We loved Susannah Gora's book You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation here at Moviepie.com, and in honor of the book's paperback release we caught up with this fabulous author for a bit of Q & A:

Moviepie: You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried reads like a lifetime labor of love. How long did it actually take you to write it?

Susannah Gora: Thank you — it was indeed a lifetime labor of love! I first saw The Breakfast Club when I was thirteen years old, and it changed my life. Here was a movie—a beautifully written, powerfully acted movie—about the very things I was concerned with as a young person: identity, wondering where you fit in, questions of coolness and conformity. Once I saw that film, I was hooked—I discovered the others in the genre, like Pretty in Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire, and loved them all. When I got to college at Duke in the mid 1990’s, I met people from all over America who loved the movies as much as I did, but more importantly, I discovered that we used the 80s youth movies as a prism through which to discuss the larger issues in our lives: friendship, love, identity, even things like class distinction and politics. That’s when I realized, something deep is going on here in terms of these films and the effect they can have on people. One night, after watching two or three of the films back to back with my friends in our dorm, the notion swept across my mind that one day, I wanted to write a book exploring the history behind how the films were made, and the great sociological impact the films had as well. That idea informed the kind of life I wanted to live; it was one of the reasons I decided to become a film journalist. I got my book contract in 2007, and the book came out in hardcover in 2010. It’s been an extraordinary journey, a great honor, and a dream come true to be able to write this book.

Can you pick a favorite of the films you discuss in the book?

I’ve got to go with The Breakfast Club. In my opinion, it is the greatest youth film ever made. Many things make this film so special: including the powerful acting—which ranges from charming to haunting—the sparkling script, the passionate directing, and even the flawless editing. It’s also a deeply satisfying film to watch, as the characters reveal themselves to each other, and to us, in beautiful and unforgettable ways.

How would you say the course of your life has been shaped by these classic teen films?

In terms of the impact the ‘80s films have had upon my life, it is very real, and very wide-reaching. The concept that the Breakfast Club kids, though they were different, could all make such close connections with each other when they peeled back the layers of their exterior selves stuck with me, and as a result, in high school I really did make a conscious effort to make friends with kids from all different cliques, because I saw, in The Breakfast Club, how rewarding those connections could be. The dreamy Sixteen Candles helped shape my visions of romance, and I found the deep friendships shared in St. Elmo's Fire and Ferris Bueller's Day Off very inspirational as well. And of course, the films have had a tremendous impact on my professional life. I decided to become a film journalist in large part because I hoped to one day be able to write this book.

The process of researching the book must have realized quite a few of your teenage dreams. Was there a particular hero or heartthrob you were especially thrilled to meet?

Everyone I spoke to was lovely—I felt so lucky that they shared their stories with me. In particular, it was an amazing honor to be able to interview the incomparable Molly Ringwald. She was at the heart of these films, and I felt so grateful that she shared her fascinating, surprising, and beautiful memories with me. And I also loved getting to interview Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, Matthew Broderick, Rob Lowe, Jon Cryer, and Andrew McCarthy—I found all of them to be exceptionally intelligent, funny, thoughtful and warm. But if I had to pick my favorite, I'd probably have to say Judd Nelson. I have always been a great admirer of his work, and he is a terrifically smart, kind, witty and lovely person.

Did doing such in-depth research on these movies taint them for you in any way (i.e. at any point did you have too much of a good thing)?

I was a bit nervous about that going in, but I found instead that learning so many meaningful things about how the films were made, and about the people who made them, only made my respect and affection for the films that much greater.

The book has been out in hardcover for a year now, can you tell us a bit about the response you've gotten from readers?

One of the most extraordinary parts of my entire journey with this book has been the wonderful response that I’ve gotten from readers, something that makes me feel humbled and proud. I receive amazing emails from people telling me that my book has touched them deeply, and has reminded them of just how important these films have been to them, shaping their lives in countless ways. Some of these emails, in which readers let me know that my book has allowed them to tap into powerful truths about the movies’ important role in their own lives, are so emotional that I end up in tears by the time I’m finished reading them. And some of the emails just make me feel really happy and proud—like the one from a woman who told me that my book brought her so much joy, she allowed herself to read only a chapter a week so as to stretch out the experience! It all just validates what I’d known in my heart all along—that these movies changed people’s lives, and the impact lives on and on.

For more information about You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried (a true tour de force of 80s pop culture), please visit www.bratpackbook.com.

Interviews | Susannah Gora | Brat Pack | John Hughes | 80s | Judd Nelson | Molly Ringwald | Pretty In Pink | Sixteen Candles | Breakfast Club

How does anyone who grew up with the movies of John Hughes begin to talk about the influence he’s had on them? I can vividly remember the first time I saw each of his movies and the indelible impression the films made, but from there it gets complicated. His movies seemed to infiltrate my life, sticking to everything they touched. The soundtracks became the soundtracks to countless other memories, the one liners and random references were used day in and day out, and eventually they weren’t just movies - they were part of me. I can’t just tell a story about one of his movies - I can recount a history. I may have discovered The Breakfast Club in elementary school, but it factored just as prominently in my junior high years...and high school, and college. Truth be told, I woke up under a Breakfast Club poster this morning. I am thirty-two years old and it hangs over my bed to this day.

There was a light bulb moment sometime in seventh grade when I realized that the same person had made all of the movies I loved, and for the first time I thought beyond what I saw onscreen to what took place behind the scenes. Uncle Buck made me want to write a screenplay. At age thirteen I began piecing together a vehicle for myself and John Candy (an angsty father-daughter thing in which I would have bitterly rejected his new girlfriend, possibly played by Jamie Lee Curtis). It still pains me that we lost John Candy before I was old enough to pitch it. I literally feel that I need to go to the Holy Cross Cemetery and talk to him about it - that's how serious I was about growing up to realize this dream. I fully credit John Hughes and John Candy with the fact that I've got a different near-finished screenplay saved in this very computer.

In thousands of little ways, John Hughes is responsible for who I am. Pretty In Pink assured me that it was okay to be unique (and Andie’s fashion sense blew my mind). Ferris Bueller convinced me that “life goes by pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” Christmases are spent with the Griswolds. Thanksgiving means Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and I spent this 4th of July with Uncle Buck. It just seems right to invite these characters back into our lives on a regular basis. They are our friends, They are our family members. They are us. Through his work, he has single-handedly entertained, comforted, and inspired me for the better part of my life, and I know I’m not alone. He had the same effect on an entire generation.

Trying to break down the relationship we’ve all had with his films is a lot like dissecting his talent. For years I tried to understand what it was that made him so great. Ostensibly his films seem rooted in the mundane (a Saturday morning spent in detention, a family road trip, a school dance, or a holiday), but he managed to take the familiar and elevate it to something monumental. He blended slapstick comedy with gallows humor and wit to keep us laughing, then he’d take a poignant turn and leave us reaching for the Kleenex. His movies have made me cry just as often as they’ve made me laugh out loud, but what is that? What was that thing he did? I finally had to stop taking it apart and admit that he had simply captured life--in all its complexity--onscreen. He just got it. He knew what it took to make the universal seem intensely personal, and as I sit here typing this with tears in my eyes, I feel as though the loss of this great writer is mine. You probably feel the same, and it seems that even in death, his genius is at work.

John Hughes | R.I.P.