Many have hailed 1985 as a memorable year in film due to the release of several coming-of-age hits like "The Breakfast Club," "Weird Science," "Back to the Future," "Teen Wolf" and "The Goonies."
It also was the year that actors, including Andrew McCarthy, Emilio Estevez, and Rob Lowe, were labeled as Hollywood's "Brat Pack" by New York Magazine, a title they came to loathe despite it being meant to reflect their youth, as the actors were all younger than 25.
"My career and those of a half dozen others were forever branded," McCarthy, 61, wrote in a guest column published Monday by The New York Times. "We hated the tag. We were now members of a club none of us wished to join. I felt that I lost control of the narrative of my career overnight. I tried to shrug off the Brat Pack label, hoping it would fade. But I didn't understand something."
McCarthy went on to write that, while the term was "pejorative and diminishing," the younger generations "loved it."
"Being in the Brat Pack meant that I was one of the ultimate cool kids, the ones you wanted to hang out with, to emulate — we were the ones you admired," he continued, noting that the Brat Pack was never a fixed reality but more of an idea.
"And it put a stamp on a generation," he wrote.
"For years, the disconnect between what I experienced and what the public felt made for an uneasy alliance. The Brat Pack preceded me into every room I entered. I dragged it behind me like the carcass of youth," McCarthy continued. "Then a few years ago I wrote a book about that time and discovered something had happened while I wasn't looking.
"I had grown not only to accept the Brat Pack but also to regard it with deep affection. It turns out, I had been peering through the wrong end of the telescope, and when I spun it around, the view was expansive."
Most recently, McCarthy set about making a documentary, "Brats," which explores the narrative behind the "Brat Pack" stars.
As Deadline reported, McCarthy reunites with friends and former colleagues including Lowe, Estevez, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Jon Cryer, Lea Thompson, and Timothy Hutton to answer what it meant to be part of the "Brat Pack."
Set to premiere on Hulu in the U.S. on June 13, the documentary's tagline, "Everybody wanted to be in the Brat Pack. Except them," gives fans a glimpse into what to expect.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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