This article contains discussion of suicide attempts/ideation, death, substance abuse issues, stalking, and sexual harassment.
Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for St. Elmo’s Fire.
Summary
The 1985 coming-of-age filmSt. Elmo’s Firewas a critical failure but a box-office, hit thanks to its soundtrack, popular ensemble cast, and potential relatability to the main characters.St. Elmo’s Firewas directed and written byJoel Schumacher, who often gets grouped with John Hughes, thanks to the “Brat Pack”and the roles their movies played in creating the group. Almost everySt. Elmo’s Firecast memberwas immediately named part of the “Brat Pack,” thanks to aNew York Magazinearticle.
The conversation around the impact of this article, the Brat Pack, andSt. Elmo’s Firewas a major part ofthe Hulu Brat Pack documentaryBrats, in which director Anthony McCarthy reunited with some of his fellowSt. Elmo’s Firecastmates along with other famous young actors of the time. Of the official Brat Pack members, onlyMolly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall weren’t inSt. Elmo’s Fire. Whether it was because of the article, the stars, the soundtrack, or the story itself,St. Elmo’s Fireis a 1980s coming-of-age classic.
What Happened In The St. Elmo’s Fire Ending
St. Elmo’s Fire’s Ending Resolved Multiple Storylines
St. Elmo’s Firefollows an unlikely group of friends in their first year following graduation from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. One of the biggest, easily understandable criticisms ofSt. Elmo’s Fireis that its characters are more often unlikable and harder to root for than not. This only worsens with the film’s progression, with the second half delving deeper into melodrama. Kirby, the waiter and law student of the friend group, kissed the girl of his dreams and the object of his stalking, which kicked off a series of controversialSt. Elmo’s Firestoryline endings.
10 Best Films Featuring The Cast Of St. Elmo’s Fire
St. Elmo’s Fire was a box office success and loved by fans of the “Brat Pack” of 1980s film fame. Here are 10 other films where you can find the cast.
Alec, the yuppie future politician, spent his entire relationship with budding architect Leslie cheating on her. When she finally found out, she slept with their mutual best friend, the obituary writer Kevin, who had been in love with her all along. At the end ofSt. Elmo’s Fire, she decided to focus on herself, choosing neither of them. However, not before Alec almost killed Kevin, while Jules, a party girl with money and addiction issues, dramatically locked herself in her apartment. She intended to freeze herself to death, but Billy stepped in.
Billy had supposedly changed, leaving behind the womanizing party boy who shirked his responsibilities as a husband and father by leaving behind his wife, baby, and friends. Before he got his fresh start in New York, he slept with the virginal social worker Wendy, who harbored a huge crush on him. At the end ofSt. Elmo’s Fire, they send Billy off at the bus stop and decide not to go to their usual bar, St. Elmo’s, planning brunch instead. They did one final “booga-booga” group cheer and laughed offscreen as the credits began to roll.
How Jules’s Attempt To Freeze Herself To Death Is Foreshadowed Throughout St. Elmo’s Fire
Towards the end ofSt. Elmo’s Fire, Jules deadbolted her D.C. apartment door, now empty as everything she owned was seized, and sat in the middle of the floor with the windows open trying to freeze herself to death. ActorDemi Moore called it her most cringeworthySt. Elmo’s Firescene, and it’s not hard to see why. Everyone is desperately trying to reach Jules, using a blowtorch to break down the bars of the fire escape window while Alec holds Kevin over the side of the railing, threatening to kill him.
In the ‘cringeworthy’St. Elmo’s Firescene, Jules did what she thought necessary for her cries for help to be taken seriously
Yet, the scene that Schumacher intended to be melodramatic and satirical does have some heart to it, and it was foreshadowed early on. One of the first scenes established Kevin as an obituary writer. It was later revealed that he even had an empty coffin in his bedroom for aesthetic purposes. Jules spent much ofSt. Elmo’s Fire“funeral shopping” for her sickly stepmother. She weighed the options and costs of different burial methods to the point of concern.
Then there are her partying habits, which were mainly about having cocaine and someone to talk to. Leslie and Wendy worried about Jules, her spending, and her supposed affair with her boss, but she brushed off their concerns. The one time she truly tried to open up to a friend, hoping they’d understand, was in a car alone with Billy. When he responded by sexually harassing her, it broke her heart.
