and other girls do her make up too. And Alison lets her! It's a beautiful moment, the two girls sharing this time, one caring for the other, and the other letting her, bonding. I think they may continue their friendship.
Along this same line, I've always thought that Alison just didn't have the same knowledge and experience making herself up. Her parents ignored her, so it is reasonable to believe that her mother never really showed her how to do her makeup so Alison just "brute forced" it as best she could. I think @mylittlethoughttree is spot on with the idea that many of the people who dislike the makeover, do so because that is the aesthetic that they prefer. And that's fine if they do. But I don't think John Hughes intention was to say, "you just need to conform to be beautiful." People who believe that seemed to have missed the whole thesis of the movie.
I try to think of the makeover scene less in the conformity-related interpretation and more in the opening-up context. The blouse she was wearing at the end, she was presumably underneath the layers the whole film. Claire most likely didn't bring an entire extra blouse to detention. That's still Allison's. To me, it looked like the makeup notably was "tidied up" instead of being completely wiped away altogether. (Though that might just be a coincidence of the makeup department on film, lol. ) Physically pealing back layers to see the deeper sides of Allison than the exterior, literally and figuratively. The defense mechanisms are still a part of her and not strictly facade, but there is more than that alone. It's not about conformity, it's about getting to the next layers of Allison!
(I saw TBC in '85; I was a senior in high school at the time) I agree; I've always thought the blouse or camisole belonged to Allison; it's a lightweight article of clothing that one might wear on its own, in the summer. On March 24th near Chicago, Illinois, a person is likely going to wear at least a sweater over such an article of clothing. When the kids arrive for detention, it's overcast outside; it's probably chilly, possibly downright cold, probably some precipitation happening through the day, possibly even snow flurries. Spring had officially sprung, but spring weather doesn't always happen immediately. Her layers were appropriate for the time of year, though they gave a "dark vibe." Her lightweight blouse is just one layer, and realistically for late March near Chicago, not a layer to wear alone. 🥶 As I recognized in '85, and another posted in this thread, Claire doing Allison's makeup is something girls did with each other as a form of bonding and acceptance; we did each other's hair, too; some girls knew more than others, or had better skills, and we learned from each other, and explored different looks with each other- sometimes it was silly, sometimes it was, wow, that's cool!
That's pretty much how I interpret it. Much like how I didn't consider myself goth when I was in school, I didn't consider her goth either. At the time I dressed to conceal, and in the decade since my wardrobe has become an amalgamation of the many aspects that make up who I am. In many ways since first watching it as a child and into adulthood I have related to her. It is easy to stereotype based off of what a person wears, and dismiss or tease when one experiments outside of their norm. As for Claire, I also agree that she probably didn't. Although even if she had I think it would still have made sense. While she may not have changed in appearance she did "shed" parts of herself when extending an olive branch. She gave a makeover to Alison and an earring to her love interest (can't remember his name at the moment and am to lazy to look it up).
I agree with that interpretation, but also suggest that the conformity isn't separate from it. That opening and unlayering is available through conformity exclusively, apparently. It may not have been intentional on the part of the movie makers. It could be an implicit bias that came out in the structure of the plot. Claire could've just as easily asked Allison how to look darker and be more like Bender instead of trying to make Allison more like herself. But that was not an acceptable option (to her, or the film makers, possibly both). Allison and Bender are both pulled towards conformity by Claire in similar ways to indicate their acceptance.
@@altrocks true true. Not sure about Bender in comparison to Allison with the level of wanting to comform to allowing others push them towards conforming. At least with Allison the level of feeling comfortable to wanting to seemed there naturally. At the end of the movie she rips the patch off of the lettlerman jacket.
I always got the impression that Allison was hiding under her concealing makeup and clothing, as a means to get people to notice her, but not approach. The problem is that her "Dark" aesthetic is more relatable than her "Light" look, and even Ally Sheedy thinks that the pastels were too much.
Have to agree. In many ways as a teen I related very much to the Allison character. Had the makeover been more subtle, perhaps no hair bow for example but still having her hair no longer covering her face, it would have worked better.
Something interesting my mom said about this topic was that the way she saw it, Allison did want a makeover like that and just never had a friend that would do it for her, not out of conformism or fitting in but out of loneliness
On your recommendation I watched the deleted scenes and what they left out were quite a lot of interactions between Claire and Alison. And there's even a scene where Claire says that she finds Allison cool. I think it was a sweet bonding moment between the two girls.
Despite all of her faults, Allison has one thing Claire doesn't, which is the freedom to make her own choices without caring what her peers think. I think this (among other reasons, such as the examples of abusive love she experiences in her own household) is why her about-face with Bender at the end of the film doesn't come as a surprise
I find Allison and Claire as two sides of the same coin, Claire’s family gives her attention, albeit extremely toxic attention, while Allison’s parents completely ignore her, yet supposedly care enough about her to send her to therapy (I think her lie about her shrink is a half truth as she has a confirmed diagnosis of compulsive lying). Both think about running away as seen in the film but Allison is already ready to commit to the action, yet Claire is too scared to leave behind everything that makes her special, her clique and her reputation. I think they start recognizing themselves in each other which leads to the makeover.
As a former Emo kid, I think this is spot on. I had so many body and trust issues in high school, and for me PERSONALLY, it was much easier to make it obvious with my clothes that I didn't want to be known than it was to actually open up about the real issues. As an adult in my mid 30s, I still love combat boots and black, but I've had so much fun trying on new looks every few years. Life is better now that I'm not putting myself in a box.
I think the makeover would have worked better if Allison had stolen the makeup from Claire first, since she stole something from all of the other characters: Bender's knife and padlock, Brian's wallet, and Andy's wrestling patch. We never see her steal anything from Claire, so taking the makeup and getting a makeover from Claire because of it makes sense.
I disagree. Allison's other thefts make a lot more sense. For example, she steals Bender's knife to keep him from using it. She steals Andrews patch to signify their connection. Why would she steal Claire's makeup? Even stealing Brian's wallet was Allison being true to Allison but if Allison was going to steal something from Claire, it wouldn't be her makeup. It might be her necklace or some other piece of jewelry or maybe even her boots, but not her makeup. Then again, after discovering that Allison stole her boots, Claire giving Allison her boots to keep and then giving her a makeover, that would have been a tremendous improvement, especially if then Claire wore Allison's boots home.
@@theunintelligentlydesigned4931She doesn’t steal Claire’s boots? I think you confused Allison carrying her sneakers out of the school for Claire’s boots, she walks out on her bare tights once everyone goes home. If you look closely she is gifted Claire’s lace scarf that’s now used as Allison’s headscarf, so Allison technically did take something from Claire but instead of stealing it, it was given to her. In my opinion this was two-sided, Claire finally becomes generous enough to give something to someone instead of staying conceited/materialistic (she does the same thing with Bender and gives him her diamond earring) and Allison is given something willingly by someone for possibly the first time in her life and it’s so sweet.
I don’t think the message of this film is them exploring themselves, but allowing each other to explore them. They begin seeing each other as cliches, but by the end they see the fully formed individuals. Allison’s makeover isn’t just symbolic of her peeling back layers to reveal who’s underneath, it’s symbolic of all of them. Andrew seeing her is symbolic of how they have all been able to now see each other. In my opinion, this movie is perfect and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
This is the absolute best take on this controversy. As a young woman who used to be very much like Allison and am now much more comfortable without my "armor", this is how I always saw her transformation, and it saddens me that a lot of people act like her arc is "conformity". That's NOT it. She's not hiding herself anymore, she's willing to connect and be vulnerable, just like you said, which is SO healthy. I love this "makeover reveal" moment for her. Andy isn't like "woah, you're actually hot, I had no idea" -- he's like "Woah, I was already falling for who you are, and now I can see that you're even more beautiful than I thought you were." That's precious.
I always saw it this way too. I always believed Allison when she said her therapist abused her. In my head, that always explained why she wore such big clothes, to hide her body like some abuse survivors do. It can be a big step to wear something more revealing - to finally remove the armor.
Oh my God, that is a great point! I wish Claire had taken a bit from Allison at the makeover scene as well, that would have been fabulous! Could have been pretty natural too. Maybe Allison didn't want to carry all of her layers home in her arms so Claire took a few items with her to relieve that load.
"Why are you being so nice to me right now?" "Cause you're letting me." Doesn't that exchange kinda say it all? Isn't it more important than the makeover?
You just make me think of a very interesting aspect of this. Alison's question wasn't "Why are you trying to change me?" or "Why don't you think I look pretty without this?" Her question was "Why are you being nice to me?" If Alison didn't really want to change or want the care being shown to her, would she thought of it as being nice?
@@mrbigbillyb8475 Yes exactly, and Claire's reply is significant as well, that before they had connected and Allison allowed Claire this chance, it could not have happened. What they are doing together is not as important as the beginning of the friendship which had the potential to overcome the magnetism of the clicks they belonged to.
As opposed to keeping others away, deliberately “weird” behaviors can also reflect a desperate desire for attention that the individual feels he/she cannot obtain by conventional means. I am not a particularly pretty woman, but I can be funny. Of course, my use of humor serves many functions and arose from disparate needs and developmental experiences, but I can also use it as a means to stand out a little (since me merely sashaying by won’t do it). I got the impression that Allison was in need of interpersonal attention she was not receiving at home, but didn’t know how to make herself conventionally appealing to her peers. Her idiosyncrasies served to get her recognized (she exists!), and while not quite as good as admiration, being “the odd one” was still better than total social invisibility. I also note that after Andy kisses her in the parking lot, Ally Sheedy does a little excited shimmy. Allison is still Allison. She lacks Claire’s capacity for icy social self-control. And that, I do think, is a good thing.
I thought that it was great. It showed that both Alison and Claire were willing to break down barriers. It was very heartwarming. Actually I liked Alison before and after the makeover. I dont think Alison thought she needed an external makeover. As much as she could use an internal makeover which in certain ways that psychology was. I thought that it was sweet of Claire to do it and it was sweet of Alison to not be spiteful and to let her. All in all that was a positive message in my mind.❤
I think a big part of the “transformation” that you’re missing is that it’s also as simple as teen girls giving each other a makeover. It’s something that has probably been a huge part of Claire’s life, and probably the first time Allison has ever done that. It’s her first glimpse into the world of female friendship (possibly ever), a window to a place she’s never been invited. It’s not really a transformation. It’s a teen makeover, which in this instance is possibly MORE impactful and important.
I started high-school a couple years after this came out. I was a less-conforming Andrew. The girls I was typically interested in were the Allisons, but, if they didn't know me, assumed I was just a big, muscled-up idiot. We sometimes use a person's appearance as an excuse not to know them. "They don't fit the mould of what a person like me is supposed to like."
03:30 ... when the movie came out, everyone in my school love Allison's character (and all us guys fell in "love" with Ally Sheedy after watching this movie). Yes, she was beautiful after the makeover, but we loved the weird girl Allison. There were girls like Allison IRL in the 80s who were all "Mod" in black or just grungy wearing the same clothes through the week. Then the next year they "bloomed" into a fashionable flower and instantly became popular instead of "the girl nobody knows her name". They've seen her in their class, but never gotten to know who they were... then at the start of junior year, this "new" remade girl shows up at school and it's her. She's had a major makeover and is now the most adored girl at school. Looking back in the 80s, no jock would be seen with original Allison, but the made-over Allison would be the one who the jocks fought over.
Nah....she just looks 'normal' or typical - after the makeover....the 'goth' look she uses because she is ignored so might as well be invisible. She likes the makeover - there's no sign at the end of the move that she will back to the old look. A deleted scene, she says 'she likes it' and is pleased after looking in the mirror. Andy takes notice and says she's beautiful. She's no longer ignored. Ppl are mistakenly saying she's now 'selling out' and 'superficial' now. That isn't true. There's just more effort now and maybe that is how she really feels inside now that she is getting at least some attention from others. Whether her parents pay attention remains to be seen but now she has attention from her peers. The change just represents a metamorphosis in being more open and inviting ppl in (instead of trying so hard but is really shut down with the dark look being a metaphor).
Okay! So... I'm one of those who hated/(kinda still hates tbh tho I agree with you) the idea of Allison changing her looks because: A- I hated the implication that she was only attractive after she changed. B- I still think she looks cooler before (obviously if she was a real person that would be unimportant and she should do whatever she wanted). C- When I first watched this movie I was a little emo girl who was constantly told I would look better if I dressed more normal, and her changing her looks and everybody looking at her astonished or whatever felt like... ugh you know? Mostly because I was 13/14 years old and people were talking to me in terms of "being atractive" when I was still pretty much a child and was really uncomfortable in a body that was suddenly very mature-looking. I think I projected a lot of my experience in Allison when I first watched this movie and the initial dislike towards that plot point hasn't ever faded idk
Well you're not wrong, that's what's fun about it, there are definitely both good and bad factors. I'm not sure if it's intended or not but it does all come with this connotation that Allison "should" dress the way people find attractive...which isn't a great message. Overall, I still like the idea but it's certainly not perfect execution
Whenever someone says a movie makeover transformation is meant to be read symbolically I flinch a bit. Even in less literally visual media, like novels, the makeover is, by definition, literal, physical and visual -- unless the entire character has so little human reality and agency that she is herself more symbol, more object--than reality. That's why it's hard to get along with these kinds of scenes. Because there are a million ways to show a change; but we always get the most literal and visual with women and it gets a visual reaction that happens from being looked at. Being put-together really can help people and there are ways to show that in movies, but how often do we see a female character go more gender-neutral, more androgenus or more "blendy" and less striking and and have that work for her? I can tell you I know people in the real world who have found themselves that way. Even as someone who like draumatic dressing and feminine get-up, both more gender-neutral, casual get-up and less splashy clothing is indispensable to specific important situations and mental waystations in my life. This is a bit weird to write because I also love to watch movies FOR fashion, so it's a tough one that the movies that tend to produce the best fashion also do a disservice to the beautiful nuance what people in their real bodies and clothes and skins do.
