"They are quite aware of what they're going through."

From a discussion going on about how John Hughes shaped a generation.  I disagree, but elaborate (somewhat):

Look at how teenagers were represented in film before this: they were always selfish brats unaware of the 'gift' given to them of an unmarked and bright future. They were always stupid and in need of a condescending adult to lead them by the nose into Adulthood. All of their concerns were stomped out or brushed aside and had to be set on the Correct Path no matter what. They were essentially emotional cyphers who didn't understand The Real World and were reminded of that fact constantly so they were dependent on an older (and hence wiser) person to guide them.

Hughes understood that was bullshiat. Teenagers are fiercely independent people who are figuring out the world. As the quote goes, 'they are quite aware what they're going through.' It's a daunting thing: they're damned by adults because adults see what they were like and often play Time Traveller in trying to 'correct' those things without taking into account how insulting it is to be told how to live by someone who claims to have known you your entire life yet is unable to grasp the changes in your psyche that make you quite different. On top of that, you're filled with all these horror stories that are told to you as instructions instead of reasoning with you. You're an adult but a child when it comes to adults talking down to you and combining this with a reach for independence and the adults' own regret creates nothing but stress. On top of that, you are expected to know exactly what you want to do in life and focus solely on that in the four short years at high school and be content in that. Not to mention learn how to work, interact with people correctly, and deal with all the social pressures like that.

Hughes understood that. You can see all of these at play in The Breakfast Club, and that's why it works so well. The comedy is a bit outdated (like the fashions), but you can see a microcosm of life that speaks true for a lot of us. You can see the adults trying to live their lives again through their children. You can see how authority comes from repressing one's own sense of doubt and retarding one's sense of growth. You can see how teenagers, aware of the world they're being pushed into, are frightened of living their life outside of the confines of their current lives because the adults in authority in their lives have never escaped that mentality. They're still hanging around the school, as a worker or a parent, stuck in the same sad holding pattern of American life: too afraid to strike out on your own but horrified of staying and becoming one of them.

Did Hughes shape a generation? No, because if he did we would probably have a better understanding of the insanity of the American way of life and the repression and regrets that shape it much more than it should. But what he did do is show that teenagers aren't just hormonal brats. They're dealing with a world they're seeing for the first time, and it's a very dark one full of pitfalls and authority figures that know just as much as they do. The illusion of adulthood is shown for its first time and the pressures to 'be somebody' are running up the lack of experience that all teenagers have. Hughes showcased it well, and while he didn't shape a generation, he at least gave cinema a reason to treat teenagers as human beings instead of retarded children usurpers of the Baby Boomer generation.