Brats
I’ve seen so many documentaries that are basically hagiographic clip reels that in the case of Hulu’s “Brats” I kind of just presumed this would be, too a love letter to the young stars of the ‘80s, the actors and actresses who shaped pop culture in the middle of that decade in ways that are still being felt today. I’m happy to report it’s not that. It is an ambitious and introspective look at how reputation, and even just a nickname, can shape pop culture and acting careers. The words “Brat Pack” became something of an anchor on the careers of the people deemed part of this exclusive club of beautiful, successful young stars. One of its members, Andrew McCarthy, is at a point in his life where he often finds himself asking how he got here.
“Brats” makes a convincing case for one reason as to why some people were considered part of the Brat Pack: It argues that they were actors who got famous after appearing in movies about teenagers for teenagers. Tom Cruise famously starred opposite Rebecca De Mornay in “Risky Business,” while Kevin Bacon made footloose friends with Lori Singer. Riding that wave were the members of what would become known as The Brat Pack. Using our old rule about how a Brat Pack movie stars at least two core members means we place the first such film at 1983’s “The Outsiders,” but 1983’s “Class” feels more like what we remember about this group before John Hughes put all these guys together for “Sixteen Candles” and especially “The Breakfast Club.”
A significant portion of “Brats” is spent talking about exactly who is (and isn’t) in The Brat Pack Jon Cryer definitely didn’t want it back then; Lea Thompson is adjacent but not technically club although most people agree on McCarthy, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy.
Their lives were changed in 1985 when journalist David Blum started a profile of Emilio Estevez for New York Magazine. Blum noticed how much his subject and his colleagues were a bigger deal in Hollywood than they were elsewhere. He coined the term Brat Pack in that article which has an unbelievable origin story that Blum elucidates in a fantastic interview late in this very film. Seriously, I was so happy for McCarthy getting to finally talk to the guy who shifted Andy’s whole life in a way he couldn’t possibly have predicted. The conversation is great about the sometimes complex dynamics between journalists and stars. McCarthy really gets at what “Brats” is about here, noting how Blum essentially took control of his career with what seems like a flippant nickname, as someone very astutely says earlier in the movie, Martin Scorsese wouldn’t call The Brat Pack so it became a Stop Sign for these performers, some took years to shake it off; some arguably never did.
Mostly, McCarthy’s movie has him talking to members of the Brat Pack who he hasn’t seen in years Estevez, Lowe, Sheedy, Moore. The most stunning thing about “Brats” for fans of these actors (and that era) may be how much it feels like the label broke up a band some diehards still want to believe is running around a library on detention. A project with him and McCarthy fell apart instantly when every actor in this group left the label to try to save their careers, Estevez says. Moore seems to have arrived at the best place about it all, putting it in a context that’s downright profound about how we tend to wallow in what we can’t change and growth can only come when we stop.
McCarthy doesn’t turn “Brats” into mere reminiscence but gets cultural commentary from luminaries like Malcolm Gladwell and great critic Kate Erbland as talking heads. What he’s done with “Brats” is turn a label into a conversation. Why do we need pop culture brands to help us define our love? What happens to artists when we put them in creative boxes? There are times when it almost feels like there’s too much being bitten off here especially when the film takes a detour to become a kind of love letter John Hughes for a beat too long but I’ll take an overpacked doc about a pop culture moment any day over so many others that don’t seem to have anything new or even interesting or slightly noticeable beyond what we already know and love.
I’m just old enough to remember soaking wet my own hair with Aqua Net during Brat Pack summer No. 2. And so is Lowe. Who makes an intriguing case well spoken if also not self-servingly that they were the force behind an entire cultural shift toward stories of young people. Which gives “Brats” an unexpected poignancy. These actors, these actresses who made such an impact on people were labeled, inarguably insultingly, “The Brat Pack.” “Brats” is a reclamation and a reshaping of that label. And it’s about time.
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