Two thoughts 1. They should’ve done without the headband/bow in her hair. I think just the pink top, light makeup, and neatened hair would’ve been enough. And some people would hate it less. 2. They should’ve included the “he won’t laugh” and the hug.
Who hasn't tried something new and leaned too hard into it, or made a mistake and overcorrected? Like the video says, they've not reached their final form, just taken a few steps along a path they maybe didn't expect to take when they woke up that morning.
Allison will always be my favorite character. She wanted to fit in but did not know how, being a teenager is difficult. She was accepted by the prom queen and handsome jock... they helped her while her family ignores her. She was afraid to show herself but the popular kids accept her before the makeover, nobody knows who they are in high school.
I disagree that she wanted to fit in and didn't know how. Allison goes out of her way to not fit in. A person who wants to fit in doesn't make dandruff showers in full view of their peers. I think she is a person who simply doesn't fit in, and her reaction to the rejection is to lean in as an act of rebellion, like "you want to see a weirdo, I'll show you a weirdo" and becoming a caricature of what people already think of her so she feels she has control over that perception. Also, her parents ignore her, so her whole presentation of herself as "screaming for help" is a way to make it so people are unable to notice her, even if that's in a negative way, it's still recognition. I don't think she specifically wants the acceptance of jocks and prom queens, she just wants to be accepted by SOMEONE. Andrew shows attention to Allison before she begins acting like she wants it. Andrew is drawn to her because he is so obsessed with fitting in, the person who goes the opposite way is intriguing, something in him wants to be like that. I see Allison as responding to his interest, not as a desire to be more like him, but just an appreciation of feeling seen by someone. The "makeover" isn't done for his benefit, but as an opportunity to bond with another girl, his noticing her more is a consequence of the makeover, but not necessarily the goal.
@@mrnosaj71 I would say that perhaps having her hair in her face and wearing excess layers of clothing is symbolic of her putting boundaries between herself and other people and not wanting to make her vulnerable, and also preferring negative attention to none at all. The makeover is supposed to symbolize removing the protective layers and letting people in. I don't think it's meant to tell us the "real" Allison is pink and preppy. She isn't. I think she'll alllow herself to be seen more, literally and figuratively, going forward, but she'll still be a dark person drawn to weird things.
@@moonlily1 I agree, this is a side of herself she is trying on, just to see what happens. Classic teenage experimentation it will not define her however this is a new page turned in her life that she was not expecting. The beauty of self is the many unknown layers we unwrap as we go.
I've always felt like a male version of Allison crossed with Brian. Instead of ignoring me, my dad abused me. But my behaviour was the same as hers. It was very passive-aggressive. I'd try so hard, while being incredibly socially awkward, to make friends, only to push them away. There were too many things about my life that I was ashamed of. I wasn't allowed to go to parties or make friends, so I would make sure I never came close, and when the kids reacted the way you'd expect, it broke me.
You're not alone, dude. I relate to a lot of the things you said. I tell myself to look forward and try not to dwell so much on the past, which you can't change now. I know it's easier said than done - I fail at it often enough.
@@tharin4400 30, 40, even 50 years on, some memories still hurt, others make me cringe, but I'd like to go on...forward, that is. I have a lot of blessings in my life today...or at least feel as if I do.
I remember watching an interview where Ally Sheedy explained that she herself had mixed feelings about the makeover because it would imply that Alison wasn't beautiful to begin with. So they took a different approach. Instead of glamming her up (e.g., Sandy in Grease), they stripped away the things that were keeping her hidden: the dark makeup, the hair in her face, and the layers of clothing. Effectively, the makeover symbolizes Alison's willingness to reveal more of herself, to be vulnerable. She's no longer cowering in the corner and yelling for Andy to "go away". Instead, she's the one approaching him and basically saying "here I am"
I always liked this scene, it's very sweet. The best makeover scenes are the ones where the person being made over learns a new way to express who they really are.
Wow if that is who she really is, then the makeover didn't just make her less attractive physically, then it made her personality less attractive too. Now the makeover is even more depressing than I thought it was. I'm not unique in any way, actually I am just as bland as every other girl! How is that not depressing?
@@randomgrinnthere's literally no drastic personality change other than her becoming more confident tho... and u can feel however u want abt the makeover, but being traditionally feminine in appearance doesn't automatically make you "bland" and shallow esp from a modern perspective where many teens dress the way allison did most of the movie
I really appreciate your point towards the end- I've had many phases in my youth, I'm probably still going through them haha, and I don't regret any one of them even though I don't relate to them anymore. Because each one meant something to me at that time, each one helped me explore a piece of my identity, an idea, a way of breaking out of the norm or a way of conforming more, the way each made me feel. And from each one a small piece has stayed, each phase has left a mark on who I am. Now I feel comfortable, knowing I probably won't like what I like in a few years, but that doesn't matter. It doesn't mean I am 'faking it', being a 'poser' or an 'imposter' as my brain often tells me- because it was and it is true to me in the moment and that's the only thing that matters. And each time we change something, we become more comfortable in ourselves, allowing broader ideas enter our identity, later deciding wetger they're right for us just as this character might not dress fully in pink and white but perhaps allowing herself to play with who she is, wants to be/become and so on
thank you for making this cuz it always kinda bothered me when people talked about how much they hated her makeover cuz i think both are cool and important to her character
Allison isn't weird because she wants to be different. She's different because she can't be like everyone else. It isn't a choice it's a sentence. She wants all the stuff Clair is/has. We morn the loss of her individuality but she wanted to be accepted and to have a group of friends. Isolation is a sad way to spend a life. Even sadder when you are just a kid.
I've always had a complicated relationship with the makeover, personally. I first saw the scene as an Alison-lite teenage girl in the 90s with scruffy dark-brown hair and a habit of wearing oversized clothing. (In my case, I did it mostly for comfort and a little so people would stop commenting on my chest all the time.) I loved wearing black tops because they made my dark hair and hazel eyes stand out from my pale face. I always viewed the pink top as a downgrade because it made Alison look less dramatic and made me feel invalidated. (And I always wondered why Claire had a brown eyeliner pencil dark enough for Alison. It would have looked awful on Claire!) I would have loved to see Alison in a black blouse, or maybe a jewel tone. The only part of the makeover that made sense to me as a kid was "Because you're letting me." It can be hard, as a kid forced into too much self-reliance, to accept care from others. It took me a long time to feel secure enough to let other people have the pleasure of helping me, or even understand that they really enjoyed it. I was impressed that Alison managed that.
I think a huge part of this discussion is also how the costumes work as subtext and how we as the audience are picking up on that. Since the makeover outfit is all pastel pink- AKA Claire’s color that the movie has taught us to associate with unquestionably conforming to mainstream pressures- it feels like that’s the direction is heading in. If the top had been a different color or even if she had tossed the scarf back on or something, it would probably read less like her becoming like Claire at the beginning and more like the experimentation and opening up that was intended.
I knew that girl in HS. Maybe a half dozen like her. I thought the film depicted her in a better light than the real deal. So, I imagined it would have been more controversial or heavy if she was rougher or more odd (like the reality I was familiar with-the dandruff being the only real hint that she was meant to be weirder than beautiful and stylishly dark Ally here in the film). So, I thought in the '80s that the makeover was her taking a chance on seeing herself outside of how she'd positioned herself-as the thing her parents rejected. Some of the girls I knew in HS were way more attractive than I could tell they thought. And that made me wish they knew, especially if the reason they were down and distant was because of it. Made me wish I'd been a better friend. But I was fairly Brian-ish and awkward myself.
On difficulties in trying to figure out Allison is that we know a lot more about the parents, home life, and school life of all of the other characters. We can look at Bender, or Claire, or the others and see how their parents affect who they are, but the only thing we know about Allison is that she feels ignored at home. But what exactly does this mean? Has she had mental health issues in the past and her parents have "given up" on her? Are they mentally abusive? After watching Breakfast Club several times, I can easily picture the future character arc of most of the characters, but Allison is difficult in this regard because there's not much there to build on. Is she a good student? What is she interested in outside school? Does she have a friend group at school, or does she feel ignored there as well? Without a wider context, it's really difficult to assess the makeover from her point of view.
In todays world, she'd be a LGTBQ character. Her interactions with Claire are about discovering her bisexuality, not conforming, her newfound desire to be attractive to other women as well as men. Which would be difficult to navogate in the 80s, to survive in a homophobic world. This film was made when AIDS was reaching pandamic proportions, without being acknowledged by the gov't or larger public, or this film. Sorry if this sounds "woke" to you, but it perfectly fits in, doesnt it?
I think she still acts the same way after the makeover! She still makes some noises while Claire does her makeup, she does a face at Brian before whispering thank you when he smiled and she steals Andrew's badge from his jacket. She is still Allison but you can see more of her face. Also you see Andrew give her plenty of awkward glaces showing he is attracted to her appearance and personality becoming the closest to her before the makeover. I think he was happy to see more of her face and her metaphorically opening up more to connections. She does ask him what do you think so of course he would respond with you're beautiful. I also wish the makeover didn't show her as conforming being best for her. I would've made more of Claire playing with her hair and putting up to see Allison's face while Allison could still wear a black or grey top and eyeliner. And I like the idea of Allison maybe putting some eyeliner on Claire to show them learning about each other. And Andrew could say "you look beautiful, I think you always did" or something equally sweet and cringey
Allison reminded me of my son's friend. She was 13, dressed in black, her hair hung down over her right eye, she talked about societal ills, and loved to either say nothing or something shocking. We didn't see her for a few months. Then she showed up at our door a new girl! Hair pulled back, big smile, dressed in some color, enthusiastic, and busy with notebooks. She dumped her bag on the dining room table and spirals fell out. She told us that she has discovered something amazing! Classical music! She can't get enough! She is learning biographies of composers, piano, clarinet, guitar, and composition along with music theory! She showed me the spirals were FULL of notes she has taken on Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Beethoven. She was ebullient and joyful! I pulled out our Leonard Bernstein videos for young people. She absorbed them like a sponge! My theory is that society pushes anti-everything so much that when you break free and enjoy the verboten beauty, faith, goodness; then joy is the natural result.
I personally don’t have a problem if TBC’s Allison Reynolds wants to experiment with different looks. It’s just that the framing/execution could’ve been better in allowing her to genuinely explore different facets of her identity. (I know because I kind of see myself in Allison.)
I was so much like Allison in high school that to this day my dad claims I look like Ally Sheedy. (I don't.) My take had never been that the makeover would be a permanent look for Allison, or even that that was what Claire intended. For me the point was to show Allison that other options were open to her. Options not only in how she looked, but more importantly in how she saw herself. Her identity as the basket case was represented more in how she dressed than the other characters. Yes, the others wore character appropriate clothes. But everyone else was dressed in clothes that pretty much everyone wore versions of. I think a lot of people could identify with more than one character at different times because of that. But only weird kids identify with Allison. I actually dressed more like a female Brian, which made me as invisible everywhere as Allison felt at home. Allison looked how we felt, even if we didn't dress like her. So I always thought it was more about showing Allison that she's beautiful, and that the people who can see her will see that she's beautiful inside and out. Even if her parents never show her that. In my head cannon, Allison doesn't change her look on Monday, but she does soften it. She still wears the black shit, but she starts wearing her hair less in her face sometimes.
I was 19 when I saw this in the theaters and to be honest, I didn't think much of her make-over. I like her all goth. And it's not that I was into that back then, but she wore it well.
Thank, you, this is very much in line with what i was thinking about the film earlier this week, that allison’s makeover would have landed more solidly if the film had done more to give claire some sort of corresponding transformation-not necessarily going completely emo, but something in the text that demonstrates a more explicit moment of growth for her, and some visual cue that shows her relaxing that princess persona. I was thinking, for instance, what might have happened if claire started out wearing some sort of metal hair band-not in a way that implies she needs it, but almost like it’s a tiara. Then, as the makeover comes to and end, she could use it for its practical purpose, pulling allison’s hair out of her eyes, while claire’s hair gets visibly more dressed down by its removal-an indication that while allison is trying out a more conventionally put together style, claire is exploring a more relaxed, less polished look. I think allison’s story arc, while compelling, could be a lot more compelling if the film engaged with claire in a more nuanced manner, so that allison wasn’t quite so much the standard bearer for every girl who’s visibly not a prom queen.
Sadly, in our world appearance matters. It would be great if it didn't. But it does. It's the same now as it was in 1984. Since Alison has been ignored by her family, her mom probably never taught her about cosmetics, clothes, etc. Andy doesn't give Alison a traditional "make over." She just encourages her to put her "best foot forward" - to stop hiding her pretty face under heavy, dark make-up. While STILL a basket case, Alison will get more POSITIVE ATTENTION (and more dates!) with her "new" upbeat look.
The scene between Claire & Allison is more about bonding & trust. It's a very intimate experience to let someone touch your hair & face, for most girls it first happens between mothers & daughters or maybe an older sister. Makeup, doing each other's hair & clothes (shopping or sharing) are all pretty typical female social bonding rituals between friends, especially teens/tweens who are trying to figure out who they are. I always thought the main theme of this film was exploring/ breaking down the rigid social heirarchies of high school that we all must break free of eventually.
I agree completely with saying that Alison should be free to experiment and not be kept in either box of being a basket case or needing to be more put together. I remember how in middle school I was very goth (full out with the makeup and the leather), but going into highschool and about to graduate, I don't really dress that way, and sure I incorporate alternative elements from that part of my experimenting. Looking back that did mean something to me to dress that way, and dressing how I do now means just as much to me. With the makeover Alison looked more open and comfortable when she wore the more "normal" clothes than she did dressing alternatively. I think as much as some people liked her not fitting in, it could've felt really good for her to fit in even if it was just for that moment.