Fortunately, Jules’ friends finally came through for her. She’d displayed signs of having larger issues that went unspoken, and her lies had become obvious. In the “cringeworthy”St. Elmo’s Firescene, Jules did what she thought necessary for her cries for help to be taken seriously, even if the scene wasn’t as serious as it could’ve, or should’ve, been. Moore’s delivery of the relatable“I never thought I’d be so tired at 22”helps cut through the satire.
St Elmo’s Fire Cast: Where Are They Now?
St. Elmo’s Fire is one of the movies that helped cement the Brat Pack, but the actors have all moved on from teen roles since the 1980s.
Why Kirby Insists He & Dale Saw Annie Hall
Kirby Thinks He’s Living In A Romance Movie
As aforementioned, the characters inSt. Elmo’s Firecan do pretty irredeemable things, and Kirby is far from an exception. Though he may appear harmless and in love, he actively stalked medical intern Dale, whom he “fell in love with” in college and reunited with at the hospital at the beginning of the movie. During what Kirby assumed was a date, he quoted the 1977 satirical romantic comedy-drama filmAnnie Hall. When she didn’t understand the reference, Kirby reminded her they saw the film together in college.
Dale thought they’d seen a Mel Brooks film, likely a parody or farce. It’s a seemingly awkward, innocuous moment whereKirby insists it wasAnnie Hall. She left shortly after to go back to the hospital and Dale’s obsession, a word he later used to describe his “feelings” for her, grew. He stood outside in the pouring rain for her, took advantage of his wealthy boss being away to throw a party at his house for her, and even drove in the snow to where she and her boyfriend were having a ski trip after she started purposefully avoiding him.
Kirby believed he was in a romantic comedy where if he did all the big grand gestures, Dale would fall madly in love with him. However, she and Dale are never on the same page, as shown by theAnnie Hallconfusion. Unfortunately, Dale gets somewhat rewarded for his creepy, stalking behavior with kindness and a kiss he initiated. Their final scene even implied that Dale wished she had given him a chance when she had a kind, supportive, seemingly normal boyfriend. In perhaps another bit of foreshadowing,the main couple ofAnnie Halldon’t even end up together.
Does St. Elmo’s Fire Have A Villain?
St. Elmo’s Fire’s Main Characters Can Be Easily Criticized
St. Elmo’s Firedoesn’t have a traditional villain, butmany characters commit villainous acts, for which critics and viewers have understandably vilified them.Kirby and Dale’s subplot could have been a horror film, andSt. Elmo’s Firebegan with Billy getting himself and Wendy into an accident because he was drinking and driving. Alec’s connections kept Billy out of jail, and Wendy easily forgave him, but that was far from the end of his troublesome behavior.
Yet, at the end ofSt. Elmo’s Fire, he left all the “trouble” in his life behind, including his wife and child. He also finally slept with Wendy, with his move absolving him of the serious, monogamous relationship Wendy might have sought.Alec initially appeared to be the villain inSt. Elmo’s Firewith his infidelity, arrogance, and misogyny with no signs of changing. Even after he’s confronted with truly losing Leslie, he makes her out to be a villain for sleeping with Kevin, whom he nearly kills out of jealousy.
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Kevin was in the more traditional sympathetic, perhaps even heroic, role of the best friend watching the girl he loves get mistreated by a man, knowing he would never treat her that way. This narrative falls apart when considering he kept Alec’s infidelity a secret and later tried to force Leslie into a relationship she didn’t want. Thus,the top Letterboxd review ofSt. Elmo’s Fire, made by userKevin Clarke, calls the movie “Aparade of the worst men ever.”
There’s no one true villain inSt. Elmo’s Fire, and none of the characters were meant to be villains, but they’re far from heroes, or even sometimes just far from likable. The female characters are not absolved from criticism either. In one odd scene, Leslie and Jules went to the soup kitchen where Wendy volunteered, partially ate a free meal, and talked loudly about their privileged lives. Everyone is a spoiled brat at best at some point.
St. Elmo’s Fire Is A Natural Phenomenon
Much ofSt. Elmo’s Firetakes place at the bar they frequent, St. Elmo’s. This is one dimension to the film’s title, as the bar is likely named after St. Elmo’s fire,a lightning-like weather phenomenon named after St. Erasmus of Formia, or St. Elmo, the patron saint of sailors.When Billy had trouble calming Jules down towards the end ofSt. Elmo’s Fire, he told her,
“This isn’t real.You know what it is? It’s St. Elmo’s fire … Sailors would guide entire journeys by it, but the joke was on them, there was no fire. It wasn’t even a St. Elmo… They made it up because they thought they needed it to keep them going when times got tough, just like you’re making up all of this. We’re all going through this. It’s our time at the edge.”
This dialogue explains the meaning ofSt. Elmo’s Fire’stitle and delivers its message. These lines are supposed to comfort Jules and viewers who might feel like her. They’re all going through a post-college adjustment period, and though they react to it differently, it’s not easy on any of them. As Billy said, they’re at “the edge,” it’s like a cliff where you’re always scared you’ll trip over the edge if you’re not standing completely steady on top, but you’re not standing alone. Still, the phrase “making up” when her property was seized during a mental health crisis could have been better used.
Is St. Elmo’s Fire The Post-College Version Of The Breakfast Club?
St. Elmo’s Fire & The Breakfast Club Are Considered The Ultimate Brat Pack Movies
St. Elmo’s Firecame out about four months afterThe Breakfast Club, and theNew York Magazinearticle came out 18 days before the release ofSt. Elmo’s Fire. With three stars (Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy) overlapping between them, it was, and still is, easy to group the films. They’re both coming-of-age films with talented young actors that came out in 1985 and attempted to break down stereotypes; they just dealt with different age groups.
10 Harsh Realties Of Rewatching The Breakfast Club, 40 Years Later
The Breakfast Club first premiered 39 years ago, and while it’s a rightful beloved 1980s coming-of-age classic, the movie isn’t without its flaws.
The Breakfast Clubtakes place in one day, with five high school students in differing social groups and grades spending a nine-hour lunch detention together.St. Elmo’s Firehas an indeterminate timeline, but it’s set in D.C. with students four months out of college. Thus,one can easily viewSt. Elmo’s Fireas the “post-college version” ofThe Breakfast Club, especially becauseThe Breakfast Clubendswithout answering whether they’ll stay friends after their intense bonding period, leaving it up to the viewer to decide.
St. Elmo’s Firecould be an example of what their friend group might have looked like if they’d stayed friends or met in college where cliques and parental and societal influence look different. Yet, many have questioned whySt. Elmo’s Firecharacters are friends beyond proximity. Though the actors have chemistry, their personalities can clash, like inThe Breakfast Club. The films will forever be linked, but they’re not connected.
The Real Meaning Of St. Elmo’s Fire’s Ending Explained
Why The Characters Decide Not To Go To The Bar
At the end ofSt. Elmo’s Fire, the characters huddled together in the cold outside the bar and watched Billy board the bus to New York. This image is overlaid briefly with all seven main characters walking together after graduation. This transitioned to them walking as a group without Billy. As the image appeared and disappeared, Leslie said,
“I can’t remember who met who first or who fell in love with who first. All I can remember is the seven of us always together.”
When they stopped in front of St. Elmo’s, they saw all the college kids inside and turned down Leslie’s suggestion to go inside. They have work in the morning, or they have to find work. They instead agree to Leslie’s suggestion of Sunday brunch, and Alec suggested they go to another place called Houlihan’s that wasn’t “so noisy” and didn’t have “so many kids.”
Here, they’re making the “grown-up decision,” just like Billy did by leaving. Yet, they’re just making a surface-level change. This is quickly shown in the final lines, as immediately after agreeing to brunch, Jules starts talking about her stepmother’s cremation bills again. They laugh and, without Billy, do their “booga-booga” group cheer. Things might look like they’re changing, but it could be St. Elmo’s fire. For better or worse, the characters inSt. Elmo’s Fireare who they are, and it takes more than a couple of months from college graduation to truly grow and evolve.
St. Elmo’s Fire
Cast
A group of close-knit college graduates navigates the challenges of adulthood, balancing careers, relationships, and personal growth. Amidst the backdrop of their favorite bar, they confront their fears, ambitions, and the complexities of growing up, discovering the true meaning of friendship and resilience.
