
Anyway, the farther away I get from high school the more I appreciate the movie. At the time it was all so serious and so hard. I don't think I ever really fit in anywhere. I certainly wasn't athletic, was not confident enough or pretty enough to be a cheerleader, too afraid of the authorities-that-be to do anything really bad. I did get very good grades but never went out for any clubs or anything. I guess I was kind of invisible. I remember a few other students who were like that also, but we never became friends. I really was a loner and never really did have any close friends. Not as drastic as Allison in the movie, but a loner and alone just the same, ignored as she said. I do remember a girl in school who was like Allison. Different and shunned, strange and distant. I wish I knew then what I know now and could say to her, it's going to be ok, you are valuable. But I was afraid and kept my head down in the hallways and bolted right after classes. Too afraid to reach out or let anyone reach me. One of the lines in the movie that really stands out is when Claire is giving Allison a makeover. Allison asks why Claire is being so nice to her and Claire's answer is, "because you're letting me".
Somewhere deep down we are all afraid. We are all broken. We are all hurting. As the jock in the movie, Andrew says, "All of us are bizarre, some of us are just better at hiding it." We all want to know we belong. Deep down we all have that desire to fit in somewhere. We all want to know that somebody loves us.
I don't know that I ever really knew that back then. Home life was a wreck. The only thing I knew about 'love' was to give myself away to anyone who would have me so I would feel wanted, at least for a little while. I felt I had no value, no worth so drinking and drugs became a way to kill those thoughts; again, at least for a little while.
I never found true worth until I found the One who truly loved me, warts and all. I felt like the woman in the bible caught in adultery. The religious leaders bring her before Jesus, probably only half dressed. Their plan is to shame her. And she stands there with her head down the whole time. It is only when Jesus says to her "Woman, where are your accusers?", that she realizes they are gone. Or to look at it another way, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, so who are we to accuse anyone? We all are lost until we are found. We all lack in some way until we meet the One who fills every void. All we have to do is believe. Believe He is the Son of God. Believe that He was born of virgin, lived a sinless life, died on cross for our sins and rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. Let's see, my sin and shame and worthlessness on one side of the scale and Jesus on the other with His love and righteousness waiting for me. Easy choice.
At the end of the movie Brian is talked into writing the essay for all of them. He says, "You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But we found out that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, and a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club".
Yes we are all those things. Broken, hurt, arrogant, lonely, afraid, combative. We are all the Breakfast Club. But Jesus came to not only serve us breakfast, but to prepare us a feast. All we have to do is accept the invitation.
So people can see us as they want to see us. But because of the blood of Christ, we are not just a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal - we were also redeemed.