I had a lot of similarities to Allison when I was growing up and got compared to her often in high school. For me, at least, I never saw Allison's behavior as a fear of conformity. It's a fear of rejection. Even though we don't learn very much about her home life, she's clearly someone with a rich inner world and an amazing talent for art, it's just totally unappreciated by the people around her. People don't see her for her talent or creativity, they just see her as 'weird' - so the obvious solution (at least to me back then) is to lean into that stereotype. If people rejected me for being 'weird', well, at least they weren't rejecting me for something that would actually hurt to be judged for. And once she feels like she isn't in danger of rejection, that's when she lets the makeover happen. If Claire had offered at the start of the film, she would have never allowed it. However, I will say that I don't like the makeover for the simple reason that it's shown as a catalyst for Allison getting together with the jock. She's still the same girl from the beginning of the film, and her behavior isn't going to do a 180 just because she changed clothes. It was sort of annoying to me that all she had to do was look 'normal' and then her behavior/personality quirks were suddenly tolerable to him. Like, real talk, is she just going to show up at school on Monday wearing pink and natural makeup again, without Claire's help? Probably not. Will he still be okay with being seen with her then? We'll never know. I had very low expectations for the durability of that relationship.
I've always loved this movie, and I love hearing your thoughts on it. So glad you revisited it! :) I don't really know what to make of the makeup scene these days. When I first saw the movie back when it came out, I hated the thought that Allison could only be acceptable if she conformed, but I loved the scene as a bonding moment between the two girls, and that Allison finally had someone paying attention to her without her having to act crazy to get attention. Claire was paying attention to her for a totally different reason - she liked her. In the 80's, girls doing each other's hair and makeup was just something we did. It was a form of social acceptance. It wasn't about trying to change each other, but rather saying we're in the same group now. We're the same. So I liked the scene for that reason. It's complicated, I guess. Lol
The makeover in breakfast club makes me think of the makeover that Stokely gets in The Faculty. I was an alt/goth girl and also a lesbian and remember being so upset that Stokely all of a sudden goes from goth to wearing lavender and dating the football player. Funny thing was too that the actress (Clea Duvall) ending up being gay irl. Which was great to hear about as an adult but when her character ended up conforming in the movie it bummed me out as a teen. I saw myself in her until the end of the movie and just ended up feeling crappy about it.
God I love your channel's intro! The train arriving at this station in the middle of nowhere, stationed right in the waters... that has so many Studio Ghibli vibes that it is impossible not to fall in love with it.
Consider the logical progression for Alison: she has a guy she's forming a bond with. She has a friend in the form of Claire. Even Brian is moved to amazement by her transformation. It's safe to say Bender is an ear she can bend. In the span of the film, she's been handed a fairly useful support structure. Even if she arrives at school dressed as always, she could be forgiven if she has a spring in her step. Andrew might say something about her appearance, but most likely, he'd brush her hair out of her face and smile. Besides, Andrew is more vulnerable than she is. In that sense, she can protect him with her eccentricities. She's accustomed to living in a bubble on her own. It makes sense Andrew would find solace with her because she can close out the surroundings. Also notice the lack of judgment between them. It would be poetic to say they dated, married, and lived happily ever after. But it would be enough if they dated and survived to remake their lives on their own terms. I'll grant you, Claire and Bender surviving to a mature relationship is much less likely than Alison and Andrew. I imagine them growing together lagely because they have many of the same crossroads ahead of them. It does make me wonder if reviving these characters for a sequel would serve any purpose. "The Dinner Club" just sounds bloated and self-serving right away. Brian the writer. Claire the senator. Bender the lawyer. Andrew the broker. Alison the artist.
THIS! Makes me wish Emilio Estevez could/would write and direct that theoretical sequel because he easily could; I think he understands the characters well enough and he's a great director, but I also know it'll never happen.
I like how your chat is similar to a group therapy session, but perhaps more polite. We all see ourselves in one or more of the characters. We all see things that we don't like. Things we would like to put make-up over, perhaps more in a psychological way than a physical way. Even if we are old, we hope to still be growing.
Makeover and character change is always interesting. I alwaysfound the film Grease really disturbing given the transformation message that film gives by the end
I always took the makeover as being Clair opening up, not Alison. Clir is the one who is closed to the rest of the group and by the time she gives Alison the makeover she has advanced to being open to others.
I like to think that if Allison was a real person out there in the world today, she would have healthy connections with people who love and respect her, and she would finally be seen in the way she needed to be seen as a teenager.
I think part of the issue was that Allison wasn’t coded as alternative enough. We see that she could be some variation of Goth or alternative, but the movies decision is to make her a “basket case”. Which is just a depressed mopey person, not a girl that probably listens to the Cure after school. What was interesting when she was perusing over the Prince album (I assume is hers), which was provocative then, but still super mainstream. So to me the makeover wasn’t offensive, it was just a bonding moment. And it was symbolic of Allison shedding layers and coming to the fore with more authenticity. The film seemingly says that she was rendering herself invisible, masking herself behind layers. Because tho she is the alternative girl here, she’s not alternative in the way we understand it in 1985. She’s just a depressed moody teen who with connection would probably dress differently.
You know what, everyone seems to hate this scene but nobody seems to realize that Claire didn’t give Allison anything aside from the makeup. Those are her clothes and accessories she either had in her bag or was already wearing. Everyone is hating on Allison for being herself because they liked her tortured look better. You’re putting Allison in the same box everyone else at school put her in. That’s what this scene represents, Allison expressing herself in a different way that’s still a part of her identity since she brought all of those things with her… and everyone hates it because it’s not what they want her to look like.
I thought the bow in Allison's hair was Claire's silk scarf from the beginning of the movie, like Claire giving pieces of herself to Allison and Bender at the end to say they'd still be friends. I thought the shirt Allison wore at the end was just under her clothing the entire time, but that bow felt subtly special. The main thing was getting to finally see her face with her hair pulled back. It felt like finally getting to SEE Allison for the first time.
This movie's perspective isn't outdated, as you said. It was very much a reflection of highschool in the eighties. There might be tropes or ideas that seem outdated, but you can find their counterparts in every generation's highschool experience. Loved the video and your commentary!
I was the "basket case" in high school. I'm still a basket case in my 60s. It wasn't a trope, it's me. I get your argument but, though I liked the movie, I was really sad that the popular kids got their way by re-making Alison in their image. Especially since Claire flat out admitted she would snub her and Brian afterward.
The EXTERIOR CHANGE is symbolic of the INTERIOR CHANGE. Nor Allison alone in this regard, and the differences can be subtle. Brian wears sunglasses while smoking and at the end of detention, he walks out in a white shirt, not the green sweater. Also at the end of detention, Bender is given an earring from Claire. Now instead of two earrings, Claire has one. Andy leaves the building without his blue hoodie, and he loses his State Champion patch (because Allison rips it off). In short, I agree that Allison's "make over" might have been a bit much, but the IDEA of the change was a very good one.
I first saw the movie at 12 during my full on emo phase and definitely felt... awkward... about her transformation at the least. Even watching it as i got older and started finding my own personal style, it bugged me. But i really love this. Its such a great read of the situation and definitely makes more sense for what the director was going for.
I think this video nails the broadstrokes of the truth. When the video started I worried maybe you would go down th path of, 'oh its wrong that she had a makeover' etc. but the truth is much more nuanced. Its all the things you said and more, and depending on the day, also less. People are ever changing, they're perspectives ever shifting. And ,like you say, this is a 92 minute film from the 80s that has to visually show something symbolic. Its fine to critique, of course, but there are just natural limitations to the medium.
The slacker look suited her better. But the point is that she gets to explore new things. I would guess a character like that would eventually settle on a middle ground (most people do).
I wrote about this for a history course. I agree with all your takes; I was surprised that you touched on so many interpretations. I think Alison did change a lot but it wasn’t the explicit layer shedding that we saw in makeover. I think there’s a lot to be read into her character as well (I looked briefly at each of them in my paper). Given that Hughes was pretty much creating this genre of film as he made these, I think he explored youth very deeply, thoughtfully and did a pretty good job.
I hope you make a video theorising on what happens to the five main characters on Monday (and beyond into their adult lives). Curious to know your thoughts.
Alison will always be my favorite BC character and this scene is so underrated and booed as anti-feminist moment. These two girls show each other so much, and this is a lovely moment.
I was an Allison in high school (in the 80s as well) and in many ways still am. I also relate to Brian as well. But to me Allison let Claire care about her and in that she let her care for herself. Showing Andy is the want for acceptance that even we basket cases feel. I let my weird flag fly my whole life and it can be isolating. But it also attracted other weirds. But I won’t be changed and even a little care from a Claire will not change who I am.
Thanks to that original video on Allison, which was the first video on this channel I watched last week, I watched the Breakfast Club for the first time. It was great, thank you. I think there's a lack of movie analysis today.
This transformation is tragic: Alison’s surface appearance changes but her personality and behaviors do not. This attempt to remold her into conformity by Andy & Claire is destined to fail. Because it is exterior only. And while it does represent a willingness by Alison to reveal more of her vulnerability and to connect with people, she is still a square peg navigating a round world - the classic introvert trying to pass in an extrovert world. It won’t last and she will likely regret not staying true to herself. Heck, the film makes clear that Andy is falling for her anyway. It is cowardice to think that she needs to be conventionally pretty for Andy to risk being seen with her on Monday. I find that to be a cop-out honestly.
I think Claire is being genuine. She’s doing the make over because Alison is allowing her in the way a lure knows how. Alison is very vulnerable and open now. All new and raw. Andy saw a glimpse and Alison gave the rest of the visual. I like how’s she still weird (stealing his patch).
There’s also this commonly experienced aspect of girlhood where being less feminine or a tomboy is accepted until around puberty. Then suddenly adults begin pressuring girls to be more feminine and equate that with maturity/growing up. To the kid, it feels like whiplash. When they were 9, nobody had a problem with how they dressed and played. Suddenly around 12, it’s seen as a bad thing and childish. By the time high school hits, the pressure amps up way more
I think it was her stopping hiding and pushing people away there not too much difference she was always beautiful just no longer hiding her face....as andrew says lol
The part that so many miss with Allison's makeover is that they fail to keep in mind that this is a movie. In reality, people don't transform that quickly. If a girl were to transform that quickly, it would come across as a severe mental problem. But keeping in mind that this is a movie, the writer and director needed to symbolically show how she evolved. The others were easier to show their transformation. With Allison, as alluded to in this video, underneath all that weirdness was a girl who wanted to be like the other girls. But due to her family, she got started on the wrong foot which lead to her basket case persona.
Good point to keep in mind that it's a movie and dramatized, but maybe we come from different cultures. Somebody in high school changing their hairstyle and top isn't seen as a mental problem, it's usual, expected, banal. Folks even change substantive things without much reaction. I also kinda doubt she wants to exactly "be like the other girls"... few people want that, no matter how well adjusted.
Ha, that's actually a. Problem I have with all the Breakfast Club videos Little Thought Tree has done! I think unlike him, and I assume most commenters, I am the age of the characters in the film when it came out, I didn't see it as a "classic", I think I waited for it to be on cable, I skipped it in the theaters, didn't want to pay the fees to rent it, or ask my parents to rent it, on VHS (really dating myself here), there certainly wasn't an internet to talk about it. For me it has always been a Hollywood bubblegum production. We could talk about it purely as a script with barely touching on the character's psychology. I watch these really as an insight into the psychology of later generations watching it in entirely different contexts. Does anyone here remember the rating from Siskle and Ebert? lol. How 'bout the fact AIDS was clearly a plague at this point and neither this nor any major film at the time made any mention of it. At my high school at the time there was serious fear and misinformation every single day. In this film, nothing. I'm being a little unfair, but mostly what I saw in BC is how different it was from my mid-80s experience.
The point was that she was always that girl underneath. There was no transformation. And I have seen many girls transformed overnight and it never meant that they had a mental issue. Are you serious? She didn't change immediately because she didn't need to change. She was already that girl. Get the f*** out of here with your mental issues.
As a child of the 1980s, I want to say that at that time there was a widespread (mis)understanding that heavy makeup and bulky dark clothing like that meant Allison was "hiding" her "true" self. Girls were expected to be less dark, less awkward. As someone who didn't know much about makeup and hair, I identified with her a lot. My sister was much more like Claire, and she sometimes gave me little makeovers like in the movie, and it's VERY RELATABLE if you were this age when this movie was made.
My leaning is toward your position. I didn't think Allison was all of the sudden abandoning who she is, but rather adding another facet to her persona. We really don't know what is going to happen the next day let along the next hour. Toward the end of the movie, it was merely pointing them in a particular direction, but this does not mean they have to follow that direction. Living is often not that simple. Like you said, she could easily revert back to what she's more used to. If per chance Allison continued to see Andrew, I would hope (since all we can really do) Andrew would not expect the make-over/transformation to be permanent. It seems, like you pointed out, that Andrew and Allison already started to make a connection based on a common experience--being ignored by their respective parents. So the make-over was not the start of the connection, but just a continuation/building of the connection. It is curious that some people expect the end of the movie to be setting of people's trajectories in stone, but usually it is only set in sand. I never personally thought of it as a transformation. My picture of it is more along the lines of the one time my mom and sister went out years ago to get glamor shots, but the pictures they got of that did not automatically dictate their life afterward--having to be all glamorous all the time. I thought Allison would continue to dress as she had since she really did not need to prove anything to anyone else. On the other hand, now she knows she can be spruced up, per se, and it is not a threat to herself.
People trying to judge this makeover from a 2020's feminism type of perspective just don't get it or the point of this. She was the shy, quiet, weird girl and that was her high school "type cast" so she kind of just stayed that way. She never wanted to show off or highlight her good looks because she had lower self esteem from parents who ignored her. And many people in high school just get labeled with a persona and stick with it. I think if Andrew introduced her as his new girlfriend on Monday and she looked like that many students would probably think she was new at school because nobody really knew her in the first place. It's not about doing a "makeover" or that there is one definition of beauty it's about high school students not wanting or being afraid to break out of their typecast or mold.
