Goodbye John Hughes

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller

As you may or may not know, the renowned director John Hughes died last week from a heart attack. He was 59. Of course he is not a household name among kids anymore, but in the 80s he was the shit. The one director who could correctly channel teen stories into movies. They were funny, harsh, riveting, touching and sweet. Hughes had made some of my most memorable and beloved memories. I think the same can be said by a great many other people.

He knew the material to a T. The way teens think. The different social classes that exist within a high school world. The angst and frustrations, the hopes and dreams. He obviously never forgot about it and when he had the opportunity he presented as realistic as it must have been for him. We all know rebels like John Bender, the lovable rule breakers like Ferris Bueller, the insecure maturing girls like Sam Baker, and even the whiny child masterminds like Kevin Macallister...Okay maybe not that last one but the rest we knew.

In my opinion great filmmakers don't sell out with every movie by giving the audience lame and unoriginal plots but try to convey some kind of edge to their movies. John Hughes tried to convey everyday feelings and emotions we all experience. Home Alone was advertised as a movie about a deserted kid fighting robbers by impractical means, but really it's about not taking your family for granted. Ferris Bueller's Day Off was not just a movie about a few kids ditching school and getting into some wild antics in the big city, it was about repressed people facing fears; Ferris was never repressed was afraid of nothing but Cameron was always repressed and totally feared his father. If messages like these can slip past or even overshadow the seat filler aspect of the story than I think that's the mark of a great filmmaker.

He will be missed. As a man who brought warmth and heart to great films, up and coming filmmakers will no doubt be inspired by his movies as much as any other filmmaker. His movies were not entirely about fictional stories but about life. About the points in many peoples' lives.

This has been a farewell from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for Reading.