There is something special behind the films of John Hughes when you consider how beloved his films are. Be that as it may Planes, trains and cars, Uncle Buckor The Breakfast ClubThere is a humanity in all of his films that not many other writers in their time captured. The loss of Hughes in 2009 was a great loss to the film industry, because he was so good at finding the human story in the comedies he wrote, and it may be a long time before we see a writer as good as him again. Since today is Christmas Eve, I don’t normally write about filmmakers in any way, but today something caught my attention Christmas holidays was on TV, and that was the use of hockey jerseys in two of Hughes’ most prominent films.
The scene inside Christmas holidays is the one on the right where Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, stands in his living room wearing a custom Chicago Blackhawks jersey. It occurred to me that Hughes had also used a hockey jersey in one of his most famous films, and that was in Cameron Frye, played by Alan Ruck, in Ferris Bueller’s day off like him wore a Detroit Red Wings jersey with Howe on the back. Since both John Hughes films are set in Chicago, it seemed strange that Cameron would wear the colors of the Red Wings when Hughes seemingly had a soft spot for the Windy City in his heart. That took me down a rabbit hole tonight when I was wrapping presents, but the answer was found in John Hughes’ son, James, who talked about his father’s fascination with hockey in a 2013 article he wrote for Grantland.Unbeknownst to me, John Hughes developed a love for hockey while growing up in Michigan. As James wrote in the Grantland article: “…it was his hometown Wings that first captured his imagination – reinforced, as he often told us, by the fact that when he visited the dentist as a child, he occasionally saw Red Wings in the waiting room. The work they were about to endure in the dentist’s chair most likely made a few minutes in the Olympia Stadium penalty box feel like paradise. The encounters were a sobering reminder of the players’ sacrifice for the community. He was addicted.”
That seems to explain the Gordie Howe sweater Ferris Bueller’s day off despite the Red Wings being an archrival in the NHL to the Chicago Blackhawks, it’s a bit of a tribute to his youth. Those are Ferris Bueller’s day off is a bit of a coming-of-age story for the characters in the film, I can accept that Alan Ruck carries the winged wheel all over Chicago and doesn’t get yelled at because of his clothes.
For those who don’t know, the story of Christmas holidays came from a short story Hughes had published in National Lampoon magazine in 1980 entitled “Christmas ’59When reading the story, many elements come to mind Christmas holidays are baked in despite needing a bit of a massage, but you have to wonder if Clark and, earlier in the film, Rusty wearing the Blackhawks jerseys was a nod to John Hughes’ sons who grew up as Blackhawks fans.
Again, James Hughes writes in the Grantland part,
“My brother and I remain lifelong Hawks fans, though we were always aware that our father could never quite shake the deep impression the Red Wings made on his youth, the first thirteen years of which he spent in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. The Blackhawks were the team he chose to follow as an Illinoisan, and his ratio of the games in Chicago to the games in Detroit must have been at least a hundred to one – although that one time was Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final of 1997. When Steve Yzerman took a well-deserved victory lap around the Joe Louis Arena, my father was there, in the second row.”
Since the Blackhawks had not won a Stanley Cup since 1961, incorporating Blackhawks jerseys into the 1989 film seems like a John Hughes thing, as he shared in their anguish over the NHL team’s struggles as his adopted team. Hughes had moved to Chicago with his family as a teenager in Grade Seven, and since Hughes had two sons – James and John III – who were Blackhawks fans around that age in 1989, it seems only fitting that Dad would add the Blackhawks jerseys to the film, just as he did with Cameron Frye.Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration in terms of how John Hughes’ love of hockey and filmmaking intersected, but there was almost a second time the Blackhawks ended up in a John Hughes movie, as James notes: Uncle Buck almost had a Chicago Blackhawks scene in that movie. He writes,
“I remember my dad explaining that a character would ask Buck what the greatest moment of his life was, and it involved him taking a photo at the Blackhawks’ ‘Shoot the Puck’ game, which was held at every home game between periods. If Candy took the shot, maybe they would use the footage in the final cut. He didn’t win, despite overwhelming cheering from the crowd. When I found an album of production photos documenting that game, in front of me, it was like I found the blueprint for a dream.”
Look, this was a long-winded article about hockey jerseys appearing in movies, but today is a family day, which is the common thread in every John Hughes movie. Be that as it may Christmas holidays, Uncle Buckor Ferris Bueller’s day offthere’s always an element of family coming together when it seems like everything is falling apart, and that’s what these holidays are all about: family coming together. After all, it is Christmas Eve and everyone should be with the ones they love tonight and tomorrow. That’s the Christmas spirit.
That said, I’m going to wrap the presents tonight before I go to bed for what should be a fun day with family tomorrow, sharing good food, exchanging great gifts, and making some new core memories. Although Uncle Buck was the black sheep of the family, he proved his importance. While the Griswolds were going through a lot of crises, that family came together. And when Ferris Bueller needed help, it was his sister, Jeanie, who helped him escape director Ed Rooney. That is the importance of family.
This season, find your family, be grateful for their love, share in their joy, and be warmed by their embrace. That is the true blessing of the season! Merry Christmas from me and HBIC to you and yours as you celebrate, and Happy Holidays to those who may be celebrating one of the many other holidays and celebrations this season. Joy to the world!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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