The thing that really gets me is, Andrew gets with her at the end. Not the person who saw her and spoke to her on the same level the whole movie.... But the guy who attacked and spoke down to her
It's so weird that everyone takes the makeover completely wrong. Her original look was her armor. She and all the other kids slowly shed their coats and opened up to each other but for someone like Allison, those extra layers were a shield, and her hair covered quite a bit of her face and Andy mainly focused on that, he's able to see all of her face now. Who gives a fuck about the bow on her head being ugly, it's on her head to keep her hair out of her face, in a sense she's not hiding herself anymore. Allison wants to be seen but at the time she wants others to stay away, she finally felt comfortable enough to let them get close (especially Andy). Claire literally just took off her smudged eyeliner around her eyes and brushed her eyebrows, that's it. There's no crazy make-up involved, Claire wanted Allison to feel good about herself, not change herself, there's a difference. Makeovers in real life compared to movies are different, but this makeover gets taken way too seriously Like it's cool you liked her original look, but her "make over" is a visual representation of her transformation as a closed off person to someone whose able to let people in.
Aww, the bow in Allison's hair at the end was Claire's silk scarf from the beginning of the movie. They're gonna stay friends if Claire ever wants her scarf back. Same thing with the earring she gave to Bender. Claire was giving pieces of herself to them as a commitment that they'd remain close. I was a child of the 80s, and Allison's makeover was viewed much like you describe. Her armor, covering up her true self was kind of a big message back then.
Also, her biggest complaint was being ignored - by both parents and her peers - i.e. other students. After the makeover - it was well received and that will reinforce her coming out of her shell and at least, she's not ignored by other students now. Andy helped the most - and was the one who didn't judge her even though he did at first, thought she was weird at lunch but that was it. He listened and wanted to interact with her and she wasn't used to it. The change in appearance was a metaphor for opening up, trying something different, letting someone else help (Claire, Andy) and finally feeling like she didn't have to go all out acting weird to obtain some attention.
The thing about makeup is you can take it off. It's a look that can be embraced if desired. She desired it, she wanted to be "pretty", she deliberately pushed being repulsive as a defense but she wanted a boyfriend, she wanted closeness, and maybe she really did wish she was the princess instead of the wicked witch. And if she decides the next day not to wear it, that's fine. But I see it as her character arc. She doesn't want to be what she is, but she doesn't know how to change. She's stuck in a personality disorder. It's destructive and potentially lethal. She has fantasies of running away, that could result in her hooked on heroin and dying of aids. And I knew a dude who reminds me of her, and he ended up that way, and it took him years to get out of it. He's fine now - but it was a close call. Another friend didn't make it.
Much as I hate the makeover trope, I think you're right. She acted like a toddler and it got her alienated like she thought she wanted, but when Claire finally looked right at her she saw the real her.
And actually it's not anything unusual for girls to give each other hair dos, or makeups. I wasn't much into those, but my older sister liked playing with my her (hair iron, curls) or gave me twice during Christmas break makeover and 'photoshoot'. My friend while in high school wanted to sell so clothes so she did my makeup and we did photos. And afterwards I was just coming back to be me. As the point in the video Claire just likes doing make up and to be honest giving it is totally natural, so the point of Alison trying to connect though it makes total sense
He never stated he found her pretty because of the makeover. What made him happy was he could finally see her. He and Allison had a bond before that and it's subtle, but throughout the film both steal looks or give shy smiles. They share several scenes in which both reveal themselves to one another-but not necessarily to the rest of the group. And Andrew is sensitive to her and intuitive enough to grasp that her dumping out her bag wasn't just for show. That short scene between them when she finally feels safe enough with a person to say her truth"they ignore me" is by far one of the best scenes between two characters in the movie. Andrew isn't suddenly in love with Allison because of the makeover. He already was attracted to her, and I think for multitude of reasons-she is free with herself, and he isn't, I think he admires that about her. His reaction when she comes out of the room 'made over' is all about her being brave, too. She lets him see her-HER! Not her hair in her face and her hood pulled over her head, not the piles of black and smudged eyes-gone temporarily, at least, is her way of hiding. And he delights in that. While it's doubtful Bender and Claire will continue in a relationship (partly because she gives him her earring as a reminder of their playdate) but we can imagine Andrew and Allison staying together. And yes, she does take his wrestling patch, but he has given her his hoodie. A good excuse to meet up again. And when she walks away as his dad drives away Andrew never takes his eyes off of her and in fact waves to her with a smile on his face. I'm telling you, those two, even if a romance doesn't continue, I do see them staying connected.
While it is a product of its time, i think the transformation scene isn't as bad or odd as people think it is. Intentionally out-casting yourself, isn't good. It doesn't lead to a happy life usually. (Oh and btw, through my teenage years I had my emo phase, that i never really grew out of, i still wear my band tees and rock out to slipknot) But do i think i'd have been happier, if i wasn't so different at that age? Absolutely. Do i think assimilation to your environment is an important skill to learn, not just socially, but culturally? Absolutely. And that's how i see the makeover scene. Allison intentionally wears clothing and does things that set her apart from other people, and allowing the other girl (her name escapes me) to give her a makeover is a big step in trust, and willingness to come back into the fold of what is 'normal' isn't a bad thing.
It sounds SO odd for me to hear you refer to yourself now as "a Therapist." I mean yes, you ARE a Therapist, but I've been a fan of and following your channel since the earlier Good Will Hunting analysis episodes (specifically episode 3) and I've just gotten SO USED to hearing you refer to yourself as "a Counselor." I mean yes, basically they ARE the same thing and in the end whatever term you use doesn't really matter, but I do agree with what you said around when first starting the channel that the term "Counselor" sounds more grounded and down to earth than "Therapist." Random thing to bring up but I just wanted to say that. BTW even though this extra analysis on Allison was NOT necessary, I loved it and appreciate you going back to fill in the blanks of what you missed in the original video. Keep up the great work!!
That's very true, I suppose I simplified it because therapist is the more well known term but counsellor is still the one I prefer, it is more grounded
Precisely. Even if she stays glammed up, the minute she speaks or acts “weird,” Andrew’s jock friends will mock her and their relationship will be toast. Andy is demonstrably weak to that kind of peer pressure or he wouldn’t have horrendously bullied that kid to get detention.
When I first saw the movie, I didn't know much about Ally Sheedy, couldn't remember what she looked or sounded like. All I knew was that she was playing a character who looked the way she did, and that was enough for me. I've been a fan of hers ever since, although it was hard to sit through some of the movies she did after this one, like Blue City or Maid to Order...Uh...why?
Thank you so much for this video!😊😊 ya I saw some commentor who wished she stayed the same too. Speaking from my personal experience, i was very socially awkward, i didn’t understand trends n etiquette or fashion. I just wore tshirts n ghetto pants, had no clue about make up. So i was learning who i was but also trying to learn how to express myself. The costume n clothes designers for this movie used their outfits to symbolize their emotional growth and healing. Allison was one way a first at first, almost at a lost herself to know how to find help. She struggles opening up to the other characters. The moment with claire and her together, its very symbolic of a milestone she was able to overcome. As she was able to connect with her true self, be comfortable to be herself-seen by the others, then to personally interact one on one with claire. And the moment of two girls bonding. --its (i dont know how to properly describe it-), girls bonding with other female friends is something that all girls need. But she was void of that until now. It honest showed her growth, to allow that to happen. And i get ppl hate her new look, i agree but also dont agree. I used to wear dull n muted colors all the time. I didnt understand how to express myself in feminism ways. I would be utterly clueless to teach the claires in my life anything. I dont think it was necessary that allison try to make claire look like herself. I dont think it matched with claires character growth--her opening up to Bender was more fitting. Wheb i stsrted wearing more fashion n stylish clothes or make up--i didnt completely stop wearing black at all. I go back to the intense make up sometimes. Tho friends say my face matches better with softer colors. Her new clothes was symbolic of a rebirth for sure, i agree. Of who she fully was on the inside, very soft, sensitive and allowing herself to be vulnerable with ppl she built a bond with. I think the right solution was to give her a different type of make over, that could be symbolic of rebirth, but match her face more😂 or something i dont know😂
At the age of those characters you would expect them to be trying on new personas. The current criticisms are valid only in that Allison seems to be the only character doing so.
🌸🖤🫂✝️ Allison i think in a current remaking of this film would’ve been a emo / goth I relate with her and the prom queen two ways I was will always be a bikers child i can’t to change it and i wouldn’t want too! i honestly with age have falling out of the all black and into the girly most inn part of myself! I am in my mind gojng back to a very early time in my life where my mom dressed me inthe girly color wheel but i still have everything leather that i’ve always known within my closet so it’s a equal mix but it’s my mix! the current person i look up to for style is Princess Catherine. She’s still everything that a biker’s wife is expected to be just with more color and a different world view point. I was born into the bikers way of lie she was married in that alone doesn’t matter to me she’s still a incredible person that i’ve found fits what i missed growing up. For me that was Church I wasn’t ever a church kid but in my younger years oddly enough in my i guess emo timeline a popular boy actually liked that version of me.. i didn’t know or realize it then *i think i missed it up somehow* he asked me out in of all places my joy place art class and i kind of turned him down but like the breakfast club i said would still want me tomorrow? the boy didn’t have a answer for me** I learned years later in my 20’s from my twin brother that he had a crush at the time.. i found out it was just at the time and probably didn’t least.. but for me he wasn’t upfront about it like the outcoast character was always attacking the popular girl. that was what i was looking for and i honestly still look for that strong confident type of guy today because that’s how my people are. if you’re a kid from today i have simple advice, first listen the adults giving you advice that’s helpful and good it’s for your safety! second stay yourself in school! there’s more to learn that you can’t relearn afterwards! third HAVE FUN WITH IT ALL Enjoy your time in school! once you’re grown you have high expectations that most kids don’t have put on them. PLEASE stay young people as long as you can!!! Fourth GRADUATE just because a friend has to stay back a year doesn’t mean you have to! if you’re friends are jumping off a bridge are joining them ?? cause in today’s time that HURTS it’s mnot just a hospital visit either! Just please don’t listen the evil shoulder listen to the good shoulder talking it’s words may hurt but it’s for a reason!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🫂
The whole point of her character is that she is not honest. Not with the other characters, and not with herself. Now, whether she's more or less honest after the makeover is up for debate.
@@ericstoverink6579 Yeah, an obviously fruitless debate. In this world it is often better to cover the Queen or King of Hearts with the Ace of Spades. A black dress emphasizes her sadness over not being accepted and possibly bullied when showing her true INNER self openly. But you are right, both outfits just represent a hypostasis and maybe reflection of her current state of mind & soul, so it is not really about honesty. But I still prefer her former style. By the way I am not a fan of "My Fair Lady" and I for myself more prefer being respected & accepted as a rebellious "black sheep" than being "transformed" outwardly and possibly "assimilated" into the "white sheep herd". When does society finally learn to not judge a book by its cover? ;)
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2) So this video DEFINITELY could've been a lot longer but it's also the kind of premise for a video that I think should stay concise. I only loosely alluded to the implication that Allison "should" have to be attractive to Andrew and whatever people deemed "attractive" at the time...when she shouldn't have to. Suddenly getting with him after the transformation does carry those sort of connotations although, to be fair, it doesn't seem that was the direct intention behind the makeover. Also there is a certain irony that I think what bothers some people most about the makeover, isn't the idea Allison should conform to what will attract men, but the idea that they simply find the original Allison more attractive...which is then kind of the same thing, isn't it? "Allison should dress the way I think she looks best." Nope! She should dress however the hell she personally wants to.
3) You'll have to excuse the editing glitches. I've had so much copyright trouble with this video that everything else fell away slightly.
4) I tend to feel uncomfortable calling Allison "weird" when, really, I don't think she is. I guess it depends how you define weird. I use it more here because it keeps things brief and because that's exactly how it's all seen in the 80's, probably especially amongst kids who can be quite judgemental and lacking in curiosity. The character was written to represent "the weird ones" at school. Realistically, it'd be odd to chalk people off as "weird" like that but in terms of the film, it's what she's intended to represent. I'm not sure what the point is I was making here, I've forgotten
5) I suppose on the point of "weirdness" I get a lot of comments suggesting Allison is autistic. I did actually talk about this in the recording but edited it out because it was long winded and not totally relevant to the video. My opinion is this: it's certainly very plausible. I think if this movie was made today, the shots of the counsellor's office that are meant to represent Allison, would have hints of the counsellor considering that about her, rather than just doing a Rorschach test. I also quite like the idea of a film back in the 80s that would have an autistic character without having to make a big thing out of it. HOWEVER she also might not be. Accurately diagnosing someone is never as straight forward as we can sometimes imagine. The amount of teachers or parents I've known who have insisted whatever child is autistic or has ADHD (it's normally one of those two) when it turns out that they don't, when there are other possibilities. Sometimes I've loosely offered ideas of diagnoses in some of my videos but I always regret doing so. Not just because I might be wrong, there are a tonne of reasons it makes me uneasy and it's something I very much intend to devote a video to.
6) I'm also tempted to redo my Allison analysis one day. It talks very little about neglect, and more gets caught up in the stricter arc of the film: "kid who represents weirdness gets to break free and become one of the group" rather than truly looking at all the aspects of her character that go beyond that. I think it's why that video ends up sounding like it says all her weirdness is an act, when it's not. There are many motivations I just do not to discuss because the video is too concise and probably also because it was my first character analysis ever and I didn't quite know what I was doing in making the video. It's still a video I'm proud of, don't get me wrong... I just know I could do a lot better.
I would rather date her in the before mode. She was better looking IMO.
And I know this is just a movie but, in real life this girl is mentally ill and a little makeup would not fix that.
Andy clearly liked Allison from the get go, since they appeared to be bonding long before the makeover even happened. Most notably, he points out that he likes being able to see her face, not "You look better than before", or "You don't look weird now." He had no reason to believe that she even reciprocated his feelings until she approached him, and he likely wouldn't have even cared had she got back to her previous look.
This!
Good point!!
EXACTLY! He was digging on her from the moment she said, "HA!" When they went to get the drinks, he used reverse psychology by pointing at Claire to go with him, so Vernon picked Allison instead. Andy was the one who got her to spill her guts about her home life. The new look was just a bonus.
But, these no way he's act on it the next day if she shows up back to school with her prior look. Andrew doesn't have the fortitude to go against peer pressure and social norms.
