Hughes wrote and directed “The Breakfast Club,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” and “Pretty in Pink”—defining 1980s teenage cinema. He took teenagers seriously. Their problems mattered. Their feelings were real. Adults were often obstacles. His movies captured the specific pain of high school: social hierarchies, first love, parental pressure, the desperate need to fit in while figuring out who you are. He wrote fast—some screenplays in days—channeling authentic adolescent emotion into stories that made teens feel seen and understood.
