The Breakfast Club Analysis by Freya Baker https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti INVESTIGATION- CONFORMITY en-us 2018-05-23 01:06:56 UTC 2026-02-03 14:53:24 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Brightnessdown.png Breakfast Plot Summary fbaker5 https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/262878579 Five high school students from different aspects of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-loving, selfish principal- Mr Vernon . The disparate group includes rebel John (Bender), princess Claire , outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same. The group learns more about each other in a day than they ever have before.(IMDb, 2018)  

]]> 2018-05-23 01:09:51 UTC https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/262878579 Stanley Milgram's theory of obedience- fbaker5 https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/262879579 In the movie all of the kids, except Bender, follows the instructions of the principal. However, when the absence of authority is around the kids start to question their decisions. This highlights Stanley Milgram's experiment that questioned obedience. With the authoritative figure in the room the kids found it easier to listen to his instructions however without the stigma of Vernon in the room the kids found it easier to rebel. This supports Milgram's theory about obedience. 

In this scene below it is clear that most of the children respect Mr Vernon and understand his power. Contrastingly, Bender from the beginning is disrespectful and rude which is an indicator of the character he plays. When Mr Vernon says "you may not talk, you will not move from these seats" Brain slowly moves back to his original seat which shows the amount of obedience he has towards Vernon (0.47 seconds) 

This amount of respect and obedience changes drastically throughout the movie showing how the lack of authority (when Vernon leaves the room) impacts the young people. It is this lack of authority that makes the the children rebel and join Bender's attitude and outlook. 

]]> 2018-05-23 01:15:43 UTC https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/262879579 Philip Zimbardo's theory of aggression fbaker5 https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/262880838 The viewers from the beginning know the stereotypical role of the kids involved but do not know their personal stories. Over the duration of the movie, Mr Vernon makes fun of Bender and results in Vernon openly threatening Bender. This highlights Zimbardo's experiment and how "people aren't evil, power given to them makes them evil" Mr Vernon exercises his power over Bender and gives him eight detentions in a duration of a couple of minutes just because Bender talks back to him. Vernon also deindividualizes all of the children as his "goal" was to stay at home on a Saturday and the kids detentions stopped him from reaching this goal. 

It is clear in this clip below that the aggression Mr Vernon has towards Bender develops quickly as the frustration Bender has originally plus the environmental cue of Mr Vernon equals his aggression towards not only the principal but the other students. ]]> 2018-05-23 01:22:51 UTC https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/262880838 Proposal fbaker5 https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/262881321 The Breakfast club is a great example of how social norms and behaviour affect the behaviour and mental processes of children growing up in high school. The Breakfast Club is a great example displaying the themes like; coming of age, friendship, social hierarchy and identity. This movie will relate to different theorists such as Zimbardo, Milgram and Erikson's stages of development. ]]> 2018-05-23 01:25:54 UTC https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/262881321 Bibliography fbaker5 https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/263822160 1. IMDb. (2018). The Breakfast Club (1985). [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/plotsummary [Accessed 27 May 2018].
2. YouTube. (2018). Don't Mess With the Bull - The Breakfast Club (1/8) Movie CLIP (1985) HD. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2WZrxuwDhs [Accessed 27 May 2018].
3. YouTube. (2018). Eat My Shorts - The Breakfast Club (3/8) Movie CLIP (1985) HD. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTeYncx1xmI [Accessed 27 May 2018].
4. YouTube. (2018). Breakfast Club Confession Circle. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml0zRkknbWo [Accessed 29 May 2018].
5. McLeod, S. (2018). Stanford Prison Experiment | Simply Psychology. [online] Simplypsychology.org. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html [Accessed 29 May 2018].
]]> 2018-05-27 00:43:23 UTC https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/263822160 Solomon Asch's theory of conformity- fbaker5 https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/264194668 The transformation of characters throughout the movie is huge especially for Brain and Andrew. When first introduced to these particular characters they are alluded to as rigid, fixed, hard working, know-it-all types of people. This scene in particulars highlights the changes that Bender has influenced them in particular. I think originally the children are conforming to benders attitude in order to not get bullied or picked on from the dominating character. 

This scene displays excellently the way that Bender has an effect on the kids and how the kids understand each other better throughout. Conformity is a big part of this film as it helps exhibit and exaggerate the social stereotypes that these kids are labelled as. ]]> 2018-05-29 09:40:10 UTC https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/264194668 Stanford Prison experiment- fbaker5 https://padlet.com/fbaker5/kps2e84nu7ti/wish/264402907 To study the roles people play in prison situations, Zimbardo converted a basement of the Stanford University building into a mock holding prison. He advertised asking for volunteers to participate in a study of the psychological effects of prison life,


More than 70 applicants answered the ad and were given diagnostic interviews and personality tests to eliminate candidates with psychological problems, medical disabilities, or a history of crime or drug abuse. The study comprised 24 male college students (chosen from 75 volunteers) who were paid $15 per day to take part in the experiment.

Some of the participants were told that they were to become the 'guards' and to watch the other 'prisoners'. Slowly Zimbardo saw that the experimental results showed that the guards started to become more physically aggressive and violent towards the prisoners. The experiment had to be stopped early due to the violent nature the men in charge took on over the prisoners. 

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