It shows growth for Allison socially. She learns she can change if she wants, she doesn’t have to be outcasted and she can blend in with the rest of the Claires and that’s powerful to know about herself. She has something she wasn’t always aware of until she bonded with the others and with Claire. Claire genuinely validates her and this is also good for Claire but that’s a separate topic.
Alison's chief complaint about her parents is that they ignore her. She is not used to other people taking care of her, so she has to take care of herself. She can only count on herself. Alison is so used to taking care of herself that she may not know, in her core, that it's okay to let someone else take care of her.
When Claire makes her over, she is showing care to Alison in the way that she knows how to. Claire probably does make up with other girls, and other girls do her make up too. And Alison lets her!
It's a beautiful moment, the two girls sharing this time, one caring for the other, and the other letting her, bonding. I think they may continue their friendship.
Along this same line, I've always thought that Alison just didn't have the same knowledge and experience making herself up. Her parents ignored her, so it is reasonable to believe that her mother never really showed her how to do her makeup so Alison just "brute forced" it as best she could. I think @mylittlethoughttree is spot on with the idea that many of the people who dislike the makeover, do so because that is the aesthetic that they prefer. And that's fine if they do. But I don't think John Hughes intention was to say, "you just need to conform to be beautiful." People who believe that seemed to have missed the whole thesis of the movie.
💗
I try to think of the makeover scene less in the conformity-related interpretation and more in the opening-up context. The blouse she was wearing at the end, she was presumably underneath the layers the whole film. Claire most likely didn't bring an entire extra blouse to detention. That's still Allison's. To me, it looked like the makeup notably was "tidied up" instead of being completely wiped away altogether. (Though that might just be a coincidence of the makeup department on film, lol. ) Physically pealing back layers to see the deeper sides of Allison than the exterior, literally and figuratively. The defense mechanisms are still a part of her and not strictly facade, but there is more than that alone. It's not about conformity, it's about getting to the next layers of Allison!
(I saw TBC in '85; I was a senior in high school at the time) I agree; I've always thought the blouse or camisole belonged to Allison; it's a lightweight article of clothing that one might wear on its own, in the summer. On March 24th near Chicago, Illinois, a person is likely going to wear at least a sweater over such an article of clothing. When the kids arrive for detention, it's overcast outside; it's probably chilly, possibly downright cold, probably some precipitation happening through the day, possibly even snow flurries. Spring had officially sprung, but spring weather doesn't always happen immediately. Her layers were appropriate for the time of year, though they gave a "dark vibe." Her lightweight blouse is just one layer, and realistically for late March near Chicago, not a layer to wear alone. 🥶
As I recognized in '85, and another posted in this thread, Claire doing Allison's makeup is something girls did with each other as a form of bonding and acceptance; we did each other's hair, too; some girls knew more than others, or had better skills, and we learned from each other, and explored different looks with each other- sometimes it was silly, sometimes it was, wow, that's cool!
@@dawnkindnesscountsmost5991 love the real life insight Dawn ❤️
That's pretty much how I interpret it. Much like how I didn't consider myself goth when I was in school, I didn't consider her goth either. At the time I dressed to conceal, and in the decade since my wardrobe has become an amalgamation of the many aspects that make up who I am. In many ways since first watching it as a child and into adulthood I have related to her. It is easy to stereotype based off of what a person wears, and dismiss or tease when one experiments outside of their norm.
As for Claire, I also agree that she probably didn't. Although even if she had I think it would still have made sense. While she may not have changed in appearance she did "shed" parts of herself when extending an olive branch. She gave a makeover to Alison and an earring to her love interest (can't remember his name at the moment and am to lazy to look it up).
I agree with that interpretation, but also suggest that the conformity isn't separate from it. That opening and unlayering is available through conformity exclusively, apparently. It may not have been intentional on the part of the movie makers. It could be an implicit bias that came out in the structure of the plot. Claire could've just as easily asked Allison how to look darker and be more like Bender instead of trying to make Allison more like herself. But that was not an acceptable option (to her, or the film makers, possibly both). Allison and Bender are both pulled towards conformity by Claire in similar ways to indicate their acceptance.
@@altrocks true true. Not sure about Bender in comparison to Allison with the level of wanting to comform to allowing others push them towards conforming. At least with Allison the level of feeling comfortable to wanting to seemed there naturally. At the end of the movie she rips the patch off of the lettlerman jacket.
I always got the impression that Allison was hiding under her concealing makeup and clothing, as a means to get people to notice her, but not approach. The problem is that her "Dark" aesthetic is more relatable than her "Light" look, and even Ally Sheedy thinks that the pastels were too much.
Have to agree. In many ways as a teen I related very much to the Allison character. Had the makeover been more subtle, perhaps no hair bow for example but still having her hair no longer covering her face, it would have worked better.
Something interesting my mom said about this topic was that the way she saw it, Allison did want a makeover like that and just never had a friend that would do it for her, not out of conformism or fitting in but out of loneliness
On your recommendation I watched the deleted scenes and what they left out were quite a lot of interactions between Claire and Alison. And there's even a scene where Claire says that she finds Allison cool. I think it was a sweet bonding moment between the two girls.
Despite all of her faults, Allison has one thing Claire doesn't, which is the freedom to make her own choices without caring what her peers think. I think this (among other reasons, such as the examples of abusive love she experiences in her own household) is why her about-face with Bender at the end of the film doesn't come as a surprise
I find Allison and Claire as two sides of the same coin, Claire’s family gives her attention, albeit extremely toxic attention, while Allison’s parents completely ignore her, yet supposedly care enough about her to send her to therapy (I think her lie about her shrink is a half truth as she has a confirmed diagnosis of compulsive lying). Both think about running away as seen in the film but Allison is already ready to commit to the action, yet Claire is too scared to leave behind everything that makes her special, her clique and her reputation. I think they start recognizing themselves in each other which leads to the makeover.
As a former Emo kid, I think this is spot on. I had so many body and trust issues in high school, and for me PERSONALLY, it was much easier to make it obvious with my clothes that I didn't want to be known than it was to actually open up about the real issues. As an adult in my mid 30s, I still love combat boots and black, but I've had so much fun trying on new looks every few years. Life is better now that I'm not putting myself in a box.
As a former Goth kid, this is spot on! :)
@@G_Nono7777 Try to not wish the worst on Goth Metal people tho because they never looked to me like assholes. Especially the band Eleine
I think the makeover would have worked better if Allison had stolen the makeup from Claire first, since she stole something from all of the other characters: Bender's knife and padlock, Brian's wallet, and Andy's wrestling patch. We never see her steal anything from Claire, so taking the makeup and getting a makeover from Claire because of it makes sense.
I disagree. Allison's other thefts make a lot more sense. For example, she steals Bender's knife to keep him from using it. She steals Andrews patch to signify their connection. Why would she steal Claire's makeup? Even stealing Brian's wallet was Allison being true to Allison but if Allison was going to steal something from Claire, it wouldn't be her makeup. It might be her necklace or some other piece of jewelry or maybe even her boots, but not her makeup.
Then again, after discovering that Allison stole her boots, Claire giving Allison her boots to keep and then giving her a makeover, that would have been a tremendous improvement, especially if then Claire wore Allison's boots home.
@@theunintelligentlydesigned4931She doesn’t steal Claire’s boots? I think you confused Allison carrying her sneakers out of the school for Claire’s boots, she walks out on her bare tights once everyone goes home.
If you look closely she is gifted Claire’s lace scarf that’s now used as Allison’s headscarf, so Allison technically did take something from Claire but instead of stealing it, it was given to her.
In my opinion this was two-sided, Claire finally becomes generous enough to give something to someone instead of staying conceited/materialistic (she does the same thing with Bender and gives him her diamond earring) and Allison is given something willingly by someone for possibly the first time in her life and it’s so sweet.
@@chrysrubio1024 I didn't say she stole Claire's boots. I was making a hypothetical, "If she stole Claire's boots..."
I don’t think the message of this film is them exploring themselves, but allowing each other to explore them. They begin seeing each other as cliches, but by the end they see the fully formed individuals. Allison’s makeover isn’t just symbolic of her peeling back layers to reveal who’s underneath, it’s symbolic of all of them. Andrew seeing her is symbolic of how they have all been able to now see each other. In my opinion, this movie is perfect and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
This is the absolute best take on this controversy. As a young woman who used to be very much like Allison and am now much more comfortable without my "armor", this is how I always saw her transformation, and it saddens me that a lot of people act like her arc is "conformity". That's NOT it. She's not hiding herself anymore, she's willing to connect and be vulnerable, just like you said, which is SO healthy. I love this "makeover reveal" moment for her. Andy isn't like "woah, you're actually hot, I had no idea" -- he's like "Woah, I was already falling for who you are, and now I can see that you're even more beautiful than I thought you were." That's precious.
I always saw it this way too. I always believed Allison when she said her therapist abused her. In my head, that always explained why she wore such big clothes, to hide her body like some abuse survivors do. It can be a big step to wear something more revealing - to finally remove the armor.
Oh my God, that is a great point! I wish Claire had taken a bit from Allison at the makeover scene as well, that would have been fabulous! Could have been pretty natural too. Maybe Allison didn't want to carry all of her layers home in her arms so Claire took a few items with her to relieve that load.
"Why are you being so nice to me right now?"
"Cause you're letting me."
Doesn't that exchange kinda say it all? Isn't it more important than the makeover?
You just make me think of a very interesting aspect of this. Alison's question wasn't "Why are you trying to change me?" or "Why don't you think I look pretty without this?" Her question was "Why are you being nice to me?" If Alison didn't really want to change or want the care being shown to her, would she thought of it as being nice?
@@mrbigbillyb8475 Yes exactly, and Claire's reply is significant as well, that before they had connected and Allison allowed Claire this chance, it could not have happened. What they are doing together is not as important as the beginning of the friendship which had the potential to overcome the magnetism of the clicks they belonged to.
As opposed to keeping others away, deliberately “weird” behaviors can also reflect a desperate desire for attention that the individual feels he/she cannot obtain by conventional means. I am not a particularly pretty woman, but I can be funny. Of course, my use of humor serves many functions and arose from disparate needs and developmental experiences, but I can also use it as a means to stand out a little (since me merely sashaying by won’t do it). I got the impression that Allison was in need of interpersonal attention she was not receiving at home, but didn’t know how to make herself conventionally appealing to her peers. Her idiosyncrasies served to get her recognized (she exists!), and while not quite as good as admiration, being “the odd one” was still better than total social invisibility. I also note that after Andy kisses her in the parking lot, Ally Sheedy does a little excited shimmy. Allison is still Allison. She lacks Claire’s capacity for icy social self-control. And that, I do think, is a good thing.
I thought that it was great. It showed that both Alison and Claire were willing to break down barriers. It was very heartwarming. Actually I liked Alison before and after the makeover. I dont think Alison thought she needed an external makeover. As much as she could use an internal makeover which in certain ways that psychology was. I thought that it was sweet of Claire to do it and it was sweet of Alison to not be spiteful and to let her. All in all that was a positive message in my mind.❤
I think a big part of the “transformation” that you’re missing is that it’s also as simple as teen girls giving each other a makeover. It’s something that has probably been a huge part of Claire’s life, and probably the first time Allison has ever done that. It’s her first glimpse into the world of female friendship (possibly ever), a window to a place she’s never been invited.
It’s not really a transformation. It’s a teen makeover, which in this instance is possibly MORE impactful and important.
I started high-school a couple years after this came out. I was a less-conforming Andrew. The girls I was typically interested in were the Allisons, but, if they didn't know me, assumed I was just a big, muscled-up idiot. We sometimes use a person's appearance as an excuse not to know them. "They don't fit the mould of what a person like me is supposed to like."
03:30 ... when the movie came out, everyone in my school love Allison's character (and all us guys fell in "love" with Ally Sheedy after watching this movie). Yes, she was beautiful after the makeover, but we loved the weird girl Allison.
There were girls like Allison IRL in the 80s who were all "Mod" in black or just grungy wearing the same clothes through the week. Then the next year they "bloomed" into a fashionable flower and instantly became popular instead of "the girl nobody knows her name". They've seen her in their class, but never gotten to know who they were... then at the start of junior year, this "new" remade girl shows up at school and it's her. She's had a major makeover and is now the most adored girl at school.
Looking back in the 80s, no jock would be seen with original Allison, but the made-over Allison would be the one who the jocks fought over.
Nah....she just looks 'normal' or typical - after the makeover....the 'goth' look she uses because she is ignored so might as well be invisible. She likes the makeover - there's no sign at the end of the move that she will back to the old look. A deleted scene, she says 'she likes it' and is pleased after looking in the mirror. Andy takes notice and says she's beautiful. She's no longer ignored. Ppl are mistakenly saying she's now 'selling out' and 'superficial' now. That isn't true. There's just more effort now and maybe that is how she really feels inside now that she is getting at least some attention from others. Whether her parents pay attention remains to be seen but now she has attention from her peers. The change just represents a metamorphosis in being more open and inviting ppl in (instead of trying so hard but is really shut down with the dark look being a metaphor).
Okay! So... I'm one of those who hated/(kinda still hates tbh tho I agree with you) the idea of Allison changing her looks because:
A- I hated the implication that she was only attractive after she changed.
B- I still think she looks cooler before (obviously if she was a real person that would be unimportant and she should do whatever she wanted).
C- When I first watched this movie I was a little emo girl who was constantly told I would look better if I dressed more normal, and her changing her looks and everybody looking at her astonished or whatever felt like... ugh you know? Mostly because I was 13/14 years old and people were talking to me in terms of "being atractive" when I was still pretty much a child and was really uncomfortable in a body that was suddenly very mature-looking. I think I projected a lot of my experience in Allison when I first watched this movie and the initial dislike towards that plot point hasn't ever faded idk
Well you're not wrong, that's what's fun about it, there are definitely both good and bad factors. I'm not sure if it's intended or not but it does all come with this connotation that Allison "should" dress the way people find attractive...which isn't a great message. Overall, I still like the idea but it's certainly not perfect execution
Whenever someone says a movie makeover transformation is meant to be read symbolically I flinch a bit. Even in less literally visual media, like novels, the makeover is, by definition, literal, physical and visual -- unless the entire character has so little human reality and agency that she is herself more symbol, more object--than reality. That's why it's hard to get along with these kinds of scenes. Because there are a million ways to show a change; but we always get the most literal and visual with women and it gets a visual reaction that happens from being looked at.
