'The Breakfast Club'- Claire Standish

The stereotype of the misunderstood “Princess” character, the girl who has everything because of her family, is a common representation of the teenage girl in the media.

Claire Standish in the 1980s film ‘The Breakfast Club’ is a prime example of this representation. Although we don’t get to see her back-story or home life, we are shown and told through other characters that Claire comes from a wealthy family and is popular at ‘Shermer High School’. The teenage “criminal” character John Bender, is the main source of this insight into Claire’s life, as he continuously mocks and harasses her, saying that she is “spoiled” and that “the school would probably shut down” if she wasn’t there. ‘The Breakfast Club’ is notorious for showing character growth throughout the film and having the main message of “not judging a book by its cover” and this is seen especially in Claire Standish.

At the beginning of the film we see Claire as being particularly “conceited” and not wanting to communicate with any of the other four misfits (other than Andy “the athlete” who is in the same clique as her). She even goes out of her way to ask their principal, “Excuse me, sir. I think there's been a mistake. I know we're in detention but I don't think I belong here.” This quote suggests that she doesn’t think she should have to spend this time with the other teens in detention and that perhaps it isn’t fair for her to have to be there. However, towards the end of the film, as the group open up to one another we begin to see that Claire despises who people think she is and hates being seen as the “princess” that gets anything and everything without doing a thing to deserve it. In a particular scene where the teenagers are sharing a joint, Claire (in a high-state) says, “Do you know how popular I am? I'm so popular, everybody loves me so much at this school. 
Do you have any idea how completely gross that is?” With Claire declaring this to the rest of the group, it shows that she is not at all oblivious to her status in their school but it doesn’t mean she is particularly happy with it.

In the same scene that all five teens are opening up about themselves, Claire shows that much of what she does and says is a result of peer pressure when Brian, “the brain” calls Claire “conceited” to which she replies, “I’m not conceited! I hate it. I hate having to go along with what my friends say”. The breaking point for Claire is also within this scene when Bender gets very frustrated with Claire’s attitude toward the rest of the group when she says that she wouldn’t be friends with them back at school and he tells her to, “Stick to the things you know! Shopping, nail polish, your father’s BMW and your poor rich, drunk mother in the Caribbean!” This comment obviously hits a raw nerve for Claire and also reveals to us that there is much more to Claire (as well as the other characters) than the stereotype she has been labeled with.