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The actors themselves were known to dislike the label. Many of their careers peaked in the middle of the 1980s but declined afterwards for various reasons.
The term "Brat Pack", a play on the Rat Pack from the 1950s and 1960s, was first popularized in a 1985 New York magazine cover story, which described a group of highly successful film stars in their early twenties.[1] Writer David Blum wrote the article after witnessing several young actors (Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, and Judd Nelson) being mobbed by groupies at Los Angeles' Hard Rock Cafe.[2] The group has been characterized by the partying of core members such as Robert Downey, Jr., Estevez, Lowe, and Nelson.[3] However, an appearance in one or both of the ensemble casts of John Hughes' The Breakfast Club and Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire is often considered the prerequisite for being a core Brat Pack member.[4][5][6] With this criterion, the most commonly cited members include Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy.[7][8][9][10][11] Absent from most lists is Mare Winningham, the only principal member of either cast who never starred in any other films with any other cast members.[12] Estevez was cited as the "unofficial president" of the Brat Pack.[1] McCarthy claimed that he was never a member of the group, saying, "The media made up this sort of tribe. I don't think I've seen any of these people since we finished St. Elmo's Fire."[13]
The initial New York magazine article covered a group of actors much greater than the currently understood meaning of the term "Brat Pack". For example, most of the cast members of The Outsiders were mentioned, including Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, and Ralph Macchio, none of whom starred in any other 1980s movies with any "core" Brat Packers.[1] Charlie Sheen appears in several lists - more for his family relationship to Brat Pack leader Emilio Estevez and his partying than for his collaborative film work with other members.[12] James Spader and Robert Downey, Jr. have also been considered members and appeared in several films alongside other Brat Packers, most notably together with Andrew McCarthy in Less Than Zero[14] (Downey was also in two eighties films with Anthony Michael Hall - Weird Science and Johnny Be Good, as well as The Pick-up Artist with Molly Ringwald). Other actors who have been linked with the group include Kevin Bacon, Matthew Broderick, Jon Cryer, John Cusack, Jami Gertz, Mary Stuart Masterson, Sean Penn, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kiefer Sutherland, and Lea Thompson.[2][7][9] In her autobiography, Melissa Gilbert implies that she was a member of the Brat Pack. Although she was a television actress, her social life centered on Brat Pack members Estevez and Lowe (the latter to whom she was engaged). Through frequent collaborative work, actor Harry Dean Stanton, then in his late 50s, became a mentor for the group of young actors.[3]
The Brat Pack films have been described as representative of "the socially apathetic, cynical, money-possessed and ideologically barren eighties generation."[14][15] They made frequent use of adolescent archetypes, were often set in the suburbs surrounding Chicago, and focused on white, middle-class teenage angst.[7][8] According to author Susannah Gora, these films "changed the way many young people looked at everything from class distinction to friendship, from love to sex and fashion to music." They are considered "among the most influential pop cultural contributions of their time."[16]
The "Brat Pack" moniker, often considered in a pejorative sense,[34][35] was not known to be used by members of the group.[4][12]
Indeed, the actors comprising the "Brat Pack" generally did not appreciate the label after the New York article was published. In July 1985, Judd Nelson said that he was "so sick of every single person [he talked] to bringing up the 'Brat Pack'".[36] Emilio Estevez called up the writer, David Blum, and said, "You've ruined my life."[13] The members of the group apparently stopped socializing after the article was published. According to Susannah Gora they became distant from each other, especially Emilio Estevez, who they blamed for the article.[37]
During the late 1980s, several of the Brat Pack actors had their careers derailed by problems relating to drugs, alcohol, and in Rob Lowe's case, a sex tape.[13] According to Susannah Gora, "Many believe they could have gone on to more serious roles if not for that article. They were talented. But they had professional difficulties, personal difficulties after that."[38]
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