John Hughes Was a Legend

The reason John Hughes captured America's heart is because he could delve into the melting pot of a changing environment and pull out gems of minutiae that kept us entertained for hours. He was able to tap into the angst that affected teenagers of a time where so much was uncertain and everything felt so finite. Life for a teenager is usually just like that, finite. When I was a teenager, my world was ending hourly.

While the Illinois suburbs were often the scenes for many of his tales, it didn't matter your geographic placement — it touched the shy girl in California, the outcast in Brooklyn, the aggressive athlete in Florida, the brooding socialite in Texas; we all felt his influence and could quote those influences like no other.

While so many Michael Jackson songs were rotated by the thousands in the wake of his death nearly seven weeks ago, you can only guess that many will be reliving the days when they first discovered the power of John Hughes. He was awesome, I've seen every movie he's written and/or directed more than 10 times and they never stop resonating.

My first brush of Hughes' great lore was in 1984. It came in the form of a story of a man recently laid off from his job. His wife goes back to the job force and he's left to tend to his three bewildered children as he tries to balance his manhood with his domesticity — as well as the sexual advances of a neighbor. The movie was Mr. Mom and even at 4, I knew what the comedic and societal impact was. Women were moving into the workforce, bringing home the bacon and cooking it. Meanwhile men were found juggling some of the roles that were considered the status quo for women.

This was one of his most seminal writing efforts and the second of his back to back hits of 1983 after Vacation. It was not unlike my parents' routines during our family's two-year stint living in Los Angeles from 1984 to 1986. My father took care of my then 18-month-old sister while I, at age 4, was the brawn behind the operation. I was right by his side as he took the day shift from my mom while she taught ESL and he shifted his work schedule to the evening to manage his "girls." I cleaned our rooms, washed dishes and he taught me to vacuum and make eggs. Heavy load for a toddler yes, but it was more fun with Dad. I saw life through innocent eyes and it looked very similar to what Mr. Hughes was presenting. It was simply the changing fabric of America and the idiosyncrasies of the new nuclear family. All his films seemed to examine one of these elements: Taking the next step while savoring the last, the monotony and the beauty of sibling rivalry, first love and first heartbreak, the annoyance of travel, the annoyance of parents and the pain of death and birth.

He was not striving to be Brian DePalma, Oliver Stone or Steven Spielberg. He carved a niche that felt safe and resonated during a period of economic and political uncertainty. If you were born in the mid-70s or early 80s, you know his films well, and while Hughes became slightly reclusive towards the end of his life, it didn't matter, his movies spoke and will continue to speak for him and our generation for many years to come.