Being put-together really can help people and there are ways to show that in movies, but how often do we see a female character go more gender-neutral, more androgenus or more "blendy" and less striking and and have that work for her? I can tell you I know people in the real world who have found themselves that way. Even as someone who like draumatic dressing and feminine get-up, both more gender-neutral, casual get-up and less splashy clothing is indispensable to specific important situations and mental waystations in my life. This is a bit weird to write because I also love to watch movies FOR fashion, so it's a tough one that the movies that tend to produce the best fashion also do a disservice to the beautiful nuance what people in their real bodies and clothes and skins do.
Two thoughts
1. They should’ve done without the headband/bow in her hair. I think just the pink top, light makeup, and neatened hair would’ve been enough. And some people would hate it less.
2. They should’ve included the “he won’t laugh” and the hug.
God, that bow, I've always hated that.
Who hasn't tried something new and leaned too hard into it, or made a mistake and overcorrected? Like the video says, they've not reached their final form, just taken a few steps along a path they maybe didn't expect to take when they woke up that morning.
Everyone wore hair bows in the 80s. By 80s standards that’s a very restrained version of that look, like she’s just trying it out.
Oh man, the headband/bow was a CRUCIAL part of that outfit in the ‘80s. It would have been incomplete without the bow.
Allison will always be my favorite character. She wanted to fit in but did not know how, being a teenager is difficult. She was accepted by the prom queen and handsome jock... they helped her while her family ignores her. She was afraid to show herself but the popular kids accept her before the makeover, nobody knows who they are in high school.
I disagree that she wanted to fit in and didn't know how. Allison goes out of her way to not fit in. A person who wants to fit in doesn't make dandruff showers in full view of their peers. I think she is a person who simply doesn't fit in, and her reaction to the rejection is to lean in as an act of rebellion, like "you want to see a weirdo, I'll show you a weirdo" and becoming a caricature of what people already think of her so she feels she has control over that perception. Also, her parents ignore her, so her whole presentation of herself as "screaming for help" is a way to make it so people are unable to notice her, even if that's in a negative way, it's still recognition. I don't think she specifically wants the acceptance of jocks and prom queens, she just wants to be accepted by SOMEONE. Andrew shows attention to Allison before she begins acting like she wants it. Andrew is drawn to her because he is so obsessed with fitting in, the person who goes the opposite way is intriguing, something in him wants to be like that. I see Allison as responding to his interest, not as a desire to be more like him, but just an appreciation of feeling seen by someone. The "makeover" isn't done for his benefit, but as an opportunity to bond with another girl, his noticing her more is a consequence of the makeover, but not necessarily the goal.
@@moonlily1 Allison didn't stop Claire in the makeover scene, this is her coming out she sees herself finally.
@@mrnosaj71 I would say that perhaps having her hair in her face and wearing excess layers of clothing is symbolic of her putting boundaries between herself and other people and not wanting to make her vulnerable, and also preferring negative attention to none at all. The makeover is supposed to symbolize removing the protective layers and letting people in. I don't think it's meant to tell us the "real" Allison is pink and preppy. She isn't. I think she'll alllow herself to be seen more, literally and figuratively, going forward, but she'll still be a dark person drawn to weird things.
@@moonlily1 I agree, this is a side of herself she is trying on, just to see what happens. Classic teenage experimentation it will not define her however this is a new page turned in her life that she was not expecting. The beauty of self is the many unknown layers we unwrap as we go.
I've always felt like a male version of Allison crossed with Brian. Instead of ignoring me, my dad abused me. But my behaviour was the same as hers. It was very passive-aggressive. I'd try so hard, while being incredibly socially awkward, to make friends, only to push them away. There were too many things about my life that I was ashamed of. I wasn't allowed to go to parties or make friends, so I would make sure I never came close, and when the kids reacted the way you'd expect, it broke me.
I'm so sorry to hear about your tough time in school. I hope that you're in a better place emotionally now.
You're not alone, dude. I relate to a lot of the things you said. I tell myself to look forward and try not to dwell so much on the past, which you can't change now. I know it's easier said than done - I fail at it often enough.
@@tharin4400 30, 40, even 50 years on, some memories still hurt, others make me cringe, but I'd like to go on...forward, that is. I have a lot of blessings in my life today...or at least feel as if I do.
I can relate to being a male version of Brian and Allison too. I'm very sorry for what you had to endure, you didn't deserve to deal with all of that.
I remember watching an interview where Ally Sheedy explained that she herself had mixed feelings about the makeover because it would imply that Alison wasn't beautiful to begin with. So they took a different approach. Instead of glamming her up (e.g., Sandy in Grease), they stripped away the things that were keeping her hidden: the dark makeup, the hair in her face, and the layers of clothing. Effectively, the makeover symbolizes Alison's willingness to reveal more of herself, to be vulnerable. She's no longer cowering in the corner and yelling for Andy to "go away". Instead, she's the one approaching him and basically saying "here I am"
I always liked this scene, it's very sweet. The best makeover scenes are the ones where the person being made over learns a new way to express who they really are.
Wow if that is who she really is, then the makeover didn't just make her less attractive physically, then it made her personality less attractive too. Now the makeover is even more depressing than I thought it was. I'm not unique in any way, actually I am just as bland as every other girl! How is that not depressing?
@@randomgrinnthere's literally no drastic personality change other than her becoming more confident tho... and u can feel however u want abt the makeover, but being traditionally feminine in appearance doesn't automatically make you "bland" and shallow esp from a modern perspective where many teens dress the way allison did most of the movie
I really appreciate your point towards the end- I've had many phases in my youth, I'm probably still going through them haha, and I don't regret any one of them even though I don't relate to them anymore. Because each one meant something to me at that time, each one helped me explore a piece of my identity, an idea, a way of breaking out of the norm or a way of conforming more, the way each made me feel. And from each one a small piece has stayed, each phase has left a mark on who I am. Now I feel comfortable, knowing I probably won't like what I like in a few years, but that doesn't matter. It doesn't mean I am 'faking it', being a 'poser' or an 'imposter' as my brain often tells me- because it was and it is true to me in the moment and that's the only thing that matters. And each time we change something, we become more comfortable in ourselves, allowing broader ideas enter our identity, later deciding wetger they're right for us just as this character might not dress fully in pink and white but perhaps allowing herself to play with who she is, wants to be/become and so on
thank you for making this cuz it always kinda bothered me when people talked about how much they hated her makeover cuz i think both are cool and important to her character
Allison isn't weird because she wants to be different. She's different because she can't be like everyone else. It isn't a choice it's a sentence. She wants all the stuff Clair is/has.
We morn the loss of her individuality but she wanted to be accepted and to have a group of friends.
Isolation is a sad way to spend a life. Even sadder when you are just a kid.
I've always had a complicated relationship with the makeover, personally. I first saw the scene as an Alison-lite teenage girl in the 90s with scruffy dark-brown hair and a habit of wearing oversized clothing. (In my case, I did it mostly for comfort and a little so people would stop commenting on my chest all the time.) I loved wearing black tops because they made my dark hair and hazel eyes stand out from my pale face. I always viewed the pink top as a downgrade because it made Alison look less dramatic and made me feel invalidated. (And I always wondered why Claire had a brown eyeliner pencil dark enough for Alison. It would have looked awful on Claire!) I would have loved to see Alison in a black blouse, or maybe a jewel tone.
The only part of the makeover that made sense to me as a kid was "Because you're letting me." It can be hard, as a kid forced into too much self-reliance, to accept care from others. It took me a long time to feel secure enough to let other people have the pleasure of helping me, or even understand that they really enjoyed it. I was impressed that Alison managed that.
I think a huge part of this discussion is also how the costumes work as subtext and how we as the audience are picking up on that. Since the makeover outfit is all pastel pink- AKA Claire’s color that the movie has taught us to associate with unquestionably conforming to mainstream pressures- it feels like that’s the direction is heading in. If the top had been a different color or even if she had tossed the scarf back on or something, it would probably read less like her becoming like Claire at the beginning and more like the experimentation and opening up that was intended.
its a GOOOOOD morning when its a thought tree video
She was so cute before her makeover! Her hair was so cute. I just want to hang out with her all day.
I knew that girl in HS. Maybe a half dozen like her. I thought the film depicted her in a better light than the real deal. So, I imagined it would have been more controversial or heavy if she was rougher or more odd (like the reality I was familiar with-the dandruff being the only real hint that she was meant to be weirder than beautiful and stylishly dark Ally here in the film). So, I thought in the '80s that the makeover was her taking a chance on seeing herself outside of how she'd positioned herself-as the thing her parents rejected. Some of the girls I knew in HS were way more attractive than I could tell they thought. And that made me wish they knew, especially if the reason they were down and distant was because of it. Made me wish I'd been a better friend. But I was fairly Brian-ish and awkward myself.
"Kids are free to explore" That's the theme of the movie.
On difficulties in trying to figure out Allison is that we know a lot more about the parents, home life, and school life of all of the other characters. We can look at Bender, or Claire, or the others and see how their parents affect who they are, but the only thing we know about Allison is that she feels ignored at home. But what exactly does this mean? Has she had mental health issues in the past and her parents have "given up" on her? Are they mentally abusive? After watching Breakfast Club several times, I can easily picture the future character arc of most of the characters, but Allison is difficult in this regard because there's not much there to build on. Is she a good student? What is she interested in outside school? Does she have a friend group at school, or does she feel ignored there as well? Without a wider context, it's really difficult to assess the makeover from her point of view.
In todays world, she'd be a LGTBQ character. Her interactions with Claire are about discovering her bisexuality, not conforming, her newfound desire to be attractive to other women as well as men. Which would be difficult to navogate in the 80s, to survive in a homophobic world. This film was made when AIDS was reaching pandamic proportions, without being acknowledged by the gov't or larger public, or this film. Sorry if this sounds "woke" to you, but it perfectly fits in, doesnt it?
@@squirlmy I would agree completely based on people I've know very well in my own life.
I think she still acts the same way after the makeover! She still makes some noises while Claire does her makeup, she does a face at Brian before whispering thank you when he smiled and she steals Andrew's badge from his jacket. She is still Allison but you can see more of her face. Also you see Andrew give her plenty of awkward glaces showing he is attracted to her appearance and personality becoming the closest to her before the makeover. I think he was happy to see more of her face and her metaphorically opening up more to connections. She does ask him what do you think so of course he would respond with you're beautiful.
I also wish the makeover didn't show her as conforming being best for her. I would've made more of Claire playing with her hair and putting up to see Allison's face while Allison could still wear a black or grey top and eyeliner. And I like the idea of Allison maybe putting some eyeliner on Claire to show them learning about each other. And Andrew could say "you look beautiful, I think you always did" or something equally sweet and cringey
Allison reminded me of my son's friend. She was 13, dressed in black, her hair hung down over her right eye, she talked about societal ills, and loved to either say nothing or something shocking. We didn't see her for a few months. Then she showed up at our door a new girl! Hair pulled back, big smile, dressed in some color, enthusiastic, and busy with notebooks. She dumped her bag on the dining room table and spirals fell out. She told us that she has discovered something amazing! Classical music! She can't get enough! She is learning biographies of composers, piano, clarinet, guitar, and composition along with music theory! She showed me the spirals were FULL of notes she has taken on Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Beethoven. She was ebullient and joyful! I pulled out our Leonard Bernstein videos for young people. She absorbed them like a sponge! My theory is that society pushes anti-everything so much that when you break free and enjoy the verboten beauty, faith, goodness; then joy is the natural result.
Lovely story thank you!
I personally don’t have a problem if TBC’s Allison Reynolds wants to experiment with different looks. It’s just that the framing/execution could’ve been better in allowing her to genuinely explore different facets of her identity. (I know because I kind of see myself in Allison.)
I was so much like Allison in high school that to this day my dad claims I look like Ally Sheedy. (I don't.)
My take had never been that the makeover would be a permanent look for Allison, or even that that was what Claire intended.
For me the point was to show Allison that other options were open to her. Options not only in how she looked, but more importantly in how she saw herself. Her identity as the basket case was represented more in how she dressed than the other characters. Yes, the others wore character appropriate clothes. But everyone else was dressed in clothes that pretty much everyone wore versions of. I think a lot of people could identify with more than one character at different times because of that.
But only weird kids identify with Allison. I actually dressed more like a female Brian, which made me as invisible everywhere as Allison felt at home. Allison looked how we felt, even if we didn't dress like her.
So I always thought it was more about showing Allison that she's beautiful, and that the people who can see her will see that she's beautiful inside and out. Even if her parents never show her that.
In my head cannon, Allison doesn't change her look on Monday, but she does soften it. She still wears the black shit, but she starts wearing her hair less in her face sometimes.
I was 19 when I saw this in the theaters and to be honest, I didn't think much of her make-over. I like her all goth. And it's not that I was into that back then, but she wore it well.
I always thought it was symbolic and metaphoric for the entire movie.
Thank, you, this is very much in line with what i was thinking about the film earlier this week, that allison’s makeover would have landed more solidly if the film had done more to give claire some sort of corresponding transformation-not necessarily going completely emo, but something in the text that demonstrates a more explicit moment of growth for her, and some visual cue that shows her relaxing that princess persona.
I was thinking, for instance, what might have happened if claire started out wearing some sort of metal hair band-not in a way that implies she needs it, but almost like it’s a tiara. Then, as the makeover comes to and end, she could use it for its practical purpose, pulling allison’s hair out of her eyes, while claire’s hair gets visibly more dressed down by its removal-an indication that while allison is trying out a more conventionally put together style, claire is exploring a more relaxed, less polished look. I think allison’s story arc, while compelling, could be a lot more compelling if the film engaged with claire in a more nuanced manner, so that allison wasn’t quite so much the standard bearer for every girl who’s visibly not a prom queen.
