John Bender (character)
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John Bender is a character from John Hughes' 1985 film The Breakfast Club. Played by Judd Nelson, he is the stereotypical bad boy--long hair, leather boots, biting sarcasm and a serious attitude problem. He was supposedly sent to detention for pulling the fire alarm on purpose, only it's never made absolutely certain why he's there and the movie makes it pretty clear that it isn't unusual for him to be there.
Many people think that he is given the best lines of the film. His most remembered moment is when he replies "Eat My Shorts", a line that would become synomous with Bart Simpson years later. His rebel attitude was an inspiration for the above mentioned Bart and Futurama's Bender.[citation needed]
More so than any of the other characters, he provides the catalyst for the group's path toward solidarity and self-discovery; there are several instances in which he gets one of the others to admit to something they don't want to simply by badgering it out of them, and he has a peculiarly sporadic sort of wisdom. He often defies the figures of authority around him, usually coming back with a defiant remark, such as when the principal asks if there are any questions, Bender responds "Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?"
He is in many ways a contradiction; he threatens and verbally abuses the other four students, yet defends one of them — Allison (Ally Sheedy) — from the wrath of Principal Vernon (Paul Gleason). He talks the others into sneaking out of the library where they have detention, but when they are about to be caught, he causes a distraction to allow the others to escape. And at one point, in a characteristically offbeat expression of goodwill, he shares his stash of marijuana with the other four.
According to him his father is a severly abusive alcoholic. During the film he reenacts a fight between his father and mother ("Shut up, bitch! Go fix me a turkey pot pie!") and shows the other students a scar on his forearm from a cigar burn which he claims he got for spilling paint in the garage. This is probably at least part of the reason for his antagonism toward the other characters, particularly Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald), who is clearly from a wealthy family.
By the end of the film, his relationship with the rest of the group, save for Claire, whom he kisses, is uncertain. Throughout the film he seemed bitter towards jock Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez), indifferent towards geek Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall), and only mildly friendly with Allison.
