The Enduring - and Misunderstood - Legacy of John Hughes

In no uncertain terms, John Hughes has had a greater impact on contemporary film than any other Chicago filmmaker. Hughes burst onto the film scene with his directorial debut Sixteen Candles, a smash hit that launched several film careers, including that of Molly Ringwald. Over the back half of the 1980’s Hughes directed or contributed to five more teen films that changed the landscape of comedy film heading into the 90’s, including the cultural landmark films Breakfast Club, Weird Science, and Ferris Buller’s Day Off. These three titles, along with Sixteen Candles, would already cement a legacy as a Hollywood legend, but Hughes continued to work on films, primarily as a writer and producer, throughout the 90’s.

Hughes doesn’t have the most visually distinct style of cinematography or composition, usually making up for those shortcomings shooting on location in an area he loved: the greater Chicagoland area. Hughes’s greatest strength was undoubtably his scenario, dialogue, and character writing. This has proven, in no uncertain terms, to be his most enduring legacy. His archetypal portraits of the teenager are still used by writers crafting similar scenarios nearly forty years later, while his rough around the edges dialogue still resonates a sense of earnestness and reality. As Teenagers creator Mathew Murray said in an interview with Chris Clay: “I loved how (1980s film icon) John Hughes wrote teens. They were flawed in this genuine sort of way.” Hughes refused to write sparkling clean paragons of virtue and success, even when his focus shifted off teenagers. His work with John Candy in the late 80’s and early 90’s exemplifies this; using Candy’s exuberance, expressiveness, and likeability to lure in an audience before showing the raw, flawed character underneath.

For all the homages, influence, and Hollywood mythology attributed to Hughes, the man wasn’t complex from a creative standpoint. He loved Chicago, its buildings, its streets, and its people. He did what writers and filmmakers should do: tell human stories with a lot of heart and more than a few laughs. That’s what sticks out most in the endless glut of claims that Hughes influenced someone’s work, like this article that pays lip service to Hughes’s influence on Tom Watts during the production of Spider-Man: Homecoming. There is a claim of “channeling John Hughes”, but what does that mean? It’s inspired by Hughes because there’s some teenagers running around cracking some jokes? There’s a visual homage to Bueller? Influence from his films comes down to writing, earnest and honest writing, not a few winks and nods.