A/N: This was actually an English paper I had to write, but im submitting it because I love the movie. Have you ever wondered why John Bender is the way he is? Here's a lesson from him. Review: like? Hate?
They say life has a way of coming back to kick you in the butt; Had this been a literal term, I would never be able to sit down again. I'm what you would politely call an outcast, although others use some nasty choice-words to describe me. Not that I care, mind you. I walk around life doing what I want to, banging into things and not bothering to clean up after myself. It's not like I'm an idiot, I'm very smart, but who wants to apply themselves in a world like this? This is my tale. Normally I'd want to tell you a made-up story, but as we're talking about me here, I'll just go through a typical day in the mixed-up life of John Bender, and how I became the way that I am.
My first day of high school, I'll never forget it. I was filled with such hope of starting somewhere new, at a school where most of the kids didn't know me as that screw-up John Bender, with his screwed up parents, living in that old tin can. I could start fresh, and create a new identity for myself. I was filled with this illusion that the purgatorial void known as high school might actually be a good experience for me. Then I got there.
They were already in their stupid cliques, with their stupid friends. I had spent all morning picking out clean jeans and a crisp new shirt, and here they were in their designer duds, showing off for their friends and acting like idiots. I try not to label people, but here was tangible proof that people categorize themselves: the smart kids, with their laptops and fly-away homework papers; the rich girls, with their perfect clothes and noses turned up; the jocks, with their footballs and letter jackets; the drama kids, with their black clothes and beatnik attitudes; and the other outcasts, none wanting to associate with each other because of the fear that if they did, they would never be invited into one of those bogus cliques.
I didn't know where to start. Did I really want to be one of these people? Still, I decided to give them a chance. First I tried the Sportos.. I was in pretty good shape, and I'm strong. I thought, 'Maybe I can even try out for a sport.' Walking up, I immediately noticed they were all showing off in front of the popular girls. Thinking I had nothing to lose, I approached them with a feeble "Hey Guys!" I guess my appearance was wrong or something, because they took one look at me and started throwing things: crumpled papers, lunches, jock straps, anything they could get their hands on. I understood, as I got away from that scene, that they were just trying to seem "cool" in front of the girls, but what is cool? So I tried to play it off, and went to talk to the girls, but they immediately shunned me.
After not succeeding with the other cliques, I still had 10 minutes to spare before school started. I ran home and dressed as the John Bender I really am- comfortable in ripped jeans, a flannel shirt, and combat boots. To this day I have not cared about fitting in.
My tale has a moral. My first day of High School gave me an experience and life lesson I wish to pass on: Be true to yourself. Don't try to be someone you aren't; I know I never will again. If they don't accept you for you, then they probably never will, and you should O.K. with that. I am John Bender. My friends, who, yes, I did eventually find, accept me for who I am. I refuse to be someone I'm not. My first day of school made me scornful towards the other cliques, made me hate them for what they did to me, but in a way, I'm grateful for that wreck of a first day. For, in that one day, I found what most people spend their lives searching for: Myself.