Sadly, in our world appearance matters. It would be great if it didn't. But it does. It's the same now as it was in 1984. Since Alison has been ignored by her family, her mom probably never taught her about cosmetics, clothes, etc. Andy doesn't give Alison a traditional "make over." She just encourages her to put her "best foot forward" - to stop hiding her pretty face under heavy, dark make-up. While STILL a basket case, Alison will get more POSITIVE ATTENTION (and more dates!) with her "new" upbeat look.
The scene between Claire & Allison is more about bonding & trust. It's a very intimate experience to let someone touch your hair & face, for most girls it first happens between mothers & daughters or maybe an older sister. Makeup, doing each other's hair & clothes (shopping or sharing) are all pretty typical female social bonding rituals between friends, especially teens/tweens who are trying to figure out who they are. I always thought the main theme of this film was exploring/ breaking down the rigid social heirarchies of high school that we all must break free of eventually.
I agree completely with saying that Alison should be free to experiment and not be kept in either box of being a basket case or needing to be more put together. I remember how in middle school I was very goth (full out with the makeup and the leather), but going into highschool and about to graduate, I don't really dress that way, and sure I incorporate alternative elements from that part of my experimenting. Looking back that did mean something to me to dress that way, and dressing how I do now means just as much to me. With the makeover Alison looked more open and comfortable when she wore the more "normal" clothes than she did dressing alternatively. I think as much as some people liked her not fitting in, it could've felt really good for her to fit in even if it was just for that moment.
I had a lot of similarities to Allison when I was growing up and got compared to her often in high school. For me, at least, I never saw Allison's behavior as a fear of conformity. It's a fear of rejection. Even though we don't learn very much about her home life, she's clearly someone with a rich inner world and an amazing talent for art, it's just totally unappreciated by the people around her. People don't see her for her talent or creativity, they just see her as 'weird' - so the obvious solution (at least to me back then) is to lean into that stereotype. If people rejected me for being 'weird', well, at least they weren't rejecting me for something that would actually hurt to be judged for.
And once she feels like she isn't in danger of rejection, that's when she lets the makeover happen. If Claire had offered at the start of the film, she would have never allowed it.
However, I will say that I don't like the makeover for the simple reason that it's shown as a catalyst for Allison getting together with the jock. She's still the same girl from the beginning of the film, and her behavior isn't going to do a 180 just because she changed clothes. It was sort of annoying to me that all she had to do was look 'normal' and then her behavior/personality quirks were suddenly tolerable to him. Like, real talk, is she just going to show up at school on Monday wearing pink and natural makeup again, without Claire's help? Probably not. Will he still be okay with being seen with her then? We'll never know. I had very low expectations for the durability of that relationship.
I've always loved this movie, and I love hearing your thoughts on it. So glad you revisited it! :)
I don't really know what to make of the makeup scene these days. When I first saw the movie back when it came out, I hated the thought that Allison could only be acceptable if she conformed, but I loved the scene as a bonding moment between the two girls, and that Allison finally had someone paying attention to her without her having to act crazy to get attention. Claire was paying attention to her for a totally different reason - she liked her. In the 80's, girls doing each other's hair and makeup was just something we did. It was a form of social acceptance. It wasn't about trying to change each other, but rather saying we're in the same group now. We're the same. So I liked the scene for that reason. It's complicated, I guess. Lol
The makeover in breakfast club makes me think of the makeover that Stokely gets in The Faculty.
I was an alt/goth girl and also a lesbian and remember being so upset that Stokely all of a sudden goes from goth to wearing lavender and dating the football player. Funny thing was too that the actress (Clea Duvall) ending up being gay irl. Which was great to hear about as an adult but when her character ended up conforming in the movie it bummed me out as a teen. I saw myself in her until the end of the movie and just ended up feeling crappy about it.
God I love your channel's intro!
The train arriving at this station in the middle of nowhere, stationed right in the waters... that has so many Studio Ghibli vibes that it is impossible not to fall in love with it.
Consider the logical progression for Alison: she has a guy she's forming a bond with. She has a friend in the form of Claire. Even Brian is moved to amazement by her transformation. It's safe to say Bender is an ear she can bend. In the span of the film, she's been handed a fairly useful support structure.
Even if she arrives at school dressed as always, she could be forgiven if she has a spring in her step. Andrew might say something about her appearance, but most likely, he'd brush her hair out of her face and smile. Besides, Andrew is more vulnerable than she is. In that sense, she can protect him with her eccentricities. She's accustomed to living in a bubble on her own. It makes sense Andrew would find solace with her because she can close out the surroundings. Also notice the lack of judgment between them. It would be poetic to say they dated, married, and lived happily ever after. But it would be enough if they dated and survived to remake their lives on their own terms.
I'll grant you, Claire and Bender surviving to a mature relationship is much less likely than Alison and Andrew. I imagine them growing together lagely because they have many of the same crossroads ahead of them.
It does make me wonder if reviving these characters for a sequel would serve any purpose. "The Dinner Club" just sounds bloated and self-serving right away. Brian the writer. Claire the senator. Bender the lawyer. Andrew the broker. Alison the artist.
THIS! Makes me wish Emilio Estevez could/would write and direct that theoretical sequel because he easily could; I think he understands the characters well enough and he's a great director, but I also know it'll never happen.
I like how your chat is similar to a group therapy session, but perhaps more polite. We all see ourselves in one or more of the characters. We all see things that we don't like. Things we would like to put make-up over, perhaps more in a psychological way than a physical way. Even if we are old, we hope to still be growing.
Makeover and character change is always interesting. I alwaysfound the film Grease really disturbing given the transformation message that film gives by the end
She should've transformed into a Gothic Queen.
I always took the makeover as being Clair opening up, not Alison. Clir is the one who is closed to the rest of the group and by the time she gives Alison the makeover she has advanced to being open to others.
I like to think that if Allison was a real person out there in the world today, she would have healthy connections with people who love and respect her, and she would finally be seen in the way she needed to be seen as a teenager.
I think part of the issue was that Allison wasn’t coded as alternative enough. We see that she could be some variation of Goth or alternative, but the movies decision is to make her a “basket case”. Which is just a depressed mopey person, not a girl that probably listens to the Cure after school. What was interesting when she was perusing over the Prince album (I assume is hers), which was provocative then, but still super mainstream. So to me the makeover wasn’t offensive, it was just a bonding moment. And it was symbolic of Allison shedding layers and coming to the fore with more authenticity. The film seemingly says that she was rendering herself invisible, masking herself behind layers. Because tho she is the alternative girl here, she’s not alternative in the way we understand it in 1985. She’s just a depressed moody teen who with connection would probably dress differently.
Watch the deleted scenes to find out where she got that Prince record
You know what, everyone seems to hate this scene but nobody seems to realize that Claire didn’t give Allison anything aside from the makeup. Those are her clothes and accessories she either had in her bag or was already wearing. Everyone is hating on Allison for being herself because they liked her tortured look better. You’re putting Allison in the same box everyone else at school put her in. That’s what this scene represents, Allison expressing herself in a different way that’s still a part of her identity since she brought all of those things with her… and everyone hates it because it’s not what they want her to look like.
I thought the bow in Allison's hair was Claire's silk scarf from the beginning of the movie, like Claire giving pieces of herself to Allison and Bender at the end to say they'd still be friends. I thought the shirt Allison wore at the end was just under her clothing the entire time, but that bow felt subtly special. The main thing was getting to finally see her face with her hair pulled back. It felt like finally getting to SEE Allison for the first time.
@@Sarappreciates I believe you may be right about that actually! Good eye! 😃
This movie's perspective isn't outdated, as you said. It was very much a reflection of highschool in the eighties. There might be tropes or ideas that seem outdated, but you can find their counterparts in every generation's highschool experience. Loved the video and your commentary!
I was the "basket case" in high school. I'm still a basket case in my 60s. It wasn't a trope, it's me. I get your argument but, though I liked the movie, I was really sad that the popular kids got their way by re-making Alison in their image. Especially since Claire flat out admitted she would snub her and Brian afterward.
Great video as always. I always feel like I’m alone in arguing that the makeunder that Allison gets has some good qualities.
The EXTERIOR CHANGE is symbolic of the INTERIOR CHANGE. Nor Allison alone in this regard, and the differences can be subtle. Brian wears sunglasses while smoking and at the end of detention, he walks out in a white shirt, not the green sweater. Also at the end of detention, Bender is given an earring from Claire. Now instead of two earrings, Claire has one. Andy leaves the building without his blue hoodie, and he loses his State Champion patch (because Allison rips it off).
In short, I agree that Allison's "make over" might have been a bit much, but the IDEA of the change was a very good one.
I first saw the movie at 12 during my full on emo phase and definitely felt... awkward... about her transformation at the least. Even watching it as i got older and started finding my own personal style, it bugged me. But i really love this. Its such a great read of the situation and definitely makes more sense for what the director was going for.
I think this video nails the broadstrokes of the truth. When the video started I worried maybe you would go down th path of, 'oh its wrong that she had a makeover' etc. but the truth is much more nuanced. Its all the things you said and more, and depending on the day, also less. People are ever changing, they're perspectives ever shifting. And ,like you say, this is a 92 minute film from the 80s that has to visually show something symbolic. Its fine to critique, of course, but there are just natural limitations to the medium.
The slacker look suited her better. But the point is that she gets to explore new things. I would guess a character like that would eventually settle on a middle ground (most people do).
I wrote about this for a history course. I agree with all your takes; I was surprised that you touched on so many interpretations. I think Alison did change a lot but it wasn’t the explicit layer shedding that we saw in makeover. I think there’s a lot to be read into her character as well (I looked briefly at each of them in my paper). Given that Hughes was pretty much creating this genre of film as he made these, I think he explored youth very deeply, thoughtfully and did a pretty good job.
I hope you make a video theorising on what happens to the five main characters on Monday (and beyond into their adult lives). Curious to know your thoughts.
Alison will always be my favorite BC character and this scene is so underrated and booed as anti-feminist moment.
These two girls show each other so much, and this is a lovely moment.
I was an Allison in high school (in the 80s as well) and in many ways still am. I also relate to Brian as well. But to me Allison let Claire care about her and in that she let her care for herself. Showing Andy is the want for acceptance that even we basket cases feel. I let my weird flag fly my whole life and it can be isolating. But it also attracted other weirds. But I won’t be changed and even a little care from a Claire will not change who I am.
I grew up watching this movie all through high school. Never really examined it this deeply until finding your channel. Love your videos. Thank you!
Thanks to that original video on Allison, which was the first video on this channel I watched last week, I watched the Breakfast Club for the first time. It was great, thank you. I think there's a lack of movie analysis today.
All your vids are so well done- this one is very much appreciated! Thank you😊
This transformation is tragic: Alison’s surface appearance changes but her personality and behaviors do not. This attempt to remold her into conformity by Andy & Claire is destined to fail. Because it is exterior only. And while it does represent a willingness by Alison to reveal more of her vulnerability and to connect with people, she is still a square peg navigating a round world - the classic introvert trying to pass in an extrovert world. It won’t last and she will likely regret not staying true to herself. Heck, the film makes clear that Andy is falling for her anyway. It is cowardice to think that she needs to be conventionally pretty for Andy to risk being seen with her on Monday. I find that to be a cop-out honestly.
SPOT ON!
Any video with Allie as Allison is a good video!
I think Claire is being genuine. She’s doing the make over because Alison is allowing her in the way a lure knows how. Alison is very vulnerable and open now. All new and raw. Andy saw a glimpse and Alison gave the rest of the visual. I like how’s she still weird (stealing his patch).
There’s also this commonly experienced aspect of girlhood where being less feminine or a tomboy is accepted until around puberty. Then suddenly adults begin pressuring girls to be more feminine and equate that with maturity/growing up. To the kid, it feels like whiplash. When they were 9, nobody had a problem with how they dressed and played. Suddenly around 12, it’s seen as a bad thing and childish. By the time high school hits, the pressure amps up way more
I think it was her stopping hiding and pushing people away there not too much difference she was always beautiful just no longer hiding her face....as andrew says lol
The part that so many miss with Allison's makeover is that they fail to keep in mind that this is a movie. In reality, people don't transform that quickly. If a girl were to transform that quickly, it would come across as a severe mental problem. But keeping in mind that this is a movie, the writer and director needed to symbolically show how she evolved. The others were easier to show their transformation. With Allison, as alluded to in this video, underneath all that weirdness was a girl who wanted to be like the other girls. But due to her family, she got started on the wrong foot which lead to her basket case persona.
Yeah irl I'd assume she just wanted to be liked and didn't stick to her guns about who she was haha I never thought of that.
Good point to keep in mind that it's a movie and dramatized, but maybe we come from different cultures. Somebody in high school changing their hairstyle and top isn't seen as a mental problem, it's usual, expected, banal. Folks even change substantive things without much reaction. I also kinda doubt she wants to exactly "be like the other girls"... few people want that, no matter how well adjusted.
Ha, that's actually a. Problem I have with all the Breakfast Club videos Little Thought Tree has done! I think unlike him, and I assume most commenters, I am the age of the characters in the film when it came out, I didn't see it as a "classic", I think I waited for it to be on cable, I skipped it in the theaters, didn't want to pay the fees to rent it, or ask my parents to rent it, on VHS (really dating myself here), there certainly wasn't an internet to talk about it. For me it has always been a Hollywood bubblegum production. We could talk about it purely as a script with barely touching on the character's psychology. I watch these really as an insight into the psychology of later generations watching it in entirely different contexts. Does anyone here remember the rating from Siskle and Ebert? lol. How 'bout the fact AIDS was clearly a plague at this point and neither this nor any major film at the time made any mention of it. At my high school at the time there was serious fear and misinformation every single day. In this film, nothing. I'm being a little unfair, but mostly what I saw in BC is how different it was from my mid-80s experience.
The point was that she was always that girl underneath. There was no transformation. And I have seen many girls transformed overnight and it never meant that they had a mental issue. Are you serious? She didn't change immediately because she didn't need to change. She was already that girl. Get the f*** out of here with your mental issues.
As a child of the 1980s, I want to say that at that time there was a widespread (mis)understanding that heavy makeup and bulky dark clothing like that meant Allison was "hiding" her "true" self. Girls were expected to be less dark, less awkward. As someone who didn't know much about makeup and hair, I identified with her a lot. My sister was much more like Claire, and she sometimes gave me little makeovers like in the movie, and it's VERY RELATABLE if you were this age when this movie was made.
The mystery Monday "what if's" are one of my favourite parts about this movie.
My leaning is toward your position. I didn't think Allison was all of the sudden abandoning who she is, but rather adding another facet to her persona. We really don't know what is going to happen the next day let along the next hour. Toward the end of the movie, it was merely pointing them in a particular direction, but this does not mean they have to follow that direction. Living is often not that simple. Like you said, she could easily revert back to what she's more used to. If per chance Allison continued to see Andrew, I would hope (since all we can really do) Andrew would not expect the make-over/transformation to be permanent. It seems, like you pointed out, that Andrew and Allison already started to make a connection based on a common experience--being ignored by their respective parents. So the make-over was not the start of the connection, but just a continuation/building of the connection. It is curious that some people expect the end of the movie to be setting of people's trajectories in stone, but usually it is only set in sand. I never personally thought of it as a transformation. My picture of it is more along the lines of the one time my mom and sister went out years ago to get glamor shots, but the pictures they got of that did not automatically dictate their life afterward--having to be all glamorous all the time. I thought Allison would continue to dress as she had since she really did not need to prove anything to anyone else. On the other hand, now she knows she can be spruced up, per se, and it is not a threat to herself.
People trying to judge this makeover from a 2020's feminism type of perspective just don't get it or the point of this. She was the shy, quiet, weird girl and that was her high school "type cast" so she kind of just stayed that way. She never wanted to show off or highlight her good looks because she had lower self esteem from parents who ignored her. And many people in high school just get labeled with a persona and stick with it.
I think if Andrew introduced her as his new girlfriend on Monday and she looked like that many students would probably think she was new at school because nobody really knew her in the first place. It's not about doing a "makeover" or that there is one definition of beauty it's about high school students not wanting or being afraid to break out of their typecast or mold.
Agreed....she feels ignored but the self esteem is probably pretty low.... she does weird things to get noticed since she feels so alone.
The thing that really gets me is, Andrew gets with her at the end. Not the person who saw her and spoke to her on the same level the whole movie.... But the guy who attacked and spoke down to her
It's so weird that everyone takes the makeover completely wrong.
Her original look was her armor.
She and all the other kids slowly shed their coats and opened up to each other but for someone like Allison, those extra layers were a shield, and her hair covered quite a bit of her face and Andy mainly focused on that, he's able to see all of her face now.
Who gives a fuck about the bow on her head being ugly, it's on her head to keep her hair out of her face, in a sense she's not hiding herself anymore. Allison wants to be seen but at the time she wants others to stay away, she finally felt comfortable enough to let them get close (especially Andy).
Claire literally just took off her smudged eyeliner around her eyes and brushed her eyebrows, that's it. There's no crazy make-up involved, Claire wanted Allison to feel good about herself, not change herself, there's a difference. Makeovers in real life compared to movies are different, but this makeover gets taken way too seriously
Like it's cool you liked her original look, but her "make over" is a visual representation of her transformation as a closed off person to someone whose able to let people in.
Aww, the bow in Allison's hair at the end was Claire's silk scarf from the beginning of the movie. They're gonna stay friends if Claire ever wants her scarf back. Same thing with the earring she gave to Bender. Claire was giving pieces of herself to them as a commitment that they'd remain close. I was a child of the 80s, and Allison's makeover was viewed much like you describe. Her armor, covering up her true self was kind of a big message back then.
Also, her biggest complaint was being ignored - by both parents and her peers - i.e. other students. After the makeover - it was well received and that will reinforce her coming out of her shell and at least, she's not ignored by other students now. Andy helped the most - and was the one who didn't judge her even though he did at first, thought she was weird at lunch but that was it. He listened and wanted to interact with her and she wasn't used to it. The change in appearance was a metaphor for opening up, trying something different, letting someone else help (Claire, Andy) and finally feeling like she didn't have to go all out acting weird to obtain some attention.
The thing about makeup is you can take it off. It's a look that can be embraced if desired. She desired it, she wanted to be "pretty", she deliberately pushed being repulsive as a defense but she wanted a boyfriend, she wanted closeness, and maybe she really did wish she was the princess instead of the wicked witch.
And if she decides the next day not to wear it, that's fine. But I see it as her character arc. She doesn't want to be what she is, but she doesn't know how to change. She's stuck in a personality disorder. It's destructive and potentially lethal. She has fantasies of running away, that could result in her hooked on heroin and dying of aids.
And I knew a dude who reminds me of her, and he ended up that way, and it took him years to get out of it. He's fine now - but it was a close call.
Another friend didn't make it.
Thanks for the new video! Hope to see an ASOIAF video from you soon 😊
Much as I hate the makeover trope, I think you're right. She acted like a toddler and it got her alienated like she thought she wanted, but when Claire finally looked right at her she saw the real her.
And actually it's not anything unusual for girls to give each other hair dos, or makeups. I wasn't much into those, but my older sister liked playing with my her (hair iron, curls) or gave me twice during Christmas break makeover and 'photoshoot'. My friend while in high school wanted to sell so clothes so she did my makeup and we did photos. And afterwards I was just coming back to be me. As the point in the video Claire just likes doing make up and to be honest giving it is totally natural, so the point of Alison trying to connect though it makes total sense
I think a simple line from Andy would've helped saying there was nothing wrong with the way she looked before.
He never stated he found her pretty because of the makeover. What made him happy was he could finally see her. He and Allison had a bond before that and it's subtle, but throughout the film both steal looks or give shy smiles. They share several scenes in which both reveal themselves to one another-but not necessarily to the rest of the group. And Andrew is sensitive to her and intuitive enough to grasp that her dumping out her bag wasn't just for show. That short scene between them when she finally feels safe enough with a person to say her truth"they ignore me" is by far one of the best scenes between two characters in the movie. Andrew isn't suddenly in love with Allison because of the makeover. He already was attracted to her, and I think for multitude of reasons-she is free with herself, and he isn't, I think he admires that about her. His reaction when she comes out of the room 'made over' is all about her being brave, too. She lets him see her-HER! Not her hair in her face and her hood pulled over her head, not the piles of black and smudged eyes-gone temporarily, at least, is her way of hiding. And he delights in that. While it's doubtful Bender and Claire will continue in a relationship (partly because she gives him her earring as a reminder of their playdate) but we can imagine Andrew and Allison staying together. And yes, she does take his wrestling patch, but he has given her his hoodie. A good excuse to meet up again. And when she walks away as his dad drives away Andrew never takes his eyes off of her and in fact waves to her with a smile on his face. I'm telling you, those two, even if a romance doesn't continue, I do see them staying connected.
Yin...? Or was it Yang...?
I like Brian's response, his mouth hanging open.
While it is a product of its time, i think the transformation scene isn't as bad or odd as people think it is.
Intentionally out-casting yourself, isn't good. It doesn't lead to a happy life usually. (Oh and btw, through my teenage years I had my emo phase, that i never really grew out of, i still wear my band tees and rock out to slipknot)
But do i think i'd have been happier, if i wasn't so different at that age? Absolutely. Do i think assimilation to your environment is an important skill to learn, not just socially, but culturally? Absolutely.
And that's how i see the makeover scene. Allison intentionally wears clothing and does things that set her apart from other people, and allowing the other girl (her name escapes me) to give her a makeover is a big step in trust, and willingness to come back into the fold of what is 'normal' isn't a bad thing.
It sounds SO odd for me to hear you refer to yourself now as "a Therapist." I mean yes, you ARE a Therapist, but I've been a fan of and following your channel since the earlier Good Will Hunting analysis episodes (specifically episode 3) and I've just gotten SO USED to hearing you refer to yourself as "a Counselor." I mean yes, basically they ARE the same thing and in the end whatever term you use doesn't really matter, but I do agree with what you said around when first starting the channel that the term "Counselor" sounds more grounded and down to earth than "Therapist." Random thing to bring up but I just wanted to say that.
BTW even though this extra analysis on Allison was NOT necessary, I loved it and appreciate you going back to fill in the blanks of what you missed in the original video. Keep up the great work!!
That's very true, I suppose I simplified it because therapist is the more well known term but counsellor is still the one I prefer, it is more grounded
Cool theory. But if she decides to ahow back up to school in black theres no doubt Andrew wont talk to her because he cannot go against peer pressure.
Precisely. Even if she stays glammed up, the minute she speaks or acts “weird,” Andrew’s jock friends will mock her and their relationship will be toast. Andy is demonstrably weak to that kind of peer pressure or he wouldn’t have horrendously bullied that kid to get detention.
she looked better before the makeover as a Goth girl I always thought.
I suppose for the time the way she dressed wasn't considered beautiful just a weirdo. But she was always beautiful she didn't need the makeover.
When I first saw the movie, I didn't know much about Ally Sheedy, couldn't remember what she looked or sounded like. All I knew was that she was playing a character who looked the way she did, and that was enough for me. I've been a fan of hers ever since, although it was hard to sit through some of the movies she did after this one, like Blue City or Maid to Order...Uh...why?
This was such a good one!
Thank you so much for this video!😊😊 ya I saw some commentor who wished she stayed the same too. Speaking from my personal experience, i was very socially awkward, i didn’t understand trends n etiquette or fashion. I just wore tshirts n ghetto pants, had no clue about make up. So i was learning who i was but also trying to learn how to express myself. The costume n clothes designers for this movie used their outfits to symbolize their emotional growth and healing. Allison was one way a first at first, almost at a lost herself to know how to find help. She struggles opening up to the other characters. The moment with claire and her together, its very symbolic of a milestone she was able to overcome. As she was able to connect with her true self, be comfortable to be herself-seen by the others, then to personally interact one on one with claire. And the moment of two girls bonding. --its (i dont know how to properly describe it-), girls bonding with other female friends is something that all girls need. But she was void of that until now. It honest showed her growth, to allow that to happen. And i get ppl hate her new look, i agree but also dont agree. I used to wear dull n muted colors all the time. I didnt understand how to express myself in feminism ways. I would be utterly clueless to teach the claires in my life anything. I dont think it was necessary that allison try to make claire look like herself. I dont think it matched with claires character growth--her opening up to Bender was more fitting. Wheb i stsrted wearing more fashion n stylish clothes or make up--i didnt completely stop wearing black at all. I go back to the intense make up sometimes. Tho friends say my face matches better with softer colors. Her new clothes was symbolic of a rebirth for sure, i agree. Of who she fully was on the inside, very soft, sensitive and allowing herself to be vulnerable with ppl she built a bond with. I think the right solution was to give her a different type of make over, that could be symbolic of rebirth, but match her face more😂 or something i dont know😂
At the age of those characters you would expect them to be trying on new personas. The current criticisms are valid only in that Allison seems to be the only character doing so.
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Allison i think in a current remaking of this film would’ve been a emo / goth
I relate with her and the prom queen two ways
I was will always be a bikers child i can’t to change it and i wouldn’t want too!
i honestly with age have falling out of the all black and into the girly most inn part of myself!
I am in my mind gojng back to a very early time in my life where my mom dressed me inthe girly color wheel but i still have everything leather that i’ve always known within my closet so it’s a equal mix but it’s my mix!
the current person i look up to for style is Princess Catherine.
She’s still everything that a biker’s wife is expected to be just with more color and a different world view point.
I was born into the bikers way of lie she was married in that alone doesn’t matter to me she’s still a incredible person that i’ve found fits what i missed growing up. For me that was Church I wasn’t ever a church kid but in my younger years oddly enough in my i guess emo timeline a popular boy actually liked that version of me.. i didn’t know or realize it then *i think i missed it up somehow* he asked me out in of all places my joy place art class and i kind of turned him down but like the breakfast club i said would still want me tomorrow? the boy didn’t have a answer for me**
I learned years later in my 20’s from my twin brother that he had a crush at the time.. i found out it was just at the time and probably didn’t least..
but for me he wasn’t upfront about it like the outcoast character was always attacking the popular girl. that was what i was looking for and i honestly still look for that strong confident type of guy today because that’s how my people are.
if you’re a kid from today i have simple advice, first listen the adults giving you advice that’s helpful and good it’s for your safety! second stay yourself in school! there’s more to learn that you can’t relearn afterwards! third HAVE FUN WITH IT ALL Enjoy your time in school! once you’re grown you have high expectations that most kids don’t have put on them. PLEASE stay young people as long as you can!!!
Fourth GRADUATE just because a friend has to stay back a year doesn’t mean you have to!
if you’re friends are jumping off a bridge are joining them ?? cause in today’s time that HURTS it’s mnot just a hospital visit either! Just please don’t listen the evil shoulder listen to the good shoulder talking it’s words may hurt but it’s for a reason!!!
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I like her more before the makeup. So much more exclusive & original ;)
The whole point of her character is that she is not honest. Not with the other characters, and not with herself. Now, whether she's more or less honest after the makeover is up for debate.
@@ericstoverink6579
Yeah, an obviously fruitless debate.
In this world it is often better to cover the Queen or King of Hearts with the Ace of Spades. A black dress emphasizes her sadness over not being accepted and possibly bullied when showing her true INNER self openly. But you are right, both outfits just represent a hypostasis and maybe reflection of her current state of mind & soul, so it is not really about honesty. But I still prefer her former style. By the way I am not a fan of "My Fair Lady" and I for myself more prefer being respected & accepted as a rebellious "black sheep" than being "transformed" outwardly and possibly "assimilated" into the "white sheep herd".
When does society finally learn to not judge a book by its cover? ;)