'Brats' and the Journalist/Subject Situationship

Like most of us this weekend, I watched Andrew McCarthy’s documentary Brats. Following the rise and rapid fall of the “Brat Pack,” the 1980s band of young actors most commonly associated with John Hughes films, the documentary has received a fair bit of back and forth on whether it’s a vanity project by McCarthy, an attempt to lambast a journalist for doing his job, or a deep exploration into a term that both limited and elevated those associated with it to iconic status.

Having watched the finished product it’s definitely frustrating and should remind everyone why it’s often better for documentarians, separated from the subject, to tell the story. The 90-minute runtime feels like a first draft, with McCarthy taking precious screentime to show himself cold-calling people (it even ends with a key member of the Brat Pack finally returning his call…only for the credits to roll) and reminding everyone, ad nauseaum, how much the term “brat pack” ruined his career, and probably his life. Trust me, no one felt more slighted by the term than Andrew McCarthy. And, dammit, he’s going to tell you why.