It’s odd- I’ve been thinking about John Hughes’ death a lot more than I thought I would’ve. Maybe it’s because he quit making movies on his terms, and for his own reasons that he didn’t feel like justifying to the world. Maybe it’s because if you look at a montage of his movies, you quickly see how iconic so many of his movies were. And that’s made all the more impressive because I don’t think he could really be considered a great ‘visual’ director. It’s most likely because of the scripts- well-written and incredibly quotable. In the next couple of days, ask your friends and co-workers what their favorite John Hughes lines are. Everyone has them.
And finally, there’s the humanity of his characters. Even though the majority of his movies were comedies, Hughes never laughed at his characters and didn’t ask his audiences to. I think this shows the human side of Hughes as a writer and as a person. Then there’s this blog post. From a fan who became a penpal. It’s a really touching tribute to Hughes. Check it out, I think you’